Shane Warne Heart Attack: Why are men at higher risk of heart attack?

Australia's great leg-spinner Shane Warne has died at the age of 52 after a heart attack. The sudden demise of Shane Warne has sent shockwaves through the cricketing world. The rate of death due to heart attack at an early age is increasing. This problem is more common in men. According to one report, men have a higher risk of heart attack than women. 

According to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death each year. About 735,000 people in the United States suffer a heart attack each year. About 1.5 million people experience a heart attack for the first time. The American Heart Association claims that men have a higher risk of heart attack than women. According to a Norwegian Tromso study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2016, men at certain age groups are twice as likely as women to have a heart attack.

To find out, scientists monitored the health of about 34,000 men and women. It also monitored about 2,800 people who experienced a heart attack from 1979 to 2012. After looking at cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, diabetes, high body mass index, and physical activity, scientists found that these different causes of risk did not indicate a large gender gap in a heart attack. So what is the reason that men are at higher risk of heart attack than women?

Michael Joseph Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Scaron Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, said that men experience a heart attack about 10 years earlier than women. Experts say that the risk of heart attack in men increases after the age of 45. The same risk is more likely to increase in women after the age of 55.

Women are more susceptible to atherosclerosis before menopause. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which the accumulation of plaque deposits in the arteries increases the risk of heart attack.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, estrogen hormone levels in women begin to decline after menopause. Experts say that high pre-menopausal estrogen levels also protect women from heart attack. This is because, at the age of 45, women are less likely to have a heart attack than men. However, the Tromso study found no evidence to support the story of estrogen. According to the American Heart Association, even after menopause, women have a lower risk of heart attack than men.