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Heart attacks are no longer confined to the older age groups. A recent study published in the journal Circulation found that the risk of having heart attacks was rising in young women and the researchers are still trying to figure the reason behind this rise.
Researchers observed that across five-year intervals, the total percentage of heart attack patients who got admitted in the hospitals across the United States, between ages 35 and 54, rose from 27 percent in 1995-99 to 32 percent in 2010-14. The largest increase was recorded in young women, say researchers.
During the said period, the percentage young women who were admitted rose from 21 percent to 31 percent while there was a 3 percent increase among the men, from 30 percent to 33 percent.
As per a report in CNN, Melissa Caughey, senior author of the study and a research instructor in the Division of Cardiology at the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, said:
A heart attack occurs, when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle, is severely reduced or cut off completely.
This happens because coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood flow can slowly become narrow from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances.
When the heart muscle is starved of oxygen and nutrients, it is called ischemia. When damage or death of part of the heart muscle occurs as a result of ischemia, it is called a heart attack.
For the study, researchers looked at data on 28,732 cases of hospitalizations for heart attack where patients were between ages 35 to 74. This data was collected between 1995 and 2014.
For the analysis, the researchers examined the data of the young patients who were between the ages 35 and 54 and who made up 30 percent of the total cases of hospitalizations. They found that while the rate of hospitalizations decreased among young men, there was rise of hospitalizations among young women.
The researchers found that in comparison to men, the young women were more likely to have medical insurance along with a history of hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and stroke. The young women were also found to be mostly non-smokers.
According to the Indian Heart Association (IHA), 50 percent of all heart attacks in Indians occur under 50 years of age and 25 percent occur under 40 years of age.
So no, senior citizens are no longer the only faces of heart attacks. Your average person in 20s or 30s is right there giving company.
Speaking to FIT previously, Dr Ashok Seth, Head of Cardiology, Fortis Hospitals, had said:
Dr Seth adds that our poor lifestyle is triggering this, and if this continues the future looks even more bleak.
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