A massive European study found hidden artery plaque in many people as young as 18, signaling heart disease can start before college ends.
Story Highlights
- Imaging found atherosclerotic plaque in 57.1% of 16,808 symptom-free adults aged 18 to 70.
- About 1 in 13 adults aged 18 to 29 already had silent plaque, including both men and women.
- Risk rose sharply with age, nearing 9 in 10 by ages 60 to 70 in this cohort.
- Standard risk tools missed much of this hidden disease, suggesting earlier checks may help.
Large Study Maps Silent Plaque From Early Adulthood
Researchers in Denmark and Spain scanned 16,808 adults with no symptoms and no known heart or vessel disease. They used three-dimensional ultrasound of neck and leg arteries plus heart imaging to look directly for plaque. They found atherosclerosis in 57.1% of people across ages 18 to 70. The work, known as the REACT study, was presented at a major cardiology meeting and published the same day in a leading medical journal, underscoring its scientific weight.
The youngest group showed early disease. About 1 in 13 adults aged 18 to 29 had silent plaque. Reports noted roughly 9% of men and 7% of women in that band. This was not a lab estimate. It was plaque seen on scans in real arteries. The age pattern was strong and steady. The share with plaque climbed with each decade, approaching nine in ten by the late sixties in this sample, showing how atherosclerosis tracks with age.
Imaging Exposed What Risk Scores Miss
The team used multiple tools, including three-dimensional ultrasound of carotid and femoral arteries and heart scans for calcium and coronary narrowing. This broad approach matters. It showed plaque across several artery beds, not just one spot. Cardiologists reported that many people flagged as “low risk” by standard calculators still had visible plaque when imaged. That gap suggests current risk tools can miss real disease that is already there and building silently.
The study was designed to map how common silent plaque is across adult life. It split participants by age and sex from the start. That plan supports the main finding that plaque starts earlier than many think. The sample was large for this kind of imaging work and covered two countries. While cross-sectional studies do not prove causes or future events, this map of early disease gives doctors and families a clearer view of when atherosclerosis begins to take hold.
What It Means for Families, Costs, and Freedom
Heart disease remains the top killer, and it often begins without symptoms. When plaque shows up in people in their twenties, prevention cannot wait until middle age. Families can act now with common-sense steps: cut tobacco, fix blood pressure, lower apolipoprotein B cholesterol through diet and, when needed, medicine, and move more. Conservatives value personal responsibility, and this study backs it with hard data: your daily choices in your twenties shape your arteries decades later.
Policy must also stay smart and limited. Broad scans for every young person would be costly and may not change outcomes yet. The research shows prevalence, not which eighteen-year-old will have a heart attack. A targeted path fits both the science and fiscal sanity: use imaging when family history is strong, risk factors stack up, or lab markers are high. That approach respects choice, protects wallets, and aims help where it will do the most good.
Sources:
newscientist.com, acc.org, cnic.es, english.elpais.com, sismed-it.com
