A young man suffering a heart attack is adminstered CPR.
The surge in heart attacks affecting young people rose to the top of the headlines again on Tuesday, July 25, when Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, suffered cardiac arrest while practicing with his college team, the University of Southern California.
He was taken to the hospital, and a family spokesperson says he is now in stable condition.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, heart attack deaths have become more common in the United States, and the largest increase has been among younger people. According to a September 2022 study by Cedars Sinai Hospital, heart attack deaths among those aged 25 to 44 rose 29.9% over the first two years of the pandemic.
The same study showed that over the first two years of the pandemic, adults between 45 and 64 years old saw a 19.6% relative increase in heart attack deaths, and those 65 and older saw a 13.7% relative increase.
Heart attacks are on the rise and the COVID-19 virus is the likely culprit.
via Testen/Unsplash
“Young people are obviously not really supposed to die of a heart attack. They’re not really supposed to have heart attacks at all,” Dr. Susan Cheng, a cardiologist at Cedars Sinai and co-author of the study, told Today.com.
Cheng attributes the rise in heart attack mortality to the COVID-19 virus.
"It appears to be able to increase the stickiness of the blood and increase…the likelihood of blood clot formation," Cheng said. "It seems to stir up inflammation in the blood vessels. It seems to also cause in some people an overwhelming stress—whether it’s related directly to the infection or situations around the infection—that can also cause a spike in blood pressure."
A study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from 2022 backs up Cheng’s claim. It states that people who had COVID-19 face increased risks for 20 cardiovascular conditions, including heart attacks and strokes.
In addition, the American Heart Association says that people can suffer from heart problems many months after a COVID-19 infection.
"More recently, there is recognition that even some of those COVID-19 patients not hospitalized are experiencing cardiac injury. This raises concerns that there may be individuals who get through the initial infection, but are left with cardiovascular damage and complications," Chief of the Division of Cardiology at UCLA Dr. Gregg Fonarow said. "The late consequences of that could be an increase in heart failure.”
After the James incident, many on social media, including Elon Musk, declared that the COVID-19 vaccine may cause a rise in heart attacks among younger people.
The tweet was accompanied by a fact check which was soon deleted.
We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2023
Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.
"Studies show that the risk of myocarditis is significantly higher after an actual Covid infection than with the vaccine. Among adolescent boys, the risk of myocarditis following a Covid infection was approximately twice that of the risk following the second vaccine dose,” the fact check read. It also cited two articles by CBS News and Yale Medicine.
The lingering heart conditions caused by a COVID-19 infection are a reminder that although the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths has significantly decreased over the past year, the effects of the pandemic are far from over.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."