A recent study found that heart attacks in people ages 25 to 44 increased by 30% compared to the expected number over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heart attack deaths across all age groups have become more common since the pandemic began, according to a study by Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, but the hardest hit were people between the ages of 25 and 44, who saw a 29.9% relative increase in heart attack deaths.

“Young people are obviously not really supposed to die of heart attack. They’re not really supposed to have heart attacks at all,” Dr. Susan Cheng, a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai and co-author of the study, told TODAY.

Thousands of young people infected with COVID-9 developed myocarditis, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed, which can decrease the heart’s ability to pump blood. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke, says the Mayo Clinic.

According to a press release from Cedars-Sinai, heart attack death rates spiked with surges of COVID-19 infection, even during the presumed less-severe omicron phase of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, heart attacks — although still the leading cause of death worldwide — were on the decline.

“The dramatic rise in heart attacks during the pandemic has reversed what was a prior decade-long steady improvement in cardiac deaths,” said Dr. Yee Hui Yeo, a Cedars-Sinai physician and one of the study authors. “We are still learning the many ways by which COVID-19 affects the body, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or race.”

Cheng has a theory about why young adults are so susceptible to heart attacks following a COVID-19 infection and how it impacts the cardiovascular system.

“It appears to be able to increase the stickiness of the blood and increase the likelihood of blood clot formations,” she said. “It seems to stir up inflammation in the blood vessels. It seems to also cause in some people overwhelming stress — whether it’s related directly to the infection or situations around the infection ─ that can also cause a spike in blood pressure.”

Cheng tells TODAY that one theory about how COVID-19 expressly targets the cardiovascular system of younger people is that they tend to have stronger immune systems and mount an excessive response to the virus. Other studies have shown that the risk of developing a heart condition even a year after the infection, regardless of the severity of symptoms, is “substantial.” 

Even more disturbing is that the risk of developing long COVID, including heart problems, increases with each COVID-19 infection, says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who led the research that found repeated COVID-19 infections contribute to a significant amount of adverse health conditions on multiple organ systems. As a result, Black and Latino communities, which have higher rates of reinfection, are at especially high risk for heart problems after becoming infected with COVID-19, Cheng said.

To avoid infection, experts recommend:

• Wearing a mask in crowded settings and socializing outdoors whenever possible.

• Staying up to date with vaccinations. Research shows that you’re 11 times more likely to develop myocarditis from COVID-19 itself than the vaccination.

• Take a COVID-19 test as soon as you notice any symptoms and stay home.

Cheng says that if you have been infected by the virus multiple times, stay on top of your cardiovascular disease risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.