Parizad R, Batta A, Hatwal J, Taban-sadeghi M, Mohan B. Emerging risk factors for heart failure in younger populations: A growing public health concern. World J Cardiol 2025; 17(4): 104717 [DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v17.i4.104717]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Akash Batta, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Tagore Nagar, Civil Lines, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India. akashbatta02@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Razieh Parizad, Mohammadreza Taban-sadeghi, Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51656-87386, Iran
Akash Batta, Bishav Mohan, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India
Juniali Hatwal, Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Author contributions: Parizad R and Batta A designed the review; Parizad R performed the literature review and data collection; Hatwal J, Mohan B and Sadeghi MT supervised the manuscript and provided key feedback and suggestions; Parizad R and Batta A analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript and subsequently revised it. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Akash Batta, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Tagore Nagar, Civil Lines, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India. akashbatta02@gmail.com
Received: December 29, 2024 Revised: March 7, 2025 Accepted: April 1, 2025 Published online: April 26, 2025 Processing time: 112 Days and 19.6 Hours
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) is a growing public health concern, with an increasing incidence among younger populations. Traditionally, HF was considered a condition primarily affecting the elderly, but of late, emerging evidence hints at a rapidly rising HF incidence in youth in the past 2 decades. HF in youth has been linked to a complex interaction between emerging risk factors, such as metabolic syndrome, environmental exposures, genetic predispositions, and lifestyle behaviors. This review examines these evolving determinants, including substance abuse, autoimmune diseases, and the long-term cardiovascular effects of coronavirus disease 2019, which disproportionately affect younger individuals. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study highlights the importance of early detection, targeted prevention strategies, and multidisciplinary management approaches to address this alarming trend. Promoting awareness and integrating age-specific interventions could significantly reduce the burden of HF and improve long-term outcomes among younger populations.
Core Tip: Recent research hints at an alarming rise in heart failure cases among younger populations. The same is believed to stem from a complex interaction between various risk factors, including metabolic syndrome, environmental pollutants, unfavorable genetics, and lifestyle behaviors including substance abuse. This review examines these evolving determinants, discussing each in detail and exploring the key therapeutic strategies to disrupt this rapidly rising public health problem.
