Research
International study finds hidden artery plaque in some healthy adults under 30
The study found plaque in 57.1% of participants without known cardiovascular disease, including about 1 in 13 ages 18 to 29.
An international study found signs of artery plaque in more than half of participants who had no known history of cardiovascular disease. The findings were presented at ESC Congress 2026 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, according to ScienceDaily.
Researchers used advanced imaging to examine 16,808 people ages 18 to 70 in Denmark and Spain. Plaque was found in 57.1% of participants. About 1 in 13 people ages 18 to 29 had plaque, rising to about 9 in 10 among those ages 60 to 70. Men showed the pattern about five to ten years earlier than women, while women had their sharpest increase between ages 40 and 60, ScienceDaily reported.
Conventional cardiovascular risk scores identified only a small proportion of people who already had plaque. The findings do not show that screening prevents heart attacks or strokes. Researchers plan, if funded, to test imaging-guided prevention in a randomized clinical trial from 2027 through 2032, ScienceDaily reported.
