Study Finds 1 In 13 Young Adults Has Hidden Artery Disease

Heart disease often starts decades before symptoms appear, and a major new study shows just how early.

“Currently, a person’s risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is estimated according to their risk factors, such as age, sex, smoking status, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and this determines whether primary prevention strategies are prescribed,” said co-lead author Dr. Henning Bundgaard of Rigshospitalet-Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. 

“This approach relies on an estimation — not on knowledge of the presence of the actual disease (i.e., atherosclerotic plaques),” he said. “And we may be missing important opportunities to prevent cardiovascular events in individuals in whom atherosclerosis has built up many years previously.”

Researchers scanned more than 16,000 adults with no known heart disease, using imaging to detect silent atherosclerosis — plaque buildup in the heart, neck and leg arteries.

The result: More than half of participants (57.1%) had the condition, which experts say is responsible for most cardiovascular deaths worldwide.

Even more striking, 1 in 13 young adults, 18 to 29 years of age, already showed signs of disease. By ages 60 to 70, that number climbed to 9 in 10.

Researchers also found the disease progresses differently by sex — appearing earlier in men but rising sharply in women around menopause.

Perhaps most notable: The study showed standard risk scores based on blood pressure, cholesterol and lifestyle factors missed most people who already had silent atherosclerosis — especially those younger adults.

Researchers say handheld ultrasound scanners could help detect plaque that traditional risk assessments may not flag.

They plan a large clinical trial to see if this approach can slow the disease and help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

The study was published Aug. 29 in The New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Munich.

More information

The American Heart Association has more on atherosclerosis.

SOURCE: HealthDay TV, Sept. 2, 2026