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The numbers should be — no pun intended — heartening. Some research shows heart attack rates in the United States have declined in the last decade or two among those age 35 to 74. The good news, as it were, is still tempered with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics showing heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men and women.
But there are disturbing numbers in the data. Heart attacks among young people are increasing. One multi-state study of data from 1995 to 2014 showed that heart attacks among young people rose from 27% at the beginning of the period to 32% at the end.
It’s worse news for women, where the increase in young patients went from 21% to 31%.
The American Council on Science and Health lists two primary causes for heart attacks in younger people: Kawasaki disease, a rare childhood inflammation of blood vessels, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic mutation that enlarges cardiac muscle cells, thickening ventricles and blocking blood flow.
The latter was the plight of Peyton Walker, a King’s College student who died in a residence hall in November 2013 from sudden cardiac arrest. She was 19.
The tragedy led to the creation of the Peyton Walker Foundation, and an important part of the foundation’s work has been heart screenings for those ages 12 to 19. Yes, that seems absurdly young to have to worry about heart conditions, but reality beats the stereotype here. Heart attacks are not an old man’s disease anymore. In fact, the foundation’s website notes sudden cardiac arrest is the top killer of student athletes in this country.
Oct. 5 marks the second annual offering of free comprehensive heart screenings at King’s College, in King’s on the Square (on Wilkes-Barre’s Public square). Screenings will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Along with the foundation, sponsors include King’s, Geisinger, Commonwealth Health System and the District II of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Students not currently under the care of a cardiologist are eligible, though you must pre-register by Tuesday, Oct. 1 (online at peytonwalker.org) or by calling 717-697-5511.
If basic screening with an electrocardiogram indicates any concerns, the foundation also offers ecocardiograms on site, and if warranted, referrals for follow-up treatment are made.
The numbers at last year’s event make it clear the screenings have real value. Of more than 100 young people screened, 14 were given the more thorough ecogardiograms, and two were referred for follow-up treatment. Some 2,500 screenings held in central Pennsylvania (the Walkers life in Mechanicsburg, just west of Harrisburg) have found almost 30 significant and previously undiagnosed cardiac conditions.
With the help of faculty and student’s from King’s Physician Assistant, nursing, athletic training and exercise science departments, the foundation expects to be able to screen about 120 people this year.
This is a worthy undertaking from the foundation, and a perfect way to memorialize the vibrant but too-short life of Peyton Walker. It’s also a reminder to all that heart attacks ignore age.
Life really is to short to pretend otherwise.
– Times Leader