A heart attack usually occurs when the flow of blood to your heart is severely reduced or blocked. 

The blockage is often triggered by the build-up of plaques, or fatty substances such as cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and fibrin, in your arteries.

The pesky mixtures can rupture and lead to the formation of a blood clot that completely blocks your blood vessels, stirring up the medical emergency.

While it’s not fully clear why those plaques rupture, certain triggers can set off plaque formation in the first place.

Fortunately, a cardiologist has revealed the “hidden causes” behind these fatty substances as well as heart attacks.

Dr Ernst von Schwarz, cardiologist and author of The Secrets of Immortality, outlined risk factors that fall into two categories: the ones you can control and the ones you can’t.

Causes, including your family history and diabetes, can be impossible to impact fully. However, factors like smoking, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, high cholesterol, and a sedentary lifestyle can be switched up.

In order to reduce your risk of a heart attack occurring, the cardiologist recommended controlling these factors.

He told Express.co.uk: “Control blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels by exercising 20 to 30 minutes per day five days per week.”

This will not only keep these health culprits in check, but it will also reduce the amount you spend sitting down – another risk factor for heart attacks.

Physical movement isn’t complete without a healthy diet. Therefore, the cardiologist recommended adopting a Mediterranean-style diet.

Combining the authentic lifestyles of people who live by the Mediterranean Sea, this eating regimen is generally packed with vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, whole grains, fish and olive oil.

Another important step you need to take is to stop smoking, Dr von Schwarz explained. For example, using the NHS Quit Smoking app could help you give up the harmful habit.

The doctor added: “Get enough rest – not only to adopt a healthy sleep hygiene, but also to use free time to relax, meditate or pray to provide some degree of stress-less soul and mind care in adjunction to health care.”