{"id":202347,"date":"2025-09-05T12:59:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T12:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202347\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T12:59:14","slug":"why-are-healthy-women-having-heart-attacks-and-strokes-best-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202347\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Healthy Women Having Heart Attacks and Strokes? \u2014 Best Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cardiovascular disease<\/a> isn\u2019t age-biased: Today, one in five heart attack patients<\/a> is younger than 40 years old, per the Cardio Metabolic Institute. And the statistics are even more concerning for women. Earlier findings suggest that women are at a higher risk<\/a> of dying from heart disease, including heart attack and stroke, than men. Cardiovascular risk also \u201caccelerates dramatically<\/a>\u201d post-menopause. But even with this information, researchers say women with cardiac issues often go undiagnosed and untreated.<\/p>\n

This is a common theme in women who don\u2019t exhibit the standard modified risk factors for heart disease\u2014medically referred to as \u201cSMuRFs\u201d\u2014 and they\u2019re subsequently deemed \u201chealthy\u201d by their doctor.<\/p>\n

The four primary SMuRFs include hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. However, the statistics don\u2019t lie: You can be \u201cSMuRF-Less\u201d and still have a heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Taking 1 Common Medicine Could Prevent 100,000 Heart Attacks A Year, Research Finds<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A blood test called hsCRP could help identify women who are at risk but fly under the radar with traditional screening methods, according to a new preventive cardiology study published in The European Heart Journal<\/a>. The research was carried out by doctors from Mass General Brigham and is being presented at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen who suffer from heart attacks and strokes yet have no standard modifiable risk factors are not identified by the risk equations doctors use in daily practice,\u201d Paul Ridker<\/strong>, MD, MPH, a preventive cardiologist at Mass General Brigham\u2019s Heart and Vascular Institute, said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet our data clearly show that apparently healthy women who are inflamed are at substantial lifetime risk. We should be identifying these women in their 40s, at a time when they can initiate preventive care, not wait for the disease to establish itself in their 70s when it is often too late to make a real difference,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

The hsCRP stands for a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test. C-reactive proteins<\/a> are made by the liver, and an increased level of CRP indicates that there is inflammation in the body, explains Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cA high level of hs-CRP in the blood has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. Also, people who have had a heart attack are more likely to have another heart attack if they have a high hs-CRP level. But their risk goes down when their hs-CRP level is in the typical range,\u201d notes the clinic.<\/p>\n

For the study, the research team assessed 12,530 healthy, SMuRF-Less women. Participants completed the hsCRP blood test at baseline and were observed over the course of 30 years. A total of 973 first major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke, occurred during this period.<\/p>\n

Although relatively healthy otherwise, women were considered inflamed and at-risk for cardiac issues if their hsCRP levels were greater than 3 mg\/L. (For reference, Mayo Clinic considers hs-CRP levels less than 2 mg\/L as \u201clower risk of heart disease,\u201d and hs-CRP levels equal to or greater than 2 mg\/L as \u201chigher risk.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Results showed women with high hsCRP levels had a:<\/p>\n