Let’s Stop the Unnecessary Treatment of Heart Disease.

A recent population-based prospective studyof Swedish men suggested almost four of five MIs in men could be preventable.^[1](That’s not a typo.) Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, followed 20 721 men from 1997 to 2009. They specifically asked about five modifiable lifestyle behaviors: a healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption, no smoking, being physically active, and having no abdominal fat (waist circumference.) There were 1361 cases of MI in the 11-year follow-up period.

heartwire journalist Michael O’Riordan recaps the details of the study here. The short story was that each of the five low-risk behaviors independently reduced the chance of having a heart attack. Not smoking was the strongest risk reducer. Men who combined all five behaviors were 86% less likely than those who had zero behaviors to have a heart attack.