It starts sooner than we think.

Twenty years ago, a heart attack at 50 was considered early.

Now it's not unusual at all. Research from the American College of Cardiology tracking heart attack patients from 2000–2016 found the share of "very young" heart attack survivors (40 or under) rose by about 2% every year over the last decade of that period — and cardiologists note some patients are now in their 20s and early 30s, an age group that used to almost never show up with a heart attack.

The shift isn't random. It tracks with rising rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity showing up earlier in life — the same risk factors that used to take until someone's 50s or 60s to accumulate.