Inflammation linked to 43% higher heart attack risk — SkimNews
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- Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences and Imperial College London analyzed UK Biobank data from nearly 480,000 adults — the largest study of its kind — and found people in the top 20% for inflammation had a 43% higher risk of heart attack and stroke than those in the bottom 20%.
- Higher inflammation was tied to silent structural heart changes — thicker heart walls, smaller chambers, and poorer heart filling — that researchers say can develop years before any cardiovascular symptoms appear.
- Inflammation was strongly associated with socioeconomic disadvantage and psychological distress, alongside more familiar risk factors like smoking and excess body fat, according to Professor Declan O'Regan of Imperial.
- O'Regan also pointed to a strong genetic component, noting some people appear naturally more resilient or susceptible to inflammatory damage stemming from different lifestyles.
- Inflammatory proteins in the interleukin-1 and TNF families were identified as possible contributors to heart damage, with several already being targeted by drugs in clinical trials.
- Professor Bryan Williams of the British Heart Foundation said the findings reinforce the case for tackling root causes of inflammation while supporting lifestyle changes to protect heart health.
Why it matters: With roughly 480,000 UK adults analyzed, this is the largest evidence yet that chronic, low-level inflammation — driven partly by poverty, mental health struggles, and lifestyle — physically reshapes the heart long before patients notice symptoms, opening a path to earlier screening and possible anti-inflammatory drugs already in clinical trials.
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