Cardiologist reveals heart attack myth you’ve been believing

Most people think a heart attack strikes suddenly with gripping chest pain — but Dr Sanjay Bhojraj says that couldn’t be further from the truth. In an Instagram post on February 18, the California-based cardiologist debunked what he calls the “biggest myth about heart attacks,” revealing that heart disease often develops silently for years before any symptoms appear.

“Most people don’t realize they’re at risk until something forces them to,” Dr. Bhojraj explained. “The problem isn’t that heart disease hits suddenly. It’s that it progresses quietly, undetected, often for decades.” He urges patients to stop waiting for obvious warning signs and to focus on early detection.

Dr. Bhojraj criticizes routine check-ups where lab results are quickly glanced at and patients are told, “everything looks okay.” Instead, he recommends asking your healthcare provider to review cholesterol patterns, inflammation markers, and blood pressure trends, and to explain what those numbers mean for the next 5, 10, or even 15 years.

Having spent years in emergency rooms performing late-night admissions and high-stakes procedures, Dr. Bhojraj has seen countless patients shocked by a sudden heart attack. “The warning signs were there,” he recalls. “The risk was building, but no one connected the dots early enough.”

Now, his practice focuses on proactive prevention through personalized strategies tailored to each patient’s physiology. His advice for those who feel “fine” but are unsure of their internal health is simple: “Don’t wait for your body to get louder.”

With heart disease remaining the leading cause of death worldwide, Dr. Bhojraj’s message is clear — knowledge, early intervention, and personalized strategies can save lives before a crisis ever hits.