Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for nearly one in three deaths each year.¹ Yet, despite countless awareness campaigns, myths and misconceptions persist. These myths not only shape how people see their own risk but also influence whether patients and clinicians take preventive steps. Clearing them up isn’t just about accuracy, it’s about saving lives.
Many people assume women and younger adults are in the clear. The truth? Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men. Younger adults aren’t immune with the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among adults under 40 more than doubling since 2010.6
What makes this especially concerning is that women can exhibit different symptoms than men; things like fatigue, nausea, or shortness of breath instead of classic chest pain. Because these aren’t always recognized as cardiac red flags, women are more likely to be underdiagnosed or treated later.²
Cholesterol and blood pressure are important, but they do not tell the whole story. Nearly half of patients admitted with coronary artery disease have LDL cholesterol values below 100 mg/dL.3 Traditional risk scores were built on population-level data and cannot fully account for individual biological variation. Many individuals fall into “intermediate” categories that provide little certainty about their true risk. This gap leaves both patients and clinicians uncertain about whether to initiate preventive treatment.
We’ve all heard it: chest pain, pressure, pain radiating down the arm. But about 1 in 5 heart attacks are silent, with no classic symptoms at all. These events are often discovered only later, during unrelated medical evaluations, yet they carry similar prognostic implications. The absence of symptoms does not mean the absence of disease, and reliance on symptoms alone leaves too many individuals unprotected.
Exercise, good nutrition, staying at a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco; these are powerful steps that lower risk. But genetics still plays a role.
In a major study across multiple cohorts, even individuals who adhered to the most favorable lifestyles experienced a higher incidence of heart disease if their genetic risk was elevated.4 Lifestyle remains indispensable, but it cannot be the sole safeguard.
This may be the most dangerous misconception of all. Prevention works. Medications like statins, blood pressure control, and early lifestyle changes significantly reduce the risk of a first event.⁵ The challenge is not whether prevention is effective, but whether risk can be identified accurately enough to act before the first heart attack.
When you put all of these myths together, a clear pattern emerges: our most common tools for assessing heart disease and heart attack risk leave blind spots. Normal cholesterol, no symptoms, or a healthy lifestyle may feel reassuring, but they don’t erase risk. That’s why Cardio Diagnostics was founded: to bring precision to heart disease prevention and detection. By combining genetic insights with epigenetic patterns (which reflect environment and lifestyle), our clinician-ordered tests provide clarity traditional methods can miss.
Epi+Gen CHD™ helps quantify a person’s likelihood of a future heart attack, so action can be taken before it happens.
PrecisionCHD™ detects coronary heart disease early, when preventive strategies are most effective.
The future of cardiovascular care is about shifting from reaction to prevention, moving from waiting for symptoms to acting earlier. Both science and real-world outcomes point to the same reality: earlier, more precise detection saves lives.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Rob Philibert, CMO Cardio Diagnostics
References
CDC. Heart Disease Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
Mehta LS, Beckie TM, DeVon HA, et al. Acute Myocardial Infarction in Women: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016.
Sachdeva A, Cannon CP, Deedwania PC, et al. Lipid levels in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease. Am Heart J. 2009.
Khera AV, Emdin CA, Drake I, et al. Genetic Risk, Adherence to a Healthy Lifestyle, and Coronary Disease. N Engl J Med. 2016.
Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA, et al. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019.
Franklin B, Barkley E, Bartelt K, Deckert J. Cardiovascular Disease Rates in Young Adults Have More Than Doubled Since 2010 . Epic Research. https://epicresearch.org/articles/cardiovascular-disease-rates-in-young-adults-have-more-than-doubled-since-2010.
