Healthy Adults Can Still Get Heart Disease

Even the healthiest middle-age Americans have a 1 in 3 chance of heart problems or a stroke later in life, a new study finds. But they’ll avoid these diseases longer than less healthy peers. These estimates are based on numbers from 5 large, long-term studies. They included nearly 50,000 people ages 45 and older. Authors of the new study looked at long-term health for people based on whether they had health conditions that increase risk. The healthiest adults were those who didn’t smoke and didn’t have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Among those who fit this healthy profile at age 55, about one-third developed heart or blood vessel problems. The problems included a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, chest pain caused by clogged arteries, or death related to one of these conditions.