Heart attacks have been the major cause of death across the world. The heart attack statistics available to us from sources in the medical field support this fact clearly. So, in this article, let us go through some statistics to understand the connection between heart attacks and the age of a person.
A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is caused due to a blockage in the flow of blood to the heart. The main cause of heart attacks is believed to be fatty deposits on the walls of arteries. Fat deposits leads to the narrowing of the arteries and they get ruptured, leading to clotting of bloodstream. The statistics related heart attacks, by age, reveals that this ailment leads to more deaths as compared to various other serious ailments. Family history, work related stress, lack of proper sleep, smoking, drinking excessively and lack of exercise are the main reasons for heart attacks. Given below are some heart attack statistics which you need to read carefully to get an idea of how heart attacks affect people of different ages.
- The incident rate of heart attacks per 10,000 people is around 190 in people who are over 85 years of age, around 117 for those between 75-84 years of age, 66 for those between 65 and 74 years of age, 37 for those between 55 and 64 and 18 for people between 45 and 54.
- Among middle-aged people, i.e. those in the age group of 35 – 44, the rate per 10,000 is below 7, while for those between 0 – 34 years is 0.3 per 10,000.
- More than 8.7 million people in the United States suffer from angina.
- For all people (all age groups), heart attacks is projected to be the leading cause of death by 2020.
- Statistics also reveals that around 40% of American men have some kind of heart trouble (heart attacks included) after the age of 20.
- Statistics reveal that 1 in every 8 women aged between 45 to 64 has heart trouble, whereas 1 in every 4 woman has heart trouble above the age of 65.
- In the age group of 40 to 67, the number of heart attacks in African-American men is much more as compared to those in Caucasian men.
- The percentage of death is as high as 50% in cases when heart attacks are not immediately treated, irrespective of age.
- The total number of heart attacks occurring in the United States is around 1.5 million (mostly for older age groups), and the number of deaths are around half a million.
Men and Women
In the above paragraph, we got the general statistics for heart attacks as per the age of a person. The table given below will help you know statistics for men and women about heart attacks.
| Age | Criteria | Statistics for Men | Statistics for Women |
| Does not matter | Vulnerability to heart attacks | Men are more vulnerable to heart attacks as compared to women. More than 420,000 men are hospitalized for heart attacks every year. | Though women are less vulnerable to heart attacks, death due to heart attacks are more in women as compared to men. Around 350,000 women are hospitalized for heart attacks every year. |
| 40 and above | Death after first heart attack | In this age group, around 18% deaths occur after the first heart attack. | In this age group, in women, around 22% deaths occur after the first heart attack. |
| 45 and above | Death after first heart attack | In this age group, 32 % deaths occur after the first heart attack. | For women in this age group, the fatality rate is around 42%. |
| 45 and above | Risk of heart attack | In men, risk of heart attack increases greatly after 45 years of age | In women, the risk of heart attack increases greatly after 50 years of age. |
| 64 to 70 | Average age for first heart attack | The average age for first heart attack in men is 64. | The average age for first heart attack in women is 70. |
Technological advancement in the medical field has come as a big relief for heart patients. By following a healthy lifestyle and undergoing regular check ups, it is possible to live a life free of heart attacks. So take care of yourself.
