Heart attacks are thought to be an age-related disease, but new data show they are increasing in healthy young adults.
About 0.3 percent of Americans ages 18 to 44 suffered a heart attack in 2019, but last year that number rose to 0.5 percent, or one in 200.
While it may still seem 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.
Several factors are believed to play a role, including rampant drug use, obesity, sedentary lifestyles and poor diets. But emerging research also suggests that the Covid pandemic plays an important role.
The virus itself causes widespread inflammation in the body that can damage the heart or cause blood clots.
Data shows that cases of heart attacks are increasing, Dr. Bhatt said, but doctors still disagree about what could be causing the increase.
Chloe Burke suffered cardiac arrest at age 21 while cheerleading at the University of Houston. He is now educating others about cardiac arrest.
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Additionally, millions fewer people visited the doctor overall during the early years of the pandemic, meaning chronic conditions that could contribute to heart disease risk are going undetected.
One theory is that, in severe cases, Covid can cause the heart to become inflamed, a condition known as myocarditis, which causes damage that makes it difficult to pump blood. Alternatively, people have linked Covid vaccines to heart inflammation.
But all the main health authorities, including the CDCNote that the risk of having this reaction to a vaccine is much lower than the risk you run by not getting vaccinated in the first place, because severe Covid is much more likely to damage your heart.
Dr. Deepak Bhatt, director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, said TODAY: ‘There are definitely more young people coming in with heart attacks.
‘There is data to support that. “What is causing this is more controversial.”
A 2024 study from Duke It found that the number of people of all ages who died from heart failure has steadily increased: from 82 deaths per 100,000 people in 2012 to 106 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021.
That increase was greatest in adults under age 45, who saw a 905 percent increase in the number of people who died from a heart complication over the nine-year study period.
Chloe Burke, a healthy 21-year-old, collapsed in 2019 while she was a cheerleader at the University of Houston. The Texas native suffered a cardiac event and had to undergo open heart surgery in order to survive.
Years later, a 38-year-old triathlete named Matias Escobar collapsed at the finish line of the New York City triathlon in 2023.
He had no pulse for 12 minutes and doctors discovered that the father of one of them had suffered a heart attack that left him a widow.
He fell into a coma and underwent emergency surgery, and doctors were unable to determine what had caused the problem in the first place.
Similarly, Rachel Hutta 24-year-old woman from New York who developed severe stabbing pain in her left arm while going to the bathroom in August 2024.
The young, healthy woman suddenly experienced the “worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life.”
Still, paramedics and medical staff dismissed her symptoms and told her she was having a panic attack.
Eventually they agreed and tests showed that Mrs Hutt had suffered a massive, unexplained heart attack.
Several factors are believed to influence the increase in heart problems among young people.
For starters, in recent years, research has begun to link the COVID-19 virus to an increase in heart problems.
A 2023 study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that deaths from heart attacks in people ages 25 to 44 increased nearly 30 percent during the early years of the pandemic.
Dr. Susan Cheng, a cardiologist at Cedars Sinai and author of the 2023 study, said TODAY: ‘Young people are obviously not supposed to die of a heart attack. In reality, they are not supposed to have a heart attack.
Another theory is that the virus can cause inflammation in many blood vessels, which could make someone more likely to suffer blood clots that lead to a heart attack.
Finally, Dr. Cheng suggested, the severe stress some people face while infected with the virus could also cause spikes in blood pressure and subsequent heart problems.
Matías Escobar almost died while competing in the New York City triathlon. Doctors said his vital signs offered no clues: cholesterol and blood pressure had been checked before competing.
Ms Hutt shared on TikTok that emergency staff overpowered her and forced her to sit in the waiting room while she was in severe pain from her heart attack.
In addition to COVID stressors, Dr. Bhatt suggested that substance abuse habits in younger generations could be contributing to the increase. “I hate to say it, but you know there is more substance abuse today,” Dr. Bhatt said.
Vaping, cocaine, and even marijuana use can potentially contribute to an increased risk of blood clots and, in turn, heart attack.
Finally, levels of obesity and diabetes among younger people have increased steadily since the beginning of the 21st century. Diabetes rates in people under age 45 doubled between 1995 and 2015, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Additionally, obesity rates in Americans ages 20 to 44 rose from 32 percent in 2009 to 40 percent in 2020, according to a study by the American Medical Association reported.
Both of these factors can increase a person’s chance of developing heart complications, such as a heart attack, because they tend to raise blood pressure and put more pressure on the heart.
Additionally, 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 higher risk of developing lifestyle conditions that can lead to a heart attack.
Outside of the broader trend, research has also shown that approximately 1 in 50,000 young athletes die each year from sudden cardiac arrest.
This is likely related to how hard the heart has to work during rigorous exercise, causing tension that thickens the heart muscles or causes an irregular heartbeat, according to Mayo Clinic cardiologists. Tragically, this sometimes also occurs when an athlete has undiagnosed heart disease.
Although heart attack in young people remains rare overall, Dr Laxmi Mehtasaid the director of Preventive Cardiology and Women’s Cardiovascular Health at The Ohio State University, it is important for young people to be aware that it is possible.
Dr Mehta said: “It is alarming that younger people do not feel they are at risk of heart disease, but it is not surprising.” Most young people think that heart disease only affects older people, but that is not the case.’
There are also steps young people can take to reduce the risk of ever ending up in this position.
Dr. Bairey Merz recommends doing everything you can to control your weight by exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet.
Additionally, getting enough sleep and managing stress is crucial to managing heart attack risk, Dr. Bhatt said.
