A study found that more than 50 percent of incidents of cardiovascular disease and approximately 20 percent of deaths could be attributed to five modifiable risk factors.
The study, conducted by researchers at the German Center for Cardiovascular Research and published Aug. 23 in The New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed data from 112 global studies from 34 countries.
Researchers found five risk factors — body mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking and diabetes — attributed to 57.2 percent of incidents and 22.2 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease in women and 52.6 percent of incidents and 19.1 percent of deaths in men.