How to Prevent a Heart Attack: 10 Ways to Lower Your Risk

A heart attack can happen suddenly, but the disease that commonly causes it often develops gradually over many years.

The encouraging part is that many important heart-attack risk factors can be changed.

You cannot change your age or the genes you inherited from your parents, but you can take meaningful action on factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, diabetes, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating.

The World Health Organization identifies cardiovascular disease as the world's leading cause of death, with heart attacks and strokes accounting for most cardiovascular deaths.

Many cardiovascular diseases can be prevented or their risk substantially reduced by addressing modifiable risk factors.

Here are 10 evidence-based ways to help lower your risk of having a heart attack.

First: What Actually Causes a Heart Attack?

Most heart attacks occur because blood flow through a coronary artery—the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle—becomes severely reduced or completely blocked.

A common underlying problem is coronary artery disease.

Over time, cholesterol-containing deposits called plaques can accumulate within artery walls.

If a plaque ruptures, a blood clot can develop around it.

The clot may suddenly block blood flow through the coronary artery.

Without adequate oxygen, part of the heart muscle begins to become damaged.

That is why a suspected heart attack is a medical emergency.

1. Know and Manage Your Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the most important cardiovascular risk factors.

The difficulty is that hypertension often causes no obvious symptoms.

You may feel perfectly healthy while your blood pressure is damaging arteries and increasing your long-term risk of:

heart attack
stroke
heart failure
kidney disease
other cardiovascular complications.

This is why measuring your blood pressure is important.

Do not wait until you experience symptoms.

If you have high blood pressure, management can include lifestyle changes and, when appropriate, medication.

If medication has been prescribed, continue taking it according to your healthcare professional's instructions even if you feel well.

Never stop blood-pressure medication simply because a home reading looks normal without discussing the change with the professional managing your treatment.

2. Know Your Cholesterol Levels

Cholesterol itself is essential to the body, but certain patterns of cholesterol and other blood lipids increase cardiovascular risk.

High levels of LDL cholesterol can contribute to plaque formation inside arteries.

Over time, this process—known as atherosclerosis—can narrow coronary arteries and increase heart-attack risk.

A blood test can measure cholesterol and related lipids.

Your healthcare professional may consider factors including:

LDL cholesterol
HDL cholesterol
triglycerides
non-HDL cholesterol
your overall cardiovascular risk.

The cholesterol level that requires treatment and the appropriate treatment goal depend on the individual's overall cardiovascular risk.

Some people can improve their cholesterol through lifestyle changes alone.

Others benefit substantially from cholesterol-lowering medication such as statins.

3. Don't Smoke—and Avoid Tobacco Exposure

If you smoke, quitting is one of the most powerful actions you can take for your cardiovascular health.

Cigarette smoking:

damages blood vessels
promotes atherosclerosis
increases blood clotting
reduces oxygen delivery
increases heart-attack and stroke risk.

Secondhand tobacco smoke is harmful as well.

If you do not smoke, do not start.

If you currently smoke, support is available.

Depending on where you live, effective approaches can include behavioural counselling, nicotine-replacement therapy and prescription stop-smoking medicines.

Quitting can be difficult because nicotine dependence is real.

Needing help to stop is not a failure.

4. Be Physically Active

Your heart is a muscle, and regular physical activity benefits the entire cardiovascular system.

Exercise can help:

lower blood pressure
improve cholesterol
improve insulin sensitivity
support healthy blood glucose
manage body weight
improve cardiovascular fitness
reduce stress.

Adults should generally aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, or an equivalent combination.

Examples of moderate activity include:

brisk walking
cycling
dancing
active gardening.

Strengthening activities are also valuable.

If you are currently inactive, you do not have to achieve the full target immediately.

Start with manageable amounts and build gradually.

Even replacing some sitting time with movement is a positive step.

People with cardiovascular disease, significant symptoms or other medical conditions may need personalised advice before beginning strenuous exercise.

5. Follow a Heart-Healthy Eating Pattern

There is no single food capable of preventing a heart attack.

Your overall dietary pattern matters much more.

Build meals around foods such as:

vegetables
fruits
whole grains
beans and lentils
nuts and seeds
fish
appropriate lean protein sources
unsaturated vegetable oils.

