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Scientists know a lot about heart health in middle and older people. But data on the cardiovascular health of young adults is scarcer.
A new study in the journal Circulation sheds light on this little-understood period – and shows that it may be possible to reduce the possibility of heart attacks and strokes, even in people who start with poor heart health.
The study used insurance data collected from routine health exams for 3.5 million young adults in South Korea between 2003 and 2004. Many underwent follow-up exams in the years that followed.
Researchers at Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul assigned each patient a score based on six common measures of cardiovascular health: low cholesterol, healthy weight, participation in physical activity, blood sugar and blood pressure under control, and status. non-smoker. Next, they looked to find out how many people had been hospitalized for cardiovascular events such as a heart attack or stroke.
The higher the heart health score, the less likely participants were to be hospitalized for heart problems. This is not surprising given what scientists already know about the benefits of a heart healthy lifestyle.
But you might be surprised at the magnitude of the effect of each factor in cardiovascular health. A one-point increase in the score was associated with a 42% reduction in the risk of heart attack and a lower risk of heart failure and stroke. And patients who had lower scores but improved them over time were able to reduce their risk.
This has implications for physicians and patients. This suggests that while it is best to start with good heart health and healthy habits, gains are possible even for those who do not have good heart health as adults. It also implies that it is worth monitoring the heart health of young adults, even those without a history of cardiovascular events.
Unsurprisingly, the study found that people who started with and maintained good heart health were the least likely to be hospitalized or die from a stroke or heart attack. But even though young adults are less likely to have cardiovascular events, researchers say, it’s worth keeping track of them.
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