Heart attacks are considered a disease of old age, but new data shows that they are more common in healthy young adults.
About 0.3 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 44 had a heart attack in 2019, but last year that rose to 0.5 percent, or one in 200.
While that still seems like a relatively low number, it represents a 66 percent increase in cases in just four years, which doctors call “alarming.” It also means that one in five heart attack patients is under 40 years old.
A number of factors are believed to play a role, including rampant drug use, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition. But emerging research also suggests the Covid pandemic is playing a major role.
The virus itself causes widespread inflammation in the body that can damage the heart or lead to blood clots.
Data shows that the number of heart attacks is increasing, Dr. Bhatt said, but doctors still disagree on what could be causing the increase.
Chloe Burke went into cardiac arrest at the age of 21 while cheering at the University of Houston. She now informs others about cardiac arrest
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Furthermore, millions fewer people overall visited doctors in the early years of the pandemic, meaning chronic conditions that could contribute to cardiovascular disease risk went undetected.
One theory is that in severe cases, Covid can cause the heart to become inflamed, a condition known as myocarditis, leading to damage that makes it harder to pump blood. Alternatively, people have linked the Covid vaccines to heart infections.
But all major health authorities, including the CDCBe careful: the risk of you having this reaction to a vaccine is much lower than the risk you face if you don’t get vaccinated in the first place, because severe Covid is much more likely to damage your heart.
Dr. Deepak Bhatt, the director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, told TODAY: ‘There are certainly more younger people coming in with a heart attack.
‘There is data to support that. What causes this is more controversial.’
A 2024 study from Duke found that the number of people of all ages dying from heart failure is steadily increasing: from 82 deaths per 100,000 people in 2012 to 106 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021.
That increase was greatest among adults under 45, who saw a 905 percent increase in the number of people dying from a heart complication during the nine-year study period.
Healthy 21-year-old Chloe Burke collapsed while cheerleading at the University of Houston in 2019. The Texas native developed a heart condition and had to undergo open-heart surgery to survive.
Years later, a 38-year-old triathlete was mentioned Matias Escobar collapsed at the finish of the 2023 New York City Triathlon.
He had no pulse for twelve minutes and the doctors discovered that the father of one of them had had a heart attack.
He fell into a coma and underwent emergency surgery, and doctors were unable to determine what had caused the problem in the first place.
In the same way, Rachel Hutta 24-year-old from New York who developed severe shooting pain in her left arm while using the bathroom in August 2024.
The healthy young woman suddenly had the “worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”
Yet EMTs and medical staff dismissed her symptoms and told her she was suffering from a panic attack.
They finally relented and tests revealed that Mrs Hutt had suffered an unexplained massive heart attack.
A number of factors are believed to play a role in the increase in the number of young people affected by heart disease.
For starters, research has begun in recent years linking the COVID-19 virus to an increase in heart problems.
A 2023 study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that heart attack deaths among people ages 25 to 44 increased by nearly 30 percent during the early years of the pandemic.
Dr. Susan Cheng, cardiologist at Cedars Sinai and author of the 2023 study: told TODAY: ‘It is of course not the intention that young people die of a heart attack. They’re actually not supposed to have a heart attack at all.’
Another theory is that the virus can cause inflammation in many blood vessels, making a person more likely to develop blood clots that can lead to a heart attack.
Finally, Dr. Cheng suggested that the severe stress that some people face while infected with the virus could also cause spikes in blood pressure and resulting heart problems.
Matias Escobar almost died while competing in the New York City triathlon. Doctors said his vital signs gave no clues – cholesterol and blood pressure had all been checked before the match
Ms Hutt shared on TikTok that she was disabled by emergency services and had to sit in the waiting room as she suffered severe pain as a result of her heart attack
In addition to COVID stressors, Dr. Bhatt suggested that substance abuse habits among younger generations could be contributing to the increase. “I hate to say it, but you know there’s more substance abuse these days,” Dr. Bhatt said.
Vaping, cocaine, and even marijuana use can all potentially contribute to an increased risk of blood clots and, in turn, heart attack.
Finally, levels of obesity and diabetes in younger people have risen steadily since the turn of the 21st century. According to the American Diabetes Association, the number of diabetes cases in people under the age of 45 doubled between 1995 and 2015.
Additionally, obesity rates among Americans ages 20 to 44 have risen from 32 percent in 2009 to 40 percent in 2020, according to a study by the American Medical Association reported.
Both factors can increase the chance that a person will develop heart complications, such as a heart attack, because they tend to increase blood pressure and put more strain on the heart.
Also, some doctors, such as Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, professor of cardiology at Cedars Sinai, suggest that modern eating habits that rely on fast food could be contributing to the “diabesity epidemic.”
Dr. Bairey Merz told Yahoo Life that since younger people are more likely to have grown up eating fast food and highly processed snacks than older generations, they may be at greater risk of developing lifestyle conditions that could lead to a heart attack.
Beyond this broader trend, research has also shown that approximately 1 in 50,000 young athletes die from sudden cardiac arrest each year.
This is likely related to how hard the heart has to work during strenuous exercise – leading to strain that thickens the heart muscle or causes an irregular heartbeat, researchers said. Cardiologists at Mayo Clinic. Tragically, this also sometimes happens when an athlete has an undiagnosed heart condition.
Although heart attack in young people is still rare overall, Dr. Laxmi MehtaAccording to the director of Preventative Cardiology and Women’s Cardiovascular Health at Ohio State University, it is important that young people are aware that this is possible.
Dr. Mehta said: ‘It is alarming that younger people do not feel they are at risk for heart disease, but that is not surprising. Most young people think that heart disease only occurs in the elderly, but that is not the case.’
There are also steps young people can take to reduce the risk of ever finding themselves in this position.
Dr. Bairey Merz recommends that you do your best to keep your weight in check by exercising regularly and eating a well-rounded diet.
Additionally, getting enough sleep and managing stress are crucial for managing the risk of heart attack, Dr. Bhatt said.