Try to limit:

processed meats
foods high in saturated fat
trans fats
excessive sodium
sugar-sweetened drinks
highly processed foods.

Reducing excess sodium is particularly useful for blood-pressure management.

You do not need to eliminate every favourite food.

A sustainable eating pattern followed most of the time is more useful than an extremely restrictive diet that lasts only a few weeks.

6. Prevent or Manage Diabetes

Diabetes significantly increases cardiovascular risk.

Persistently high blood glucose can damage blood vessels and contribute to cardiovascular disease.

If you have diabetes, good management involves more than simply watching sugar intake.

Depending on your circumstances, treatment may include:

healthy eating
physical activity
weight management
blood-glucose monitoring
prescribed medication
blood-pressure management
cholesterol management
avoiding tobacco.

Some diabetes medicines have also been shown to provide cardiovascular benefits for appropriate patients.

Your treatment should therefore be individualised with your healthcare team.

If you are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes, appropriate screening can identify prediabetes or diabetes before complications develop.

7. Work Toward a Healthy Weight for You

Excess body fat can increase the likelihood of conditions including:

high blood pressure
type 2 diabetes
abnormal cholesterol
cardiovascular disease.

However, weight should not be viewed in isolation.

A person's blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, physical fitness, diet, smoking status and other factors provide important information about cardiovascular health.

BMI can be a useful population-level screening measure, but it has limitations and does not directly measure body fat or cardiovascular health.

If weight loss is appropriate for you, even modest sustained weight loss may improve cardiovascular risk factors.

Avoid crash diets.

Focus on changes that can realistically be maintained.

8. Get Enough Quality Sleep

Sleep deserves a place in cardiovascular prevention.

The American Heart Association now includes healthy sleep among its Life's Essential 8 measures of cardiovascular health.

Most adults generally need around 7–9 hours of sleep each night.

Chronic inadequate sleep is associated with conditions that can affect cardiovascular health, including:

high blood pressure
obesity
type 2 diabetes.

Sleep quality matters too.

If you regularly snore loudly, stop breathing during sleep, wake gasping or choking, or experience excessive daytime sleepiness, consider seeking medical assessment for sleep apnoea.

Untreated sleep apnoea can contribute to cardiovascular problems.

9. Know Your Family History—but Don't Assume Your Future Is Fixed

Family history matters.

Your risk may be higher if close relatives developed cardiovascular disease, particularly at unusually young ages.

Inherited conditions can also substantially increase risk.

One important example is familial hypercholesterolaemia, an inherited condition that can cause very high LDL cholesterol from an early age.

Tell your healthcare professional if parents, siblings or other close relatives have experienced:

early heart attacks
early strokes
very high cholesterol
sudden unexplained cardiac death
known inherited cardiovascular conditions.

Family history cannot be changed.

But knowing about it may lead to earlier screening and treatment of risk factors that can be changed.

Genes influence risk; they do not necessarily determine your destiny.

10. Assess Your Overall Cardiovascular Risk

Heart-attack prevention should not be reduced to one number.

A person may have mildly elevated cholesterol but several other risk factors.

Another person may have a single very significant risk factor that requires treatment.

Healthcare professionals therefore increasingly consider overall cardiovascular risk.

Factors may include:

age
sex
blood pressure
cholesterol
smoking status
diabetes
kidney function
family history
existing cardiovascular disease.

Risk calculators may be used to help guide decisions about preventive treatment.

These tools are intended to support—not replace—a discussion with a healthcare professional.

For some people, lifestyle changes are sufficient.

Others may benefit from medication to lower cholesterol, blood pressure or cardiovascular risk.

What About Alcohol?

Do not start drinking alcohol because you have heard that it protects the heart.

Older observational studies led to widespread claims that moderate alcohol consumption—particularly red wine—was beneficial for cardiovascular health.

Current guidance is more cautious.

Alcohol can raise blood pressure and contributes to several other health risks.

If you do not drink, there is no need to start for supposed heart protection.

If you drink alcohol, consuming less reduces alcohol-related health risks.

Should You Take Aspirin to Prevent a Heart Attack?

Do not start taking daily aspirin on your own simply because you want to prevent a heart attack.

Aspirin reduces blood clotting, which can be valuable for certain people who already have cardiovascular disease or have been specifically advised to use it.

