Silent Artery Plaques Found in One in 13 Adults Under 30

An international study of 16,808 participants found that 1 in 13 adults aged 18–29 have silent atherosclerotic plaques, a condition that increases to 9 in 10 people by age 70.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the REACT study utilized advanced imaging to detect plaques in the carotid, femoral, and coronary arteries of asymptomatic individuals.

Researchers found that men develop these plaques 5–10 years earlier than women, suggesting that portable ultrasound screening could become a standard tool for early cardiovascular disease detection.