Heart disease affects men earlier: this age represents a critical tipping point

The risk of heart disease is mainly associated with older age. And I notice that my friends often feel that way too. But personally, I feel that lifestyle is far more important. I know many young people who, in my opinion, are more susceptible to certain diseases because they have a poor diet and a poor lifestyle in general, compared with, for example, my 70-year-old grandparents who lived relatively healthy lives all their lives. But it’s true that there are some factors you can’t do anything about. And one of them is that men have a higher risk of heart disease than women.

By about age 35, the risk of heart disease is the same for men and women. It depends mainly on their lifestyle, but in general young people are less likely to have problems because they also have a higher immunity and their body can cope with problems. This is of course true if you live a healthy lifestyle. If you eat fast food every day, have a sedentary lifestyle and don’t get enough sleep, you’re probably more likely to have problems in your 30s than an older person who plays sports and has an exemplary diet.

It breaks down with age

Research shows that at 35, things change. Men start to be more prone to heart problems. A study that monitored the health of more than 5,100 people over many years points this out. After more than three decades, scientists have described thanks to it that while women on average go to heart problems at 57, men are already at 50.

The biggest difference, however, was measured for coronary heart disease. During this disease, the coronary arteries narrow due to deposits. The heart is not adequately supplied with oxygen and a heart attack occurs, which is the most common consequence of this problem. In the case of stroke, the researchers found no significant difference between the sexes.

Could it be common problems?

Scientists are, of course, trying to figure out what causes men to have more problems at a younger age. So they looked at the differences between men and women in, for example, how they eat, how they exercise, whether they smoke, drink coffee or drink alcohol. But there were no significant differences in these respects.

Similarly, diseases that often lead to heart disease(diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol) are no more common in men than in women. The only significant difference was in blood pressure, which was shown to be higher in men. However, this in itself does not shed much light on the situation.

Study leader Alexa Freedman said that more research is therefore needed. “Heart disease develops over decades and early markers are detectable in young adulthood,” she said on the topic earlier. Research revealing large differences between men and women regarding heart disease has taken a long time, she said. But they need to be given more time to learn the whole truth.