A buildup of artery-clogging plaque may begin much earlier than many people realize, new research has found.About 1 in 13 adults ages 18 to 29 already had silent atherosclerosis — the hardening of the arteries from plaque — despite having no known cardiovascular disease, while more than half of all healthy adults in the study showed signs of plaque somewhere in their arteries, according to a major new international study.Researchers from Denmark and Spain used advanced imaging to examine more than 16,800 adults ages 18 to 70 with no known cardiovascular disease.They found plaque in 57.1% of participants, with prevalence increasing steadily with age, from about 1 in 13 adults under 30 to roughly 9 in 10 adults ages 60 to 70, according to the research published in The New England Journal of Medicine in August.EVERYDAY HABIT LINKED TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER RISK OF DYING FROM HEART DISEASEAtherosclerosis occurs when fatty deposits, cholesterol and other substances build up inside arteries, according to experts.
The process often develops silently over many years before causing a heart attack or stroke.A new study found signs of silent artery plaque in some healthy young adults with no known cardiovascular disease.(iStock)"For decades, we have estimated cardiovascular risk using factors such as age, blood pressure and cholesterol," Dr.
Borja Ibáñez, a cardiologist and scientific director of Spain's National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), said in a statement."This study shows that we can now go one step further and detect the disease directly before it causes a heart attack or stroke."COMMON CHOLESTEROL DRUG LINKED TO LOWER DEMENTIA RISK WHEN STARTED EARLYThe new findings come from the first phase of the ongoing international REACT study, which is mapping how common silent artery plaque is across adulthood.
In the next phase, researchers will test whether earlier detection can improve heart disease prevention.Researchers are studying whether earlier dete...