1 in 13 adults under 30 already had hidden artery plaque

More than half of 16,000 apparently healthy adults had signs of atherosclerosis, with arterial plaques already detectable in about 1 in 13 people ages 18 to 29. Researchers say directly imaging the arteries could reveal hidden cardiovascular disease years or even decades before symptoms appear. Atherosclerosis, the gradual buildup of plaque inside arteries that drives most cardiovascular disease, can begin many years before a person notices any symptoms. Now, a large international study suggests that this hidden disease is already present in some young adults who otherwise appear healthy, and that it is considerably more widespread than previously recognized. The research was led by Professor Henning Bundgaard, Professor of Cardiology at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Dr.

Borja Ibáñez, Scientific Director of the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III, CNIC, cardiologist at Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz and a group leader at CIBERCV. Among more than 16,000 participants with no symptoms or previous cardiovascular disease diagnosis, researchers detected atherosclerotic plaques in 57.1%. The findings were presented in a Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2026 and published at the same time in The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings come from the first phase of REACT, one of the largest efforts yet to examine how silent atherosclerosis develops throughout adulthood. The international project is funded by the Novo