Overview

• The Mass General Brigham team analyzed hsCRP in 12,530 initially healthy women without standard modifiable risk factors and followed them for 30 years.
• hsCRP levels above 3 mg/L were linked to a 77% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, 39% higher stroke risk, and 52% higher risk of any major cardiovascular event.
• A complementary randomized‑trial analysis found about a 38% relative reduction in heart attack and stroke with statin therapy among SMuRF‑less but inflamed patients.
• Investigators urge identifying inflamed women in their 40s to initiate preventive care before disease emerges later in life.
• The findings were presented in a late‑breaking session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and published in The European Heart Journal.