A brand new study shows that girls 55 and younger have quite a lot of risk aspects for heart attacks — including hypertension, diabetes, depression, and low household income.
The study was published online on May 3, 2022. JAMA Network Open.analyzed data from 2,264 heart attack patients age 55 and younger, comparing them with age-, sex-, and race-matched adults who had not had a heart attack.
The researchers found that seven risk aspects collectively accounted for many of the heart attack risk in each men and women. These aspects were diabetes, depression, hypertension, current smoking, family history of heart attack, low household income, and high cholesterol. But in men, the important risk aspects for heart attack were current smoking and family history. For women, each of those risk aspects rank lower than diabetes. Depression, hypertension, and low household income also look like more strongly related to heart attack in these women than a family history of heart attack.
The investigators said their findings suggest that sex-specific strategies are needed to forestall heart attacks in younger men and women.
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