Coronary heart disease (CHD) and related diseases due to the thickening or hardening of the arteries continue to be major public health problems.
Treatment of end-stage disease has improved, and risk factor modification has succeeded in reducing risk among adults.
However, the age at which to begin risk factor control for long-term prevention is unclear.
In the study, the team examined the link of the risk factors for adult heart disease to artery lesions in youth.
They collected arteries, blood, other tissue, and data from 3,000 people 15-34 years of age from 14 medical centers.
These people died from external causes and were autopsied in forensic laboratories.
The team examined the thickening or hardening of the arteries in the aorta and coronary arteries, thickness of small renal arteries (for high blood pressure), and body mass index (for obesity).
The data were used to determine the progression of artery thickening with age and the association of the risk factors with artery lesions.
The team found lesions of the coronary arteries that lead directly to heart disease are linked to higher non-HDL cholesterol concentration, high blood pressure, obesity (in men), and high blood sugar.
The lesions are also linked to lower HDL cholesterol levels (‘good’ cholesterol). Smoking mainly affects the abdominal aorta.
These results suggest that long-range prevention of heart disease should begin in adolescence or at least in young adulthood with control of the major risk factors.
For more information about how heart disease starts in youth, please check this video.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about combo therapy that can cut risk of heart attack and stroke by half, and findings that people who don’t exercise may die instantly in a heart attack.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies that eating more white bread may increase your risk of heart attack, and results showing these high blood pressure drugs may increase heart failure risk.
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