A study conducted in Sweden found that about 42% of the participants without known heart disease or symptoms had fatty deposits in the arteries of their heart, which experts call atherosclerosis.
Approximately 5% of the participants had significant obstruction of blood flow in one or more of the three coronary arteries, while 2% had severe disease. Older male participants of the study had a higher prevalence of atherosclerosis.
Long-term follow-up data are necessary to establish the clinical relevance of these findings and to determine the best high risk screening strategies.
The number of deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) in the United States decreased 9.8% in years 2008–2018.
However, CHD remained the number one cause of death in the U.S. in 2018, leading to about 366,000 deaths. CHD occurs as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD).
In atherosclerosis, deposits of cholesterol and other substances accumulate as plaque on the walls of arteries, which supply blood to the heart and rest of the body.
These plaques can narrow the arteries, impeding or blocking blood flow. This can eventually leadTrusted Source to heart attack.
Doctors commonly check for plaque and calcium deposits in the coronary arteries through a type of CT scan called coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan.
Based on the scan results, doctors assign CAC scores, or Agatston scores, to estimate the person’s risk of CHD.
This blind spot in CAC scores led researchers to conduct the prospective population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage Study (SCAPIS).
Dr. Göran Bergström, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and principal investigator of the study, spoke with Medical News Today.
Dr. Bergström, who is also head of the Physiology Group at Wallenberg Laboratory and senior consultant in clinical physiology at the Vascular Diagnostic Unit, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, explained,
“We see a changing risk pattern for cardiovascular disease [(CVD)], and a new cohort study aimed at CVD was needed.”
Risk factors used to be smoking and high cholesterol. In addition to that, we now have sedentary behavior, low physical activity.