But aspirin also increases the risk of bleeding.

For people who have never had cardiovascular disease, the balance between potential benefit and bleeding risk varies considerably.

Whether aspirin is appropriate should therefore be decided with a healthcare professional based on individual risk.

Can Supplements Prevent Heart Attacks?

Do not rely on dietary supplements as a substitute for established cardiovascular prevention.

No vitamin, herbal product or “heart detox” can compensate for uncontrolled:

high blood pressure
high cholesterol
diabetes
smoking
physical inactivity.

Some supplements can also interact with medicines.

If you are considering a supplement because of a cardiovascular concern, discuss it with a healthcare professional or pharmacist.

Know the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

Prevention is essential, but everyone should also recognise possible heart-attack symptoms.

Symptoms can include:

chest pressure, squeezing, heaviness, tightness or pain
discomfort spreading to an arm, both arms, shoulder, back, neck, jaw or upper abdomen
shortness of breath
sweating
nausea or vomiting
dizziness or light-headedness
unusual weakness or fatigue.

Symptoms do not always look like the dramatic chest-clutching scenes shown in films.

Some people experience relatively subtle symptoms.

Women can experience chest discomfort just as men do, but may also experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea or unusual fatigue.

Older adults and people with diabetes may sometimes have less typical symptoms.

What Should You Do If You Suspect a Heart Attack?

Treat a suspected heart attack as an emergency.

Contact your local emergency medical service immediately.

Do not attempt to drive yourself to hospital if emergency medical transport is available.

Do not wait for symptoms to become unbearable.

Heart muscle begins to suffer damage when its blood supply is blocked, so rapid treatment can make an important difference.

If someone becomes unresponsive and is not breathing normally, emergency services can guide bystanders through appropriate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) where available.

What If You Have Already Had a Heart Attack?

Having one heart attack increases the risk of another cardiovascular event.

Prevention becomes particularly important.

Your healthcare team may recommend:

cardiac rehabilitation
appropriate physical activity
dietary changes
smoking cessation
cholesterol-lowering treatment
blood-pressure treatment
antiplatelet medication
diabetes management
other cardiovascular medicines.

Take prescribed medicines as directed.

Do not stop cardiovascular medication simply because you feel better.

Cardiac rehabilitation is particularly valuable after a heart attack and combines supervised exercise, education, risk-factor management and support.

The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8

A useful way to think about long-term cardiovascular health is the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8.

The eight components are:

Eat better.
Be more active.
Quit tobacco and nicotine.
Get healthy sleep.
Manage weight.
Control cholesterol.
Manage blood sugar.
Manage blood pressure.

Rather than searching for unusual or “secret” methods of preventing a heart attack, these established factors provide a much stronger foundation for protecting cardiovascular health.

The Bottom Line

There is no single trick that prevents every heart attack.

Risk develops through a combination of genetics, ageing, health conditions, environmental exposures and lifestyle factors.

Some risk factors cannot be changed.

Many others can.

Among the most important steps are not smoking, controlling blood pressure, managing cholesterol and diabetes, being physically active, eating a heart-healthy diet, getting adequate sleep and maintaining an appropriate weight.

Just as importantly, know your numbers.

Blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose can become abnormal without producing obvious symptoms.

Regular health checks appropriate for your age and individual risk can identify problems before they lead to serious complications.

And if you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or cardiovascular disease, appropriate medical treatment can be just as important as lifestyle improvement.

Heart-attack prevention is not about finding six unusual secrets.

It is about consistently controlling the factors that decades of cardiovascular research have shown actually matter.

Medical Disclaimer

This article provides general educational information and is not a substitute for personalised medical diagnosis, treatment or cardiovascular risk assessment. Individual treatment targets for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and other risk factors vary according to medical history and overall cardiovascular risk. Do not start or stop prescribed medication based solely on this article. If you develop symptoms suggesting a heart attack, contact your local emergency medical service immediately.

Sources and Further Reading

World Health Organization — Cardiovascular Diseases
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseases-(cvds)

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Preventing Heart Disease
https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/prevention/index.html

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Heart Attack: Symptoms, Risk and Recovery
https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/heart-attack.html

American Heart Association — Life's Essential 8
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/lifes-essential-8