A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that a single blood test can predict a woman’s heart disease risk up to 30 years in advance.
The research, which involved nearly 30,000 women around 55 years old, was also presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
The study measured two types of fat in the bloodstream and a specific protein using a blood test conducted in 1993.
The strongest predictor of heart disease risk was high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of inflammation. Cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), also played significant roles.
Women with elevated levels of all three markers were found to be 1½ times more likely to experience a stroke and over three times as likely to develop coronary heart disease.
Dr. Paul Ridker, the study’s lead author and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, highlighted the importance of this discovery.
“Knowing all three predicted risks not just at five or 10 years, but at 20 and 30 years, gives us a road map for how to target specific therapies for the individual patient, rather than an overly simple ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach,” Ridker stated.
The findings suggest that many women could benefit from preventive efforts starting as early as their 30s and 40s, including a heart-healthy diet, regular exercise, smoking cessation, and stress management. Some may also require drug therapies to reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol levels.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, hailed the study as a “big step forward” in using a combination of blood tests to assess women’s cardiac risk.
He also predicted that future advances in artificial intelligence could further enhance the ability to determine heart disease and stroke risks.
Ridker recommends that patients request their physicians to measure hsCRP and Lp(a) specifically, noting that “the time has come for our guidelines to change.”
He also pointed out that traditional screening often fails to identify at-risk women until their late 60s or 70s, underscoring the need for earlier prevention.
While the study’s participants were primarily health professionals, the researchers believe the findings apply to other groups, including men and minorities.