Wanted star Max George has sparked concern after revealing he has been hospitalized with heart problems and may have to undergo surgery over the festive period.
Fans will no doubt be surprised that the 36-year-old has suffered from problems traditionally associated with older people with much less healthy lifestyles.
But the ultra-fit athletic singer is far from the only young and apparently healthy man to suffer from heart problems, which in most cases are life-threatening.
In fact, the number of younger people with fatal heart problems, including heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases, is increasing.
And in some cases, the patients don’t look like typical heart patients.
Heart attacks in people aged 25 to 29 have almost doubled in the last decade, while the number of patients under 40 has risen by a quarter, NHS data from last year shows.
The level of heart attacks among people in England in their twenties is the highest for a decade.
Official figures show that men are twice as likely to be hospitalized for a heart attack as women.
The Wanted star Max George has sparked concern after revealing he has been hospitalized with heart problems.
The star revealed she may have to undergo surgery over the festive period, which she said was a “big shock”.
Meanwhile, strokes are also increasing among young men.
A recent MailOnline analysis of NHS data revealed that strokes among men under 39 have increased by almost a quarter in the last two decades.
Experts say part of the increase is due to the rise of unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity and high cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease.
However, there are some heart problems that can develop or start from birth, regardless of the foods you eat and how much exercise you get.
One of the most common is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which affects 1 in 500 people in the UK and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.
It causes the heart muscles and the walls of the heart chambers to stretch, thicken, or stiffen. This affects the organ’s ability to pump blood throughout the body, explains the NHS.
Chest pains, shortness of breath, fatigue, and fainting are warning signs of a heart condition.
In most cases, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is inherited, but an unhealthy lifestyle, viral infection, or underlying medical condition can also be a trigger.
One of the most common is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, it affects 1 in 500 people in the UK and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.
Another condition that primarily affects young people is long QT syndrome, which has an average age of onset of 14 years. Those who die from this disease are mostly around 32 years old.
It is relatively rare, affecting up to 1 in 2,000 people in the UK and causes the heart to stop pumping blood to the brain properly, meaning it is temporarily left without oxygen.
Warning signs include fainting, seizures, and heart palpitations, but fainting can also occur.
In most cases the heart rate returns to normal after a few minutes and the person will regain consciousness.
Stress, strenuous exercise, and high doses of caffeine can be triggers for these episodes, as can a slow heart rate during sleep.
However, many people only realize they have the condition after having an ECG.
Symptoms such as heart palpitations or flutters, dizziness, difficulty breathing, chest pain and fainting are warning signs that you should speak to your GP.
Arrhythmias are another problem that can lead to life-threatening heart problems.
They affect around 0.5 percent of people under 40 years of age and approximately two in every 100 children and young people.
It causes a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat: it may beat too fast, too slowly, or irregularly.
Shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, and chest pain are telltale signs of this condition.
It can also make you feel as if your heart is racing, palpitating or missing beats in episodes that can last a few seconds or even a few minutes, the NHS warns.
Another type of abnormal heartbeat that affects one to three in every 1,000 adults and children worldwide is Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
It occurs when there is an extra electrical connection in the heart that allows signals to bypass the usual path and form a short circuit.
This means that the signals travel in a loop and cause a rapid heartbeat.
The extra electrical connection is caused by a strand of heart muscles that grows as the baby develops in the womb.
Symptoms such as heart palpitations or flutters, dizziness, difficulty breathing, chest pain and fainting are warning signs that you should speak to your GP.
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is another type of electrical problem that affects approximately 1 in 400 people in the UK.
Although it can occur at any age, it often first begins in children and young adults.
For many people, their first symptoms are a very fast heart rate, even when they are at rest.
A normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). But for people with SVT, their heart rate may suddenly exceed 100 bpm.
Some people may also have chest pain, feel short of breath and tired.
Conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and long QT syndrome can be treated with medications to control blood pressure, correct an abnormal heart rhythm, remove excess fluid, or prevent blood clots.
However, in more severe cases of long QT syndrome and arrhythmia, patients may need a pacemaker or heart surgery.