All of these are ideas that have been overlooked, denied by a huge amount of data, but other long-standing myths and dogmas about the # 1 killer epidemic still exist, for example, this notion that major risk factors such as cholesterol, they represent a small part of the risk, and that many people experience heart attacks without risk factors, so these are just nonsense — there is nothing to do.

There are rare genetic conditions that can cause people to have high cholesterol, no matter what they eat, but such genetic mutations occur in no more than 1 in every 200 people. This of course means that most people with atherosclerosis they acquire it through what they put in their mouth.   The INTERHEART study shows that for men and women, both old and young, in all parts of the world,  

there are 9 potential variables such as eating, exercising and smoking, contribute to over 90% of the risk of heart attack. And this has been confirmed in prospective studies. If we follow a group of men over a period of time, we will see that those who choose a healthy lifestyle, are associated with a 90% risk reduction. The same is true for women, with 92% of the risk disappearing.  

It is the same with diabetes — 91% of cases can be attributed to bad habits and behavior. And the same healthy lifestyle that includes smoking, eating healthy foods, exercising and maintaining optimal body weight, can reduce the risk of multiple chronic diseases at the same time — not only heart disease and diabetes, but also stroke.

Up to 80% of stroke cases can be avoided with simple lifestyle changes. How can all this compare with medicine? Why change our diet, lose weight and move, if we can just drink pills instead? Pharmacological treatments, including cholesterol-lowering statins, and blood pressure pills generally reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease not by 90%, but only by 20% to 30%.   So, even with medication alone, 70% to 80% of heart attacks will continue to occur.

One of the nice things about this study, Harvard Health Professionals Tracking, is that it also looks at the effect of lifestyle changes in people who are already taking medication. Even those with medicines to lower blood pressure and cholesterol they can still get an additional 78% drop in risk through healthy eating and lifestyle alone. So the choice is not diet or medicine. Drugs for cardiovascular problems should be used as an adjunct, not as a substitute for healthy lifestyle practices. It takes time for new science to slip into traditional medical practice.   Cardiology and medicine in general can react, in terms of what is published, an average of 10 or 20 years later. So it is important to know if your doctor is still behind and practicing medicine from the 20th century Health.