Columbus-based Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center researchers found 47 percent of people younger than 45 do not think they are at risk for heart disease.
The national survey was conducted online among more than 2,000 adults. Heart attacks are becoming more common among younger people, but many do not realize that is the case, according to a Feb. 1 medical center news release.
"It is alarming that younger people don't feel that they're at risk for heart disease, but it's not surprising. Most young people think heart disease only happens in old people, but that's not the case," Laxmi Mehta, MD, director of preventive cardiology and women's cardiovascular health at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, said in the report.
Here are four findings:
- Forty-six percent of adults younger than 35 said they do not believe high blood pressure is a health risk for them.
- About one-third of those surveyed were not confident they would know if they were having a heart attack.
- Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported getting at least two and a half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking or biking, each week.
- Ninety-three percent said they were aware that getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night was important for their heart health.