Inflammation and physical decline linked to early cardiovascular risk

New research suggests that both systemic inflammation and physical decline may serve as early warning signs for cardiovascular disease, often appearing years before clinical symptoms emerge.

A study of nearly 488,000 participants in the UK Biobank, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that high levels of the inflammatory marker glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA) are linked to a 43% higher risk of major cardiovascular events. This chronic inflammation is associated with structural heart changes, including thicker heart walls, smaller chambers, and reduced blood volume pumped per beat.

Separately, research published in JAMA Cardiology involving the ASPREE study indicates that physical frailty and declining mental and physical abilities can precede heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure by as much as a decade. The study noted that the gap in health functioning between those who eventually suffered cardiovascular events and those who did not widened significantly in the five years leading up to the medical event.