Yvette BrownHeart disease is a very broad term that covers almost any issue involving the structure or operation of the heart. Heart attacks and heart disease are probably considered to be conditions that primarily affect older people.
Teenage heart attacks are, however, obviously rare but not an impossible diagnosis. Here, we will list several risk factors that can cause heart attacks in teenagers.
What Can Cause A Heart Attack In A Teenager
Teenage heart attacks are incredibly uncommon. Teens are more likely to experience sudden cardiac arrest, though it is still uncommon. Despite the frequent confusion between these two terms, they don’t have the same meaning.
Heart attacks happen when the blood supply to the heart suddenly stops, most often as a result of coronary artery disease. A blockage in your arteries prevents enough blood from reaching your heart.
Your heart stops effectively pumping blood, which is known as sudden cardiac arrest. Your body’s vital organs, like your brain and lungs, aren’t able to receive blood.
For many of the same reasons as adults, teenagers can have a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
However, because they haven’t had as much time to harm teens, lifestyle factors tend to be a less significant factor.
Adults’ hearts become less functional as a result of a decades-long accumulation of factors such as smoking, inactivity, high cholesterol, and others.
Congenital, electrical, or structural issues are more frequently to blame in adolescents and young adults. Examples of these problems include the following:
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- anomalous aortic origin of the coronary artery (AAOCA)
- catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT)
- arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC)
- long QT syndrome
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
Heart Disease Risk Factors For Teenagers
High Blood Pressure
In the US, less than 3% of children suffer from hypertension. However, because it has no symptoms, high blood pressure, a serious condition in children, frequently goes unnoticed. Make sure that your child’s blood pressure is measured during their yearly checkup.
- What causes high blood pressure in teens?
Children’s high blood pressure (hypertension) is not a congenital heart condition, but it may be inherited. Children born into families with a history of high blood pressure must therefore have their blood pressure closely monitored.
The majority of children’s high blood pressure cases are caused by another illness, such as kidney or heart disease. This is called secondary hypertension.
Cholesterol
Despite the fact that only 15% of kids have high cholesterol, research has shown that fatty plaque buildup starts in childhood and continues into adulthood. Atherothrombosis is the medical term for this disease process.
Heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, develops from atherosclerosis over time.
- What is cholesterol?
All body cells contain cholesterol, which is a lipid—a substance that resembles fat. To create cell membranes and some hormones, your body needs cholesterol, which is produced entirely by the liver.
Animal-derived foods, such as meats, eggs, and dairy products, as well as foods high in saturated fats, cause an increase in cholesterol when consumed.
In the bloodstream, unique carriers known as lipoproteins carry cholesterol to cells for use. Low-density and high-density lipoproteins (LDL and HDL) are two of the most significant lipoproteins.
Doctors examine the relationship between your total cholesterol level, LDL, HDL, and a type of fat called triglycerides.
- What causes high cholesterol in children and teenagers?
Cholesterol issues can run in families in some situations. This is called familial hypercholesterolemia. Before the age of five, children who have this condition—which affects 1% to 2% of kids—should have their cholesterol levels tested.
Obesity, high blood pressure, and smoking are additional factors that can lead to high cholesterol.
Smoking
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that almost 25% of high school students use tobacco products and that every day, nearly 4,000 children under the age of 18 try their first cigarette.
In actuality, before finishing high school, 90% of smokers had started smoking. This means that if kids can avoid smoking in class, they’ll probably never start.
Every year, smoking-related heart diseases claim more than 90,000 lives. Up to 75% of heart disease cases among young people, who would otherwise have a very low risk of developing the condition, may be due to cigarette smoking.
Additionally, the risk of developing heart disease rises the longer a person smokes.
- How does smoking affect the heart?
Cigarettes and tobacco use, which are better known for raising your risk of lung cancer, are also linked to heart disease and peripheral vascular disease (disease of the blood vessels in the arms and legs).
Most teen smokers are dependent on the nicotine in cigarettes, according to the Surgeon General. Nicotine causes the blood vessels to narrow, which puts more strain on the heart.
Even when teenagers want to stop smoking, nicotine addiction makes it very difficult for them, and they experience the same withdrawal symptoms as adults.
Diabetes
Compared to adults without diabetes, those who have diabetes have a 2-4 times higher risk of dying from heart disease. When blood sugar isn’t kept under control enough to stay within a healthy range, a problem arises.
Your blood vessels are damaged by high blood sugar, which increases the likelihood that fat will amass in your arteries and lead to atherosclerosis.
Diabetes patients are also more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, two chronic health conditions that greatly increase the risk of a heart attack.
Obesity
A major risk factor for heart disease is obesity. Given that one in three adult Americans is obese, this is concerning. Obesity has been connected to more than 110,000 deaths in the US annually, according to recent studies.
In recent years, childhood obesity has become an issue in the US. Between 16% and 33% of kids and teens are obese, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. As a result, obesity-related issues like type 2 diabetes, which is typically only seen in adults, have increased significantly.
Preventing or treating childhood obesity may lower the risk of adult obesity because obese adults are more likely to be obese children. As a result, this might lower the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses linked to obesity.
- What is obesity and what causes it?
Our bodies are composed of water, fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. If you are obese, you have an excessive amount of body fat.
Obesity can have simple causes for some people. they are eating more calories than they are burning during exercise and daily life. Genetics, aging, gender, lifestyle, and illness are possible additional causes of obesity.
Children who are obese run the risk of developing adult obesity because, according to research, our childhood fat cells do not disappear.
Children who are obese may have 5 times as many fat cells as children who are normal weight. Adults who diet will see a reduction in fat cell size but not in total fat cells.
How Can Teens Improve Their Heart Health
It’s never too early to be concerned about your heart health. By being aware of their family history and risk factors, adolescents can take early preventative measures for cardiovascular disease.
In order to avoid heart disease, kids and teenagers should be encouraged to develop heart-healthy habits early in life. Heart-healthy practices include, for example:
- getting enough sleep
- eating a balanced diet
- getting regular exercise
- avoiding smoking and substance use
