A major new study has found that teenagers with a family history of heart-related diseases may be more likely to develop early signs of heart damage before they reach adulthood.
This research involved more than 1,500 adolescents in the U.K. and is the first in the world to explore this connection at such a young age.
The study was a collaboration between Rutgers University in the U.S., the Universities of Bristol and Exeter in the U.K., and the University of Eastern Finland. The findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Researchers followed 1,595 participants from the “Children of the 90s” study, starting at birth. These teens had repeated heart tests between the ages of 17 and 24. Around one-third of them had a family history of cardiometabolic diseases, which include conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol.
One key sign of early heart damage is an enlarged heart muscle, also known as left ventricular hypertrophy. Among all participants, the number of people with this condition grew from 2.4% at age 17 to 6.5% at age 24.
But for teens with a family history of these diseases, the rate grew even faster. At age 17, only 1.3% had an enlarged heart, but by 24, the number was four times higher. In contrast, the rate only doubled in teens without a family history.
Past studies in adults showed that having parents with early heart attacks increased the children’s risk of having heart attacks themselves by middle age, even if they didn’t smoke or have other common risk factors. But no one had ever studied whether parents’ heart conditions could lead to early heart damage in teenagers—until now.
This study is the largest and longest of its kind involving repeated heart ultrasound tests in healthy youth. Researchers collected information on the parents’ medical history when the teens visited clinics.
They also tested the teens’ blood for insulin, glucose, cholesterol, and inflammation markers. They tracked blood pressure, heart rate, physical activity, fat and muscle levels, and smoking habits to get a complete picture of each teen’s health.
The results showed that having a family history of cardiometabolic disease increased the risk of heart damage by 20%. For every 60 teenagers with such a family history, at least one may go on to develop an enlarged heart because of that link.
The researchers also found that higher blood sugar levels in these teens partly explained why they were more at risk, accounting for about 10% of the effect.
Dr. Douglas Corsi, one of the study’s authors, said the results show just how important family history is when thinking about heart health. He explained that helping kids live healthy lives, with regular exercise and good eating habits, can protect their hearts.
If parents take care of their own health—by controlling blood pressure and cholesterol—they also help protect their children’s future.
Professor Andrew Agbaje, another key researcher, added that adolescence is a critical period for heart health. If damage starts in the teen years, it could lead to heart attacks in the 40s.
He says there’s a 20-year window between the mid-20s and mid-40s when action can be taken to prevent serious problems later in life. Regular checkups starting in late adolescence to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose could make a big difference.
In summary, this study offers important new evidence that heart health risks can start much earlier than previously thought—and that family history matters a lot. Prevention, awareness, and healthy habits during the teenage years could help stop heart disease before it starts.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease, and herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm.
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