Archive · 29 Jan 2026
Men develop heart disease earlier than women: Study
A big study found that men start getting heart problems like coronary heart disease much earlier than women.
The difference starts around age 35.
Men reach a certain level of risk about seven years earlier than women.
The study looked at over 5,100 people from their 20s to around 65 years old.
It found that men's risk goes up faster and stays higher than women's.
But strokes happen at similar rates for both men and women.
Heart failure differences show up later in life.
The researchers think this shows why young men need to take care of their hearts early.
Men develop coronary heart disease about seven years earlier than women.
The risk gap for cardiovascular disease opens around age 35.
Men reach a 2% incidence of coronary heart disease more than a decade earlier than women.
Stroke rates are similar between men and women.
Differences in heart failure emerge later in life.
- Who
- Men and women aged 18-30
- What
- Development of coronary heart disease
- When
- Study conducted from mid-1980s to 2020
- Where
- United States (Northwestern University's school of medicine)
- Why
- To understand sex differences in heart disease risk
- Study Name
- Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA)
- Participants
- 5,100 adults aged 18-30
- Study Duration
- Mid-1980s to 2020
- Key Finding
- Men reach 5% cardiovascular disease risk 7 years earlier than women
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Men reach 2% incidence more than a decade earlier than women
- Stroke Rates
- Similar between men and women
- Heart Failure
- Differences emerge later in life