A new study suggests many women at risk of heart attack or stroke are slipping through the cracks because a key warning sign isn’t being checked.
Researchers looked at 30 years of data from more than 12,000 women and found that inflammation was just as dangerous as high cholesterol when it comes to heart disease. The results were presented Friday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid and published in the European Heart Journal.
The problem: unlike cholesterol, inflammation isn’t part of standard screenings in the U.S. and shows no obvious symptoms.
“Half of all heart attacks and strokes occur in people who do not have any major risk factors,” said Dr. Paul Ridker of Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, who led the study.
The overlooked test
Inflammation can be measured with a simple blood test called hsCRP, which is inexpensive and already routine in Europe. But in the U.S., it’s rarely used.
Researchers found that women with higher hsCRP levels were much more likely to have heart attacks and strokes, even if they had no traditional risks like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or smoking.
Missed opportunities for treatment
Inflammation can be lowered with statins, but women who appear “healthy” on paper usually aren’t prescribed them. In a previous trial, women with high inflammation but no other risk factors cut their risk of serious heart problems by 38% when treated with statins.
“If we don’t measure it, we don’t treat it,” Ridker said.
A call for routine screening
Cardiologists say this could change how women’s heart health is monitored.
“This is another tool women should be offered to assess their risk,” said Dr. Anais Hausvater of NYU Langone Health. “Patients should ask their doctors to check their hsCRP.”
Dr. Tania Ruiz of Vanderbilt University Medical Center called the study “very exciting,” noting it’s the first large-scale evidence that inflammation predicts heart disease in otherwise healthy women.
