Atlanta ? One in 100 black men and women develop heart failure before age 50, according to one of the first long-term studies to look at the life-threatening condition in younger adults.

The research suggests blacks in that age group suffer the condition at a rate 20 times higher than whites do — an astounding difference more pronounced than earlier studies had indicated.

However, those findings are based on a very small number of heart failure cases, the authors said, so more study is needed.

The takeaway message is that doctors should be more aggressive about treating young blacks who may be at risk, some experts said.