It used to be incredibly rare to see anyone under age 40 suffer a heart attack. But now, it's becoming more common among people, especially men, in their 20s and early 30s.
Dr. Murtuza Ali, cardiologist at LSU Health New Orleans, says while high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol problems continue to be risk factors for heart disease...
"We're getting better at treating folks who are a little bit older with this stuff. And, we may not, perhaps, be as vigilant or as aware of it in younger folks because that was not the group that was, typically getting the disease before."
But, he says men are now getting heavy earlier. And, twice as many 25 to 44-year-old men now smoke than the over-65 crowd. Also, The heart-attack symptoms that might alarm a 70-year-old are often taken lightly by someone who’s 30.
That's according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology, that says younger men are now experiencing the risk factors for heart attacks normally seen in older guys.
"The incidents of high blood pressure, the incidents of diabetes are rising in the younger population. So, what it might represent is a need for more surveillance and more aggressive screening for these conditions that are risk factors for heart disease."
Dr Murtuza says men may also be experiencing stress at a younger age.
"It's not surprising, at all , to think that we might be more stressed than we were in previous generations, although I don't know that we can quantify that quite as tightly as we do high blood pressure and diabetes."
If you’re a middle-aged or older guy, the chances of your having a heart attack are as low as they’ve been in decades. But, men who’ve yet to hit the big four-oh are bucking that trend, experiencing higher heart-attack rates than ever.
"This is a call to attention for all of us, both on the health care side and on the patients' side, that being under the age of 40 does not prevent or preclude or protect us from heart disease, and if we have risk factors, we need to be attentive to that."