When we think about people with heart disease we usually think
about middle-aged men. In reality, atherosclerotic heart disease
is the leading cause of death for men and women in North
America, but its impact starts much earlier than adulthood.
Though children will rarely, if ever, have overt symptoms of
atherosclerosis, the first signs of this disease appear in early
childhood and perhaps even before birth. "Several decades ago
studies gave us some early clues that atherosclerosis probably
begins well before adulthood. Now, this evidence is
indisputable, leaving no doubt about when we need to start
meaningful preventive measures - measures that begin during
childhood and continue life-long," said Joel Hardin, MD,
director of Pediatric Cardiology at Loyola University Health
System and associate professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. According
to Hardin, childhood risk factors for atherosclerosis are
similar to those in adults: •Passive exposure to cigaret