Heart Attacks Rising Under 40

While the average age for a first heart attack is 65.5 for males and 72 for females, the rate for those under 40 has been climbing by 2% each year for the last decade. Today, approximately one in five people who have a heart attack is under the age of 40. A primary driver of this trend is the increasing prevalence of traditional risk factors in younger populations. These include rising rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. In fact, from 2009 to 2020, obesity rates among young adults rose from 32.7% to 40.9%. Smoking remains a major contributor, with over half of young heart attack patients being current smokers. Beyond traditional factors, substance use, including cocaine and marijuana, is more frequently a factor in heart attacks among the youngest patients compared to older adults. For young women, the risks and outcomes can be different. They are more likely than men to die from a first heart attack and may experience atypical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and fatigue, which can be mistaken for other conditions. Despite their youth, the prognosis for young heart attack survivors is not necessarily better. Once a young person has a heart attack, they face the same risk of subsequent cardiovascular events, including another heart attack or stroke, as an older individual. Non-atherosclerotic causes, meaning issues not related to the hardening of the arteries, account for up to 20% of heart attacks in younger patients. Additionally, studies show that in-hospital deaths for severe heart attacks in adults under 55 increased between 2011 and 2022.