Doctors Raise Alarm over Soaring Young Heart Attack Deaths
Several doctors have spoken out to raise the alarm over the growing numbers of young patients they are seeing dying suddenly from unexpected heart attacks.
Doctors say that up to a staggering 20 percent of all heart attack deaths are among people under the age of 40.
A heart attack is caused by a sudden loss of blood flow to part of the heart, usually due to a coronary artery becoming blocked.
“Between 10 to 20 percent of my heart attack patients are now under the age of 40,” says Dr. Martin Lowe, a consultant cardiologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and The Portland Hospital, both in London.
“In the US, data shows around one in five heart attack patients is under 40 and we’re catching up in the UK.
“When I was a junior doctor it was extremely rare to see young people — most patients were smokers in their 50s and 60s.”
Dr. Joe Mills, a consultant cardiologist at England’s Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, adds:
“We have really noticed the trend for younger people from mid-20s upwards having heart attacks in the past five years in particular.
“Now as a cardiologist, you wouldn’t even raise your eyebrows when seeing someone in their late 30s — it’s becoming fairly typical, which is frightening.”