Severe Heart Attack Deaths Soar Among Under-55s

Americans in their 30s and 40s are seeing a troubling shift in a health statistic typically linked to their parents or grandparents. A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association finds that deaths in the hospital from a first severe heart attack rose 57% among 18- to 54-year-olds between 2011 and 2022. Most of the nearly 1 million patients analyzed were men, but women in this age group who suffered heart attacks died at higher rates than men, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 3.1% of younger women hospitalized for a first heart attack died, compared to 2.6% of men. The fatal cases involved "severe" heart attacks, when a coronary artery is fully blocked, rather than the more common, partially blocked type.

Researchers point to diabetes, chronic kidney disease, drug use, and obesity as key drivers, with women more likely than men to carry several of these risks. About 60% of patients had high blood pressure, over half had high cholesterol and smoked, and a quarter had diabetes. The findings land as separate projections suggest nearly 6 in 10 adult women could have high blood pressure by 2050. Cardiologists say the takeaway is that heart risk starts earlier than many think—often by the mid-30s—and warn that "young people are getting missed" when it comes to prevention and long-term risk screening.

A study last year found that the age-adjusted mortality rate from heart attacks in the US dropped almost 90% between 1970 and 2022, Gizmodo reports. The improvements, however, were concentrated among older people and men, according to Dr. Mohan Satish, lead author of the new study. Satish says younger people should be aware that their heart attack risk "goes beyond the classic things that they might have picked up from family members and others, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure." He says that beyond drug use and kidney disease, the study found that having a lower income was another risk factor, especially for women, as it meant they might not be able to afford treatments.