Over the past ten years, there has been a worrying rise in the number of heart attacks among adults under the age of 40. What used to be a health apprehension for people in their 60s now seems horribly prevalent among working professionals in their late 20s or even early 30s.
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But what exactly causes heart attacks in young adults?
This blog unfolds scientific reasons, the role of work-related stress, a bad lifestyle, the linkage with COVID-19, and, more importantly, the remedy.One in five people who suffer from heart attacks are now under the age of 40, according to a study that was published in JAMA. This number is increasing by 2% annually. Reports from India suggest that currently, 25% of people suffering from heart attacks are under 40 years old. It is troubling that cardiologists are seeing an increase in the number of young professionals who present with heart attacks because of work and lifestyle factors.
Scientific Link Between Heart Health and Stress
Stressors in the workplace increase cortisol and adrenaline production, which eventually cause elevations in blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and increased inflammation, which are major risk factors for a heart attack. The situation is exacerbated by unsteady work hours, inactivity, irregular meal times, and a culture of hustle.
Indian professionals face increased heart risks. According to a 2023 survey, more than 75% of Indian employees feel stressed at work every day, with 40% of workers citing job insecurity as the biggest driving force.
High-pressure sectors such as IT, finance, healthcare, and media show much higher incidences of early heart disease, showing a fairly strong link to unsteady work hours and mental stress.
The COVID-19 & Heart Connection
COVID-19 survivors have a 55% increased risk of having a heart attack, according to research that was published in Nature Medicine. This risk was still present a full year after recovery. Cardiovascular inflammation caused by COVIDs can result in myocarditis, which can cause clot formation and raise the risk of a heart attack. Young professionals, when returning to work after recovery from COVID, resumed work stress too prematurely, without having had the proper cardiovascular rehabilitation, thereby heightening their vulnerability.
Heart Health & Alcohol The study on INTERHEART points out that high consumption of alcoholic drinks increases the risk of heart attack by 40%, in particular amongst younger populations.
Binge-drinking (defined as consuming more than 5 drinks in one sitting) sets the heart racing and brings sudden increases in blood pressure and irregular heart rhythm, with an increased degree of acute stress on the heart muscle.
If combined with smoking, bad nutrition, and a sedentary lifestyle, bingo: an insidious cocktail that has spellbound generations into oblivion.
Poor Diet & Sedentary Lifestyle
Young professionals are highly dependent on processed foods for convenience-somehow laden with trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and salt, which have been well established as contributing factors toward atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries).
Worklife that is sedentary Heart disease risk goes up by 147% if you sit for more than 8 hours per day.