Overview
- Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the analysis tracked 5,112 U.S. adults from ages 18–30 for a median of 34 years in the CARDIA cohort.
- Men reached a 5% cumulative incidence of cardiovascular disease at age 50.5 compared with 57.5 for women, with coronary heart disease driving most of the difference.
- Men hit a 2% incidence of coronary heart disease about a decade earlier than women, while stroke incidence was similar and heart failure differences appeared later.
- Risk trajectories were similar through the early 30s, then diverged around age 35 as men’s risk rose faster and remained higher through midlife.
- Traditional risk factors, especially hypertension, explained only part of the gap, prompting calls for earlier risk assessment using tools such as AHA PREVENT starting at age 30 and for greater preventive outreach to young men.