An alarming rise of heart disease in young women has been seen by a new projection study out of the US.
Nearly a third of women aged 22 to 44 will have been diagnosed with a cardiovascular disease by 2050, according to the research.
The study, published this week in Circulation, is based on US data between 2010 to 2020, where data shows the prevalence of serious cardiovascular disease and stroke for the demographic will rise from 10.7 per cent to 14.4 per cent, affecting more than 22 million people.
Already the top cause of death for women in Australia, and in the US where the study takes place, heart disease poses many dangers.
In women, heart disease often presents with different symptoms than men, making it easier to go undetected and untreated. Rather than severe chest pain, women might experience symptoms like extreme fatigue, nausea, indigestion, dizziness, cold sweats and pain in the jaw, shoulder or arms.
One early risk factor of heart disease is hypertension, a form of high blood pressure. The study’s projections have shown this risk factor could spike, with nearly 60 per cent of women having high blood pressure by 2050, which is up from 50 per cent in 2020.
The rates of numerous cardiovascular conditions are seen as likely to rise, including coronary disease, heart failure, stroke and atrial fibrillation.
By 2050, the prevalence of diabetes could increase by 10 per cent, while obesity could increase by about 17 per cent.
In girls aged two to 19, the study found similar trends showing obesity rates were predicted to increase from 19.6 per cent to 32 per cent by 2050.
Wake-up call
Lead author of the study and cardiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Karen Joynt Maddox says the research is a “wake-up call”.
“Despite all of our amazing advances in treating cardiovascular disease, we have not made many advances in preventing the disease. And in fact, the projections would suggest that we’re doing worse and worse in preventing the cardiovascular risk factors,” said Joynt Maddox.
“Cardiovascular disease is a life course disease. We can see risk factors start in childhood.”
Joynt Maddox says the alarming forecast from this latest study points at a need for better forms of prevention.
She says new GLP-1 drugs could help mitigate risks of cardiovascular disease and obesity, but there’s many unanswered questions where more research must occur.