Everything you need to know

Young people cannot avoid heart attacks

More and more common heart attacks in young people. This is mainly due to lifestylepassive lifestyle And bad habits), although in some cases genetics is also behind this. And because we are so young, there is a buildup of fats and cholesterol and other harmful substances in our arteries, which is known as “atherosclerosis.”

We interviewed in Infosalus Dr. Alfonso Valle Muñoz, cardiologist at La Salud Hospital in Valencia, who explains to us that heart attack This occurs because there is a “sudden stop” of blood flow to the heart because one of the arteries carrying blood to it is blocked; so that the blood does not reach the heart muscle.” In fact, this expert warns that every half hour until blood reaches the heart, 7% of its muscle dies, which can lead to complications.

So remember that heart attacks occur more often from 45-50 years in men; in women after menopause, from 50-55 years, where the incidence is equal to that in men.

Heart attacks on the rise among the youngest

At the same time, we asked the doctor if there was Young people are not immune from heart attacks to which he responds that, although we may not believe it, there has been an increase in the number of heart attacks in young people in recent years: “It is rare for a 20-year-old to have a heart attack, but especially from the age of 30, heart attacks have been observed, and the incidence of is growing in our country, as in other places in the world.”

What could it be? due? Dr. Vallee cites the example of the United States, where last year life expectancy statistics showed that it had declined due to a larger population of young people who had suffered acute cardiovascular disease and died. “A third of them are dying,” he says.

Main reasons

Moreover, an expert from La Salud Hospital claims that “most heart attacks it could prevent”, if healthy lifestyle habits are maintained. Remember also that the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC) estimates that “every third Spaniard” has at least two risk factors (cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and others).

“Heart-healthy lifestyle” A Mediterranean diet and exercise are essential to prevent one of these episodes. Often what needs to be done is not done and it is an investment in the medium term. So, if I don’t start doing the right things from an early age, the consequences will come sooner,” warns the cardiologist.

In his opinion, another key point due to which prices predictably increased. Number of heart attacks among young people It is he sanitary system was “brokenduring the COVID-19 pandemic, so that control of those risk factors discussed above has failed: “That cholesterol patient who has not had a test for a year and a half, or that lack of control that occurred during prevention, is not is not paid in 2020 or 2021, if not later, and that is why we are seeing higher heart attack deaths among young people in these years.”

Now, as the FEC emphasizes, after a heart attack, high survival rate in young animals, and the prognosis for those hospitalized with a heart attack maintains a low mortality rate both in hospital (1.2%) and during follow-up (2%); At the same time, for people over 45 years of age, these figures are usually higher – 6.9% in hospitals, according to calculations.

Are the symptoms different from those of adults?

On the other hand, we asked Dr. Valle whether the symptoms of heart attacks in young people differ from those in adults, to which the specialist points out that in general these phenomena They are identified in a similar way, regardless of age: “Signs of a heart attack are pressing pain in the center of the chest, sometimes going to the neck or shoulder, sudden and with high intensity. Moreover, in younger patients, the symptoms are almost more intense and severe than in older patients.”

As for women, it is more than proven that they receive worse care for heart attacks and die more often than men. “Typically women tolerate symptoms better than men and because of this they go to hospital late, which is key because the longer we take in the request carethings “they will get worse”– complains a cardiologist from La Salle.

On the other hand, he says that women more hidden symptoms than in men, which in turn encourages the health worker not to think of a heart attack in the first place, when he again remembers that time is of the essence: “In women, the pain is not as typical, but is more latent in nature. , they tell worse stories. Sometimes it is more a symptom of fatigue than chest pain, and on the other hand, the symptoms may be less intense. In addition, women tolerate pain better than men.”

Sport is a protective factor

In this regard, the specialist recalls that sport is protective factor in the moment prevent heart attacks. “This is the best medicine or pill we can have to control risk factors and avoid these situations,” says Dr. Valle.

It emphasizes that if I am exercising and notice fatigue or chest pain, I should stop the activity and evaluate what needs to be done. “In high-intensity or high-impact sports, such as ultramarathons, which are now fashionable, in a middle-aged patient with no previous sports habits, we must appreciate how the heart before these extreme events,” he recalls.

To this end, he says that in other countries it is more adjustable what’s called “joint screening” that at approximately 35-40 years of age a stress test is carried out to check the health of athletes. “It’s not an immortality pill, but it is a simple way to assess the health of the heart’s arteries at an age when they might become problematic,” he says.

Finally, this doctor admits that there are many patients who ask him whether COVID-19 vaccination causes cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, to which this cardiologist emphasizes that no, “COVID-19 vaccination is not associated with an increase in the number of heart attacks.” ” Of course, it is clarified that this infection did cause blood clots, which could lead to heart attacks, early in the pandemic, when it was most serious.

Subscribe to the Informativos Telecinco newsletter and we will send you news by email.

Follow us on our WhatsApp channel and stay updated with all the news so far.