This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by Doctor General Internal Medicine Doctor - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Acute myocardial infarction is often mentioned a lot in the elderly, but that does not mean that acute myocardial infarction does not occur in young people. In fact, this pathology can occur at any age. So what is the cause of myocardial infarction in young people?
1. Causes of myocardial infarction in young people
For the elderly, the main cause of myocardial infarction is atherosclerosis that has been present for many years. As for young people under 40 years old, it is mainly due to blood clots in the arteries due to stress, obesity, and smoking for many years.
In the elderly, atherosclerosis occurs gradually, causing the heart muscle to have a certain adaptation to ischemia. For young people, the artery is very clean and smooth, suddenly a thrombus appears, blocking the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle. The myocardium itself in young people has not experienced gradual ischemia as in the elderly, so it does not have time to adapt and the myocardium is rapidly necrotic. Young people often subjectively do not think they have this disease, so it is more dangerous to life.
2. Death rate from myocardial infarction in young people
According to estimates by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the mortality rate from acute myocardial infarction in the following age groups is:
Children under 1 year of age: less than 0.2/10,000 People 15 - 24 years old: 0.2/100,000 Adults 25 - 34 years old: 1.4/100,000 Adults 65 - 74 years old: 262/100,000
3. Causes of myocardial infarction in children
We see that acute myocardial infarction can occur at any age but in children is very rare. In adults, myocardial infarction is an acquired coronary artery disease, due to the accumulation of life-threatening atherosclerotic plaques that cause coronary artery spasm or thrombosis. But children are not like that, the most common cause is coronary artery abnormalities or acute inflammation of the coronary arteries.
When the coronary artery is blocked, it leads to the heart muscle block due to the lack of blood supply by that artery. The ischemic myocardium releases inflammatory cytokines and causes cell death. The end result is arrhythmia or ventricular tachycardia, leading to ventricular fibrillation or bradycardia causing cardiac arrest. This leads to peripheral circulatory loss and collapse in children.
4. How to prevent heart attack in young people?
In order to effectively prevent myocardial infarction in young people, it is important to eliminate risk factors. Some of the following changes can help us have a healthier heart:
No smoking: This is the best way to maintain health and prevent heart attack, lung cancer and many dangerous diseases other; Keep weight at a suitable level: Gaining weight will lead to an increase in blood cholesterol levels, causing many dangerous diseases, especially heart attack. Therefore, it is important to keep the weight at the right level. If you are overweight, have a weight loss plan to have a healthy heart, prevent heart attacks and many other diseases; Proper nutrition is one way to prevent heart attack. Fat in the blood tends to increase with age. A diet low in fat and low in cholesterol will help prevent this process. It is necessary to control the type of food and the amount of food eaten every day, choose a way to prepare foods with little or no fat such as boiled, blanched, steamed, etc., and limit the use of fried foods. Do not eat animal viscera such as liver, brain, kidney, heart... Should eat more vegetables and fruits. Regular exercise can help prevent a heart attack. Try to exercise 3-4 times a week, 30-60 minutes each time. When you are middle-aged or elderly and have heart disease or a medical condition, you should consult a doctor before exercising; Practice gentle sports such as walking, slow running, cycling, swimming... with weak patients, according to the following method: practice for 30 seconds to a few minutes and then take a break equal to or twice as long. double training time, continue to repeat until the total training time is about 40 minutes or so, until the enhanced physical strength can last longer than the training time; Avoid stress that damages your heart or increases your risk of many other diseases. Relax at work and even on holidays. This is a good way to prevent a heart attack; Limit alcohol consumption: Drinking too much alcohol can increase blood pressure, increase weight, increase blood triglycerides and cause cardiac arrhythmias, leading to myocardial infarction; Regular health checkup: very important, especially for people with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history of heart attack.
Cardiovascular Screening Package - Basic Cardiovascular Examination of Vinmec International General Hospital helps to detect cardiovascular problems at the earliest through tests and modern imaging methods. Packages for all ages, genders and especially will be essential for people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
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