Men's Heart Attack Risk Rises At A Younger Age Than You Might Think

There is a heart attack gender gap, Harvard Health shared. Men tend to get their first heart attacks younger than women (65, on average, vs an average age of 72). 

More men than women are diagnosed with heart disease, too, though some researchers think this could be partly down to underdiagnosis among women. 

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, has looked further into when heart attack risk begins to rise for men and women. 

They found that men’s heart attack risk begins to climb in their 30s, and appears to do so much more rapidly than women’s. 

35 may be a crucial age for men’s heart disease risk

In this study, researchers looked at data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. 

This involved over 5,100 participants who were aged between 18 and 30 in the mid-90s. They were followed until 2020; none had heart health issues at the start of the study. 

They found that men reached 5% incidence of heart diseases and events like heart attack, stroke, and heart failure by age 50.5, seven years younger than the women in the study. 

Meanwhile, men saw a 2% heart disease incidence a decade younger than women.

Additionally, something seemed to happen to men’s heart attack risk at 35. While women’s and men’s heart disease risk was about the same in their early 30s, men’s rose more rapidly starting at age 35 than women’s did.

“Sex differences in cardiovascular disease risk emerge by age 35, persist through midlife, and remain even after accounting for differences in cardiovascular health,” the paper reads.

The researchers think more young men should get screened for heart conditions

Speaking to Northwestern Now, a senior study author Alexa Freedman suggested it might be a good idea to start screening for health conditions earlier. 

“Heart disease develops over decades, with early markers detectable in young adulthood,” she said. 

“Our findings suggest that encouraging preventive care visits among young men could be an important opportunity to improve heart health and lower cardiovascular disease risk.”