- Researchers say young adults who use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs are more likely to prematurely develop heart health issues.
- They say women are more susceptible than men due to biology as well as a lack of screening for heart problems.
- They add that young adults need to be educated about the long-term effects of substance use, as many feel they are invincible.
Drinking, smoking, and using drugs — even recreationally — is linked to premature heart disease in young people, especially women, according to new research.
The study, published in the journal Heart, concludes that people using four or more substances are nine times more likely to be affected.
The numbers of young adults with heart disease (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease) have been increasing.
Although links between heart disease and substance use are well known, the role of recreational use in young people wasn’t as clear.
“We knew that substances like alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs played a role in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD), but we did not know that use had such profound effects in the development of premature ASCVD, particularly in women,” Dr. Robert Ochsner, chief medical officer of Colorado-based rehab facilities Sandstone Care, told Healthline.
Source: healthline