About 5 million people in the United States have heart failure, and it results in about 300,000 deaths a year. The leading causes of heart failure are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
The study's researchers found that black patients who were obese or had low levels of "good" cholesterol were more likely to develop heart disease. Those with hypertension or kidney disease were also at risk.
Bibbins-Domingo said that the most important risk factor found in the study was high blood pressure, particularly diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number in a blood pressure reading, measured in millimeters of mercury). The study found that an increase of 10 millimeters of mercury in diastolic blood pressure among blacks in their 20s doubled the likelihood of developing heart failure 10 to 20 years later.
Young people rarely know they have high blood pressure because they are less likely to go to the doctor or to have insurance, Bibbins-Domingo said. Even when high blood pressure is detected, doctors appear less likely to treat it in young people, often advising lifestyle changes without considering medication, she said.
"We can't just let our guard down and expect that the consequences are really far in the future," she said.
"The consequences of having such a chronic debilitating disease in your 30s and 40s is really devastating, not only to the individual patient, but to their family, their community and to society as a whole."
Wanda Pate, a-38-year-old respiratory therapist from Owings Mills, never suspected she had heart failure. But the mother of two young daughters had all the symptoms: fatigue, swelling and shortness of breath that made it nearly impossible to climb a flight of stairs. She suspected she had a lingering cold or pneumonia. Her doctor thought she might have an acid reflux problem and sent her to a specialist for tests.
The symptoms got worse until one day a serious dizzy spell sent her to the emergency room, where tests confirmed heart failure.
"I was devastated," Pate said. "The first week or two, and even the first month, I just cried. I couldn't believe how this was possible. It's like I went to bed, woke up one day and was in heart failure."
Pate's case is unusual in that she did not have common risk factors, such as high blood pressure. But she acknowledges that she did not always eat well and exercise.
