A major international study found that 57.1% of 16,808 apparently healthy adults have hidden artery plaque, including about 1 in 13 people between ages 18 and 29.
Standard heart risk scores based on cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking failed to identify most people who already had atherosclerosis.
Ultrasound imaging of neck and leg arteries detected most cases, offering a noninvasive, radiation-free screening alternative to CT scans.
Women experience a sharp rise in plaque accumulation between ages 40 and 60, coinciding with menopausal transition.
Researchers are planning a large clinical trial to test whether imaging-guided preventive care can reduce heart attacks and strokes better than current methods.
A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2026 has revealed that silent atherosclerosis – the artery-clogging process behind most heart attacks and strokes – is far more common and begins far earlier than previously understood. Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Spain and Rigshospitalet in Denmark examined 16,808 adults ages 18 to 70 who had no known heart disease. What they found shocked the medical community: more than half of these apparently healthy participants already had arterial plaque, including about 1 in 13 people under the age of 30 who felt perfectly well. The findings were presented at the ESC Congress 2026 and simultaneously published, signaling a potential paradigm shift in how cardiovascular disease is detected and prevented.
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