Overview

• In a 30‑year analysis of 12,530 initially healthy women without standard modifiable risk factors, baseline hsCRP levels identified long‑term cardiovascular risk.
• Women with hsCRP above 3 mg/L had a 77% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, a 39% higher risk of stroke, and a 52% higher risk of any major cardiovascular event.
• A separate analysis of randomized trial data found that statin therapy reduced heart attack and stroke by about 38% in this inflamed, SMuRF‑less group.
• Investigators introduced the label “SMuRF‑Less but Inflamed” and urged identifying affected women in their 40s to enable timely prevention.
• The findings were presented as late‑breaking science at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and published in the European Heart Journal, with partial funding from the NHLBI and disclosures reported.