Heart Attacks and Its Causes For years, heart attacks have struck fear into the eyes of Americans. All cardiovascular diseases together are the widest cause of death in the country, with heart attacks alone accounting for about twenty-three percent of all fatalities (Staff,1997). Doctors have tried to reduce this risk over time by advising patients about lowering cholesterol levels, for high cholesterol has long been thought a major contributor to heart-related deaths. Although controversy surrounds recent discoveries in biology and health, new studies have lead scientists to believe that heart disease is not necessarily cholesterol related, but connected to levels of hom