Suffered a heart attack at 27: Karlie Burgess. Photo: Janie Barrett
The number of young people admitted to hospital with heart disease and stroke has jumped by 30 per cent in the past 10 years, with experts warning obesity and binge smoking are to blame.
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals hospitalisations for people under 35 with heart disease have surged from about 19,000 in 2002 to more than 25,000 in 2012.
People in their 20s and 30s are fatter, less active and have higher cholesterol and blood pressure than previous generations, health experts say, with many believing they are ‘‘immune’’ to serious disease.
‘‘There’s a perception that heart disease only affects old men. People under 35 are completely tuned out to the messages around cardiac health and don’t see it as relevant to them,’’ Heart Foundation health director Julie-Anne Mitchell says.