Study evaluates the associations between predisposing risk factors and heart attack in young women
A new study led by Yale for the first time identified which risk factors were more likely to trigger an acute heart attack or infarction for men and women 55 years and under.The researchers found significant sex differences in risk factors associated with AMI and in the strength of the association among young adults, showing the need for specific gender prevention strategies. For example, hypertension, diabetes, depression, and poverty have a stronger relationship with AMI in women compared to men, they find.
While heart attacks are often associated with older adults, this population-based case study examines the relationship between various risk factors related to AMI among younger adults. The researchers used data from 2,264 AMI patients from Virgo (variations in recovery: the role of sex in the results of the study of young acute myocardial infarction and 2,264 population -based controls suitable for age, gender, and race from health and national nutritional examinations and national nutrition Survey (Nhanes).
The key findings are that young men and women often have different risk factors. Seven risk factors -; Including diabetes, depression, hypertension or high blood pressure, smoking at this time, AMI family history, low household income, and high cholesterol -; associated with a greater risk of AMI in women. The highest association is diabetes, followed by smoking at this time, depression, hypertension, low household income, and AMI family history. Among men, smoking at this time and AMI’s family history is the main risk factor.The level of AMI in younger women has increased in recent years, said Yuan Lu, assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine and the main writer of this study.
Risk analysis caused by population is used to measure the impact of different risk factors at the population level. This study found that seven risk factors, many have the potential to be modified, collectively contribute the majority of the total risk of AMI in young women (83.9%) and young men (85.1%). Some of these factors -; including hypertension, diabetes, depression, and poverty -; has a greater impact on young women than they do among young men, Lu and his colleagues find.
“This study talks about the importance of studying young women who specifically suffer a heart attack, a group that has been mostly ignored in many studies and not as big as the number of young women diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, Professor of Medical Harold H. Hines Jr. In Yale, Director of the Research and Evaluation Center (Core), and senior writer of this paper.
Increasing awareness between doctors and young patients is the first step, the researchers said. National initiatives, such as the “Go Red For Women” campaign from the American heart association, must be expanded to increase awareness about the risk of cardiovascular disease in young women, they said. Health service providers also need to identify effective strategies to increase optimal evidence -based guidelines regarding preventing AMI. For example, a risk prediction tool for each patient can help doctors identify which individuals are the most risky and develop treatment strategies.Accounting for AMI subtypes may also be effective. The researchers found that many traditional risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, were more common in the type -1, while the AMI subtypes were different -; including -2 ami (subtype associated with higher death) -; less common.
