Heart attacks/disease in younger age groups rising?

[pentangles]

I was just reading about this, which seems to have gained more awareness since the pandemic. A 30% increase in heart issues in people aged 25-44.

According to the BHF, this is likely connected to poor diet, GP access and lack of intervention from government (+austerity), since there has been a sharp rise as of 2012.

What do you think might be contributing? I had no idea about this previously so am a bit shocked. One link suggested more smoking/vaping, but surely there are less young people doing that today than 40 yrs ago?

You often hear about how health/fitness focussed younger generations are, how they are boozing less than my own gen X did (!!!), yet something appears to be wrong.

Any thoughts?

Cocaine. Use has been incredibly widespread amongst millennials and now Gen Z who are keener on drugs than alcohol.

I know a few distant uni associates who have dropped dead of heart attacks playing sport in their late 30s, early 40s who were keen consumers.

My dsis is a doctor and said that if a young person ever came into A&E with a suspected heart attack, the first thing she asked was whether they'd had any cocaine recently. Apparently it's often cocaine that does it?

Would make sense. Every wanker in London seems to do coke these days and there are sadly a lot of wankers about!

X posted with this one

I was going to say COVID may have had an impact but @quarterofanonion got there before me. Not the vaccine, the actual virus. So I guess young people who are genetically less resistant to it who would have died if they were older might be more likely to have heart problems instead.

Stress and anxiety must play a part.

You can't outrun a bad diet and 5km once a week wouldn't do anything.

There's a holistic piece that's missing. Loneliness, stress, poor MH services, living in a shitty place, relationship breakdowns, poverty, poor diet and no exercise, time-poorness and money poorness all play into it.

When I lived in London I couldn't run o/s because... men. I couldn't afford a gym. If I worked two jobs I could afford a gym but had no time. I didn't have a car so there was some benefit of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) which is actually beneficial. I run now because I'm lucky and live somewhere I can run o/s. Without driving for miles.

If housing prices weren't so high, there would be more chance kids were walked to school, more good food available, more space for NEAT for kids.

That would be my guess too. UPFs are actually everywhere (including many 'foods' people don't immediately see as UPF) and what they do to our health is actually really shocking. It's not just about the weight gain, it's how things like emulsifiers deciment our natural biome balance.

Considering how rare this must be, what does a 30% increase represent?

as I agree, for relatively tiny numbers it could well be drug use, these minority interests can have serious consequences (but still, only rarely)

heart disease overall has enormously decreased from the mid to late 20th century, but for much of that it was the number 1 killer in the uk.

that was due to poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking. These factors cause heart disease but they are very long term impacts of these factors. Heart disease of old men, not young people.

Obesity won’t cause heart disease in a 20 year old*. It commonly caused heart disease in 50 year olds in the 1970s.

poor diets don’t cause heart disease in a 20 year old* but did very commonly in a 60 year old in the 1980s.

*please don’t come at me with the one random obese 20 year old you google a news article on, you know exactly what I mean

I’d say cocaine has been increasing in use since i was in my twenties…. its not uncommon to see people coming out of toilets rubbing their noses. Or even sniffing off their hands while in the dance door/in a crowd.

Lots of people are sedentary. Not even walking anywhere.

Bad diets, energy drinks.

Steroids

Overweight.
UPF's.
Stupid caffeine and protein drinks.
Lack of exercise. Or doing all weights and neglecting cardio.

I will admit I have had to bite my tongue at work when I see the twenty somethings queueing for the lift up only three floors after a smoke / vape break and carrying a billion calories of Starbucks. I'm 50 and they should be thrashing me up the stairs. Heaven knows what state they'll be in at 30 or 40.

The only young person I know who has heart failure is a steroid user.

It must be the issues that tended to affect men in their 50s around 20-30 years ago.

So poor diet, lack of exercise, drinking, smoking/vaping (obviously vaping didn't exist back then but it seems to be pretty unhealthy)

But it's even worse now as people don't go out to get Gregg's, they have it delivered to their bed. There's less manual based jobs, fast food has become more available generally. Sports facilities being closed down, PE reduced in schools etc.

Sad really. Especially as there's more information now about his to maintain a healthy diet. So it can't be ignorance.

What are the actual numbers?

a 30% increase can mean from 0.1 % to 0.13%

so technically a 30% increase by in reality a handful of people which diet, drug use and caffeine drinks can easily explain

yes there might be the odd case related to the Covid vaccine but that will be the case with any vaccine but others don’t inspire as many tin pot conspiracy theories

There will be people collecting data trying to come to very informed conclusions and that sort of data is not “my mum’s neighbour’s cat sitter’s cousin said………”

Excellent comment.

I don’t believe bad diet or ufps. They’ve been around since the 80s, and diets were awful then- fried everything, not a sip of water all day, maybe a portion of veg with dinner. Microwave meals, findus crispy pancakes and the like. 7up, hubba bubba, all the crap that’s illegal now pumped into it

also, heart disease is not the most immediate impact of that. There are far more things that impact your heart and arteries far more Quickly.

Interesting take, thanks. Not sure what the 30% increase represents. Articles often obscure more than they illuminate, but I dare say more research is needed.

Oh and by the way the reason heart disease has decreased so much from those days? Less smoking, and much improved diets.

that’s why cancer (the disease of age) is now the number 1 killer. We are the healthiest we’ve been at any point in time

But would relatively recent use of UPF's cause a heart attack in an otherwise young healthy body?

As a PP said, it generally take more time to cause harm. An upset gut microbiome isn't going to knock someone dead of a heart attack surely?

Agree about stress. All pervasive. Would be difficult to isolate any one cause but there are so many right now

Covid affected my heart. Almost back to normal two years on. I know two other people who had the same experience.

I’ve just remembered I did know a 23 year old who died of a heart attack- it was an aneurysm caused by a genetic defect.

subsequently the whole family were tested and there were other carriers. I understand this is a common reason for young people to have a heart attack

i guess there could be all sorts of reasons for increases in genetic defects

You get people seem a pretty unhealthy bunch on average. I know not all young people are but vapes, drug use, poor diets, fast food, energy drinks must be having an impact.

People are so eager to think Covid is over or 'just a cold'!

https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/covids-damage-lingers-heart

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/10/09/covid-19-may-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-for-years

www.heart.org/en/news/2024/01/16/how-covid-19-affects-your-heart-brain-and-other-organs

I blame the Covid vaccine - absolute poison.

I think the BHF might have stated more research is needed that doesn't get funding. Especially concerning the effects of long covid, which doesn't get anywhere near the attention it deserves.

No one wants to think about it, and I highly doubt organisations within the US are going to have much luck now either.

how do you know?