Being Young Won’t Protect You from Heart Attack

If you are under the age of 40, you probably don’t spend a lot of mental energy worrying about heart attacks. But maybe you should give it a little more thought.

It’s certainly true that heart attack risk is much higher for older people, particularly those over the age of 65. Yet we can’t ignore the fact that heart attacks are on the rise among younger adults.

Research has shown that over the past decade or so, the proportion of young people having heart attacks has been rising about 2 percent each year. And of the heart attacks afflicting people under the age of 50, one in five struck those under the age of 40.

What was once a rarity has become more common.

Increased Vulnerability

To better understand what’s going on, consider the general risk factors for heart disease. Some people have a greater risk simply because of their genetics. There’s not much you can do about that. But there are a wide range of other medical factors that come into play. Among them:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Metabolic syndrome (a combination of the above risk factors)
• Chronic kidney disease
• History of preeclampsia or early menopause

When you run through this list, it should be obvious that many of these risk factors are influenced by dietary and lifestyle choices. And that’s where we see the potential for increased risk creep into the lives of younger people.

From an early age, people have become conditioned to eat processed foods that are high in fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar. It also doesn’t help that many people aren’t exercising enough to offset these unhealthy, high-calorie diets.

This has resulted in higher obesity rates among teens and young adults. Accompanying this are high cholesterol and high blood pressure – other factors that put your heart under stress.

Researchers are also starting to learn more about the potential danger of environmental exposure. For example, micro- and nanoplastics (microscopic pieces of plastic shed by water bottles and other packaging) may be linked to cardiovascular disease.

Healthy Heart Strategies

If you are at elevated risk for heart disease, the good news is that there are numerous tactics you can employ to protect your heart. Among them:

Stop smoking: The chemicals in tobacco can damage your heart and blood vessels. Smoking also increases your cholesterol levels, narrowing your blood vessels and making your heart work harder.

Medications: Your doctor can prescribe medications to lower your cholesterol and blood pressure levels. In some instances, weight-loss medications can also be used.

Exercise: The American College of Cardiology recommends at least five 30-minute exercise sessions each week. You don’t have to wear yourself out, but you should aim for moderate intensity.

Lose weight: Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and other heart-threatening conditions. This can be measured by your Body Mass Index (BMI), which uses your weight and height to calculate your weight rating. You can find BMI calculators online. A BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight. You may be surprised that even losing 3 percent to 5 percent of your weight can yield significant benefits.

Eat better: There are numerous diet plans from which to choose. Among the best for your heart is the Mediterranean diet, which focuses on foods that reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. It stresses fruits and vegetables; beans and legumes; low-fat or fat-free dairy; fish and poultry; olive oil and other healthy fats; and whole grains.

The diet urges you to avoid sugar and sugary beverages; excessive alcohol, salt, refined carbohydrates (including white bread and pastries); saturated fats and processed meats. The goal is to avoid adding calories your body doesn’t need or use.

A Call to Action?

Convincing young people of their vulnerability can be a challenge. Regardless of the potential threat, it’s too easy to dismiss it as something that could never happen to you.

But keep in mind that heart disease – and heart attack – is the No. 1 killer in the U.S. There were 702,880 such deaths in the U.S. in 2022, or roughly one every 33 seconds.

There’s no reason to expose yourself to that risk unnecessarily. Through lifestyle changes, medications, exercise, better nutrition and exercise, you can get your heart disease risk back to where it should be.