A friendly reminder for younger people, don’t forget about the basics…
Atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty plaque in arteries, usually affects people older than 50, but a “meaningful” proportion of younger adults also have the condition
Nearly 1 in 10 younger adults have plaque in their arteries, according to a study of almost 17,000 people. Known as atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty plaque can cause narrowing that reduces blood flow, leading to heart attacks and strokes. Atherosclerosis is more common in people aged over 50, so younger individuals may be assumed to be at low risk.
“The most important message is that atherosclerosis is already present in a meaningful fraction of people in their 20s and 30s,” says Olli Raitakari at the University of Turku in Finland, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Atherosclerosis is a lifelong process, not a disease of old age.”
Previous studies have already suggested that atherosclerosis can occur surprisingly early. In 2025, Raitakari and his team found plaque in the carotid arteries – which supply blood to the head, face and neck – of about 5 per cent of Finnish adults aged under 30. But there hadn’t been large-scale investigations spanning multiple adult age categories that examined several artery locations.
To fill this gap, Borja Ibáñez at the Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Madrid and his colleagues recruited almost 17,000 adults, aged 18 to 70, in Denmark and Spain. They divided the participants, who had no known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, into five age groups, starting at 18 to 29. The study was made up of around the same number of men and women.
The researchers looked for plaque using CT angiography, which creates detailed 3D images of blood vessels, for arteries supplying the heart. They also used ultrasound for arteries in the neck and legs. Overall, they found “silent” atherosclerosis in 57 per cent of the participants, including 63 per cent of men and 51 per cent of women. This is defined as plaque that isn’t causing any symptoms, but may lead to cardiovascular issues down the line.
In the youngest group, 9 per cent of the men and 7 per cent of the women had some degree of atherosclerosis.
Among those in their 30s, 35 per cent of the men and 21 per cent of the women had atherosclerosis. The numbers continued to rise with each decade, with women beginning to catch up with men around the age of menopause.
Read the full story: Nearly 1 in 10 young adults could have fatty, narrow arteries (New Scientist)