Heart disease risk rises faster for men by the mid-30s

A long-term study in the Journal of the American Heart Association followed more than 5,000 adults from young adulthood and found men’s 10-year cardiovascular risk began to diverge from women’s around age 35, with men reaching clinically significant levels about seven years earlier than women.

A long-term study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association followed 5,112 Black and white adults who enrolled between ages 18 and 30 and were tracked for a median of 34.1 years. Researchers calculated rolling 10-year risk windows to see how short-term cardiovascular risk changed with age. They found that men and women had similar risk in early adulthood but began to diverge at about age 35. The analysis covered overall cardiovascular disease and subtypes including coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. Key findings: - Men's 10-year cardiovascular risk began to exceed women's at about age 35, based on rolling 10-year risk estimates. - By about age 50, roughly 5% of men had developed cardiovascular disease; women reached a similar incidence around age 57, a difference of about seven years. - The sex difference was most pronounced for coronary heart disease; stroke incidence was similar between sexes and heart failure showed little early difference. Summary: The study reports earlier emergence of cardiovascular risk in men compared with women in this long-term cohort, particularly for coronary heart disease. The authors noted that traditional risk factors did not fully explain the gap, and experts cited remaining questions about biological and social contributors; updated American Heart Association risk equations now allow clinicians to estimate cardiovascular risk starting at age 30.