Age is not a factor in heart disease risk

Heart issues can attack all ages

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It is a common myth that heart disease does not a ect the younger population. However, Dr. Je Park, a cardiologist with Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates at e Medical Center of Aurora says that is a common myth.

“High long standing blood pressure issues with long standing cholesterol issues, long standing diabetes, yeah, that puts you at higher risk for sure,” said Park. “But there’s de nitely a genetic component.” Heart disease can present itself in many ways to di erent people and may not always be obvious.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes and unhealthy eating patterns are appearing among younger people and placing them at a higher risk for heart disease.

“ e patients are getting younger, we’ve had heart attacks in patients who are in their twenties,” said Park. ere are certain genetic conditions where individuals are at increased risk of having a heart attack, Park said. Cholesterol issues is a primary indicator.

One example given by Park is a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH. is is a genetic disorder where people have high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. People have a predisposition for heart disease at that point as the body cannot recycle bad lipids, Park said.

“You’re like ‘I’m too young to see a doctor’ and I’m guilty of that same concept, you know, but it’s a matter of if you get identi ed early on, it’s a matter of your treatment starts earlier and you’re protected early,” said Park.

Park says it’s never too soon to check one’s heart health. e American Heart Association has ways to help prevent heart disease throughout each stage of life, starting when at 20 years and older.

Heart disease is a man’s disease

“ at’s a false, false, false statement,” said Park. “I think I’ve treated more women than I have treated men, or at least equally, and I guess it’s a matter of what’s the cause of the heart disease that you’re talking about.” said Rife, whose organization oversees the count. at includes Douglas County’s Homeless Engagement, Assistance and Resource Team of “navigators” who respond to homelessness, working with law enforcement when safety is a concern.

According to Park, heart disease and heart attacks in women present themselves di erently from men.

It might notbe the typical chest pain and it might not be the typical exertional component that people tend to think about, said Park.

Women can feel some indigestion but end up having a heart attack.

A map presented by the CDC shows heart disease death rates among women 35 and older across the U.S.

According to the CDC, between 2018 and 2020, the Colorado average estimated heart disease death rate for all races and ethnicities in women 35 and older was 195 per 100,000 people. e average estimated number for Douglas County was 154.

Symptoms do not always occur while the body is doing physical activity, Park said, symptoms can arise while the body is resting.

“Even if you’re feeling great, you never know,” said Park.

January’s numbers may not ocially come out for months, but data from recent years paint a picture of increasing homelessness in the Denver metro area. e newest o cial numbers, based on 2022’s count, suggest any potential rise in homelessness last year wasn’t as drastic as earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Still, last year’s count showed nearly 1,600 people in the metro area newly became homeless, and that’s just among those who stayed in shelters.

In Douglas County — where homelessness is typically rarer and less visible than in areas closer to Denver — o cials continue new e orts to try to address the problem.

“Overall, our numbers are decreasing each month, and the HEART team is out there taking proactive steps,” said Ti any Marsitto, a supervisor with HEART.

Numbers a mixed bag

Data from recent years suggest homelessness has increased in the Denver metro area — a trend that predates the pandemic but was likely worsened by it, as the coronavirus crisis disrupted people’s housing and employment.

In 2021, compared to 2020, the metro region saw a 99% increase in the number of people new to experiencing homelessness in shelters, according to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.

For 2022, the 1,600 people counted as newly homeless in shelters represented a drop from the previous year — but still a 22% increase over 2020.

In Douglas County, o cials quickly presented early data from this year’s count. ey highlighted that the overall number of homeless

WHAT IS THE POINT IN TIME COUNT?

dropped to 57, down from 78 last year, with the count of unsheltered homeless dropping to 27, down from 50.

In 2020, Douglas County’s overall count — sheltered and unsheltered — was 53. In 2019, that number was 14, and in 2018, it was 34. ( e metro area did not count unsheltered homeless in 2021 due to COVID-19 safety concerns.)

Because the Point in Time count generally takes place on a single night and can be a ected by weather or other variables, the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative does not recommend looking at data trends year over year, although the count remains an often-cited statistic.

A more representative count across the metro area involves data from homeless-service providers year round. Between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, more than 32,000 people accessed services or housing support related to homelessness in the metro region, according to the initiative.

Each year, typically in January, volunteers and sta from sources such as nonprofits and local governments team up in communities across the Denver metro area, and areas around the nation, to conduct the Point in Time count of their region’s homeless population.

This year’s count started the evening of Jan. 30 and ran into the next morning, accord- at number sat at about 28,000 people between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, based on data from agencies that partner in what’s called the Homeless Management Information System.

Meanwhile, the one-night count marked 6,884 people overall in the metro area in 2022. at compares to 6,104 in 2020.

Rife, the initiative’s director, said COVID was “a big part” of recent data. She noted that more people staying in congregate shelters or participating in certain programs set up in response to COVID might no longer show up in the Homeless Management Information System due to the programs winding down. Some people might be staying outdoors, she said.

“I would not draw the conclusion that homelessness is decreasing,” Rife said.

Homeless trends complicated

During the Feb. 9 news conference, county o cials in Castle Rock directly tied the decrease in Douglas’ one-night homelessness count to the work of the HEART program in recent months.

“Today, there are fewer people living on the streets of Douglas County than there were in 2022. Why? Because every morning three expert resource navigators and three law enforcement o cers wake up on a mission,” the county wrote in a news release. e Point in Time count itself is subject to some variations year to year, Rife noted. ing to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, the organization that oversees the tally. The process takes place in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Je erson counties.

But large percentage shifts are more likely in Douglas County, where the annual count tends to be in double digits. By contrast, Jefferson and Arapahoe counties’ 2022 tallies each sat at about 500. In Denver, the number was about 4,800.

Also complicating the picture: People without homes don’t always stay in the same area. Many unhoused people say they are not from Douglas County but were there because of a lack of transportation or sweeps pushing them out of other cities. Per Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce data collected on 152 contacts from January to June 2022, only 6% of them were from the Douglas County area, with the remaining either coming from the Denver area or out of state. Resources for the unhoused tend to be concentrated closer to, and within, Denver.

“I would say the PIT as a count is di cult simply because there’s a lot of variances every year because weather contributes to that, di erent volunteers (participate),” Rife said.

The count does not include people sleeping on couches at friends’ or families’ homes, or people who are staying in hotels or motels paid for by themselves.