At Mayo Clinic, we were taught that most heart disease is 20-30 years in the making. Well publicized autopsies of Korean war casualties showed high levels of atherosclerosis - and these were very young men. Apparently, even children as young as 10 have had fatty streaks identified in their coronary arteries.

So diagnosis may actually follow the first clinical signs by decades.

Generally speaking, my understanding is that women tend to present later than men with initial clinical symptoms (women are somewhat protected until menopause - although there are certainly many young 30-40 year old women with serious heart conditions). Men tend to be diagnosed on average about 10 years younger, but again, there are many exceptions to that rule. Some cardiac events (Long QT Syndrome etc) or congenital conditions may be diagnosed in 20-somethings and younger.

A useful resource for women with heart disease - particularly younger women - is the online WomenHeart support community at http://www.inspire.com/groups/womenheart/

Carolyn Thomas
http://www.myheartsisters.org