Experts have found that the risk of heart disease in men begins to increase seven years earlier than in women.
A medical study conducted in the United States has shown that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, with the rate being higher among men than women, while in men the risk of heart disease starts to rise between the ages of 30 and 40.
In a study spanning more than three decades, researchers discovered that making heart disease screening routine after the age of 30 could help reduce related deaths. The research included more than 5,100 individuals who were between 18 and 30 years old in the mid 1980s, and their health was monitored until 2020.
At the start of the study, all participants were healthy, which allowed researchers to identify when the risk of heart disease begins to increase. They found that in men this risk starts rising several years earlier than in women, meaning that a 50 year old man has about 5 percent higher risk than a woman of the same age.
Similarly, the risk of heart failure and heart attack increases earlier in men, although the risk of stroke remains almost the same for both genders. Researchers said that the development of cardiovascular disease is a process that takes decades, and its early signs can be detected in young adults.
According to the study, factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes increase the risk of heart disease, but surprisingly this risk is still higher in men compared to women. The age of 35 is considered crucial for men, after which their risk of heart disease rises rapidly and continues into middle age.
