Obesity and diabetes linked to increased heart attack risk in young adults, finds ESC
24 Aug 2021 --- Young heart attack victims are more likely to be obese and have high blood pressure or diabetes, compared to their peers, according to new research presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2021.
The study shows that while the parental history of a premature heart attack is linked with heart events at a young age, it is not the only contributing factor.
“The findings underline the importance of preventing smoking and overweight in children and adolescents to reduce the likelihood of heart disease later in life,” says study author Professor Harm Wienbergen of the Bremen Institute for Heart and Circulation Research, Germany.
“Understanding the reasons for heart attacks in young adults is important from a societal perspective due to their employment and family responsibilities,” he continues.
While the parental history of a premature heart attack is linked with heart events at a young age, it is not the only contributing factor.However, there is limited data on the predictors of heart events in this group.
Study highlights
The case-control study compared the clinical characteristics of consecutive patients admitted to hospital with acute myocardial infarction at 45 years of age or younger with randomly selected individuals from the general population in the same geographic region in Germany.
Cases and controls were matched according to age and gender.
A total of 522 patients were enrolled from the Bremen STEMI registry, and 1,191 matched controls were identified from the German National Cohort (NAKO).
The proportion of active smokers was more than three-fold higher in the young heart attack group compared to the general population (82.4 percent vs. 24.1 percent; p<0.01). Patients were more likely to have high blood pressure (25.1 percent vs. 0.5 percent; p<0.01), diabetes (11.7 percent vs. 1.7 percent; p<0.01) and a parental history of premature heart attack (27.6 percent vs. 8.1 percent; p<0.01) compared to their peers.
Patients were more often obese, with a median body mass index (BMI) of 28.4 kg/m2 compared to 25.5 kg/m2 for controls (p<0.01). In contrast, the proportion consuming alcohol at least four times a week was higher in the general population (11.2 percent) compared to heart patients (7.1 percent; p<0.01).
The researchers analyzed the independent risk factors for acute myocardial infarction at 45 years of age or younger.
The analysis was adjusted for age, sex, high blood pressure, diabetes, active smoking, body mass index, alcohol consumption, years of school education, and birth in Germany.
Metabolic factors play a crucial role
Alcohol consumption was associated with a lower odds of a heart attack at a young age, with an odds ratio of 0.3.
Having hypertension was associated with an 85-fold odds of a heart attack aged 45 or under. The corresponding odds of a premature heart attack related to active smoking, diabetes mellitus, parental history and obesity (BMI 30 kg/m2 or above) were 12, 5, 3 and 2.
Alcohol consumption was associated with a lower odds of a heart attack at a young age, with an odds ratio of 0.3.
“Our study shows that smoking and metabolic factors, such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, are strongly associated with an increased likelihood of premature acute myocardial infarction,” continues Wienbergen.
“A protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption has been described by other studies and is confirmed in the present analysis of young patients.”
“The findings add impetus to the argument that young people should be educated about why it is important to avoid smoking and have a healthy body weight,” he concludes.
Earlier this month, the American Heart Association highlighted the conclusions of a longitudinal study, which found that children with high cardiovascular risk factors into midlife had poorer memory and learning abilities.
Meanwhile, it was recently flagged that younger consumer demographics, improved bioavailability, and clean label ingredients with clinical backing are some of the leading trends in the cardiovascular health sector.
Obesity remains a crucial industry concern. Last month, UK charity Action on Sugar called on cereal manufacturers to remove child-friendly packaging images from all unhealthy cereals, following an investigation finding 92 percent of children’s breakfast cereals remain high in sugar.
Edited by Elizabeth Green
