By Stephen Beech
Fatal heart attacks are rising among younger people, with women more likely to die than men, according to a new report.
Heart attack deaths rose between 2011 and 2022 among adults under the age of 55, according to the study.
And women aged 18 to 54 were more likely than men to die after a first heart attack, say scientists.
Researchers found that the number of deaths after first hospitalization for a severe heart attack increased “significantly” among men and women aged 18 to 54 over the study period.
The number of deaths was higher among women than men in that age range for both a heart attack caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery and one resulting from a partial coronary artery blockage.
The analysis of almost one million hospitalizations between 2011 and 2022 in the United States was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The findings were both surprising and concerning, according to study lead author Dr. Mohan Satish.
He said: “U.S. heart attack deaths appeared to have plateaued or decreased, based on observational studies that extended into 2010.
“However, that decline appears to have been driven largely by older adults and men.
“We often think heart attacks are mainly an older person’s problem; however, our findings indicate that younger adults, especially women, are at real risk.”
Researchers compared data for two heart attack subtypes: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI).
ST-segment elevation refers to a segment on an electrocardiogram tracing.
STEMI is a more severe form of heart attack caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery. NSTEMI is a less severe form caused by partial blockage of a coronary artery.
Among 945,977 first-time hospitalisations, nearly 40% were for patients with STEMI and more than 62% were NSTEMI.
The findings showed that women were more likely to die in hospital from a first-time heart attack at 3.1% for those with STEMI and 1% for NSTEMI, compared to men at 2.6% for STEMI and less than 1% for NSTEMI.
While women experienced similar rates of in-hospital complications compared to men, they received fewer cardiovascular procedures to identify and treat the causes of their heart attack.
Younger women were the most likely to have non-traditional risk factors for a heart attack – such as low income, kidney disease, or non-tobacco drug use – than men of the same age.
Dr. Satish, a clinical cardiovascular disease fellow at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, said: “Improving heart attack outcomes in adults younger than age 55, particularly women, will require earlier risk identification and consideration of non-traditional risk factors to improve treatment.”
He added: “Future studies need to consider how non-traditional risk factors impart heart attack risk along with their impact on traditional risk factors.”
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