We promote heart health, screening, life support and AEDs in Jersey. Researching community screening with portable devices #heartscreening#AED#CPR#prevention
🚨 The PESA Trial scanned 4,184 "healthy" middle-aged adults with no symptoms, no diagnoses, and no reason to worry.
63% of them already had atherosclerotic plaques silently destroying their arteries.
You are not healthy just because you feel healthy.
🫀 Here is what the PESA Trial (Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis) actually found.
These were not sick people. These were Banco Santander employees in Spain. Average age 45. No prior heart attacks. No known cardiovascular disease. Passed their checkups. Felt fine.
63% had measurable plaque in their arteries on imaging.
Not borderline findings. Not artifacts. Plaques. In their carotid arteries, their femoral arteries, their aorta.
And the majority had no traditional risk factors that would have flagged them for aggressive treatment.
🔬 This is why that number should terrify you.
Standard cardiology practice waits for symptoms. Chest pain. A positive stress test. An abnormal EKG. That is when we act.
But atherosclerosis does not wait for your permission. It starts in your 20s. It accelerates through your 30s. And by the time you are 45 and "healthy," 63% of people already have structural arterial disease that is silently progressing.
The question is no longer whether you have risk factors. The question is whether you already have disease.
💓 The PESA Trial also showed that plaque burden correlated directly with ApoB levels, insulin resistance, visceral fat, and inflammatory markers. Not just LDL. Not just blood pressure. The full metabolic picture.
Participants with the highest ApoB had the most extensive subclinical disease. Participants with metabolic syndrome had plaque in multiple arterial territories simultaneously.
That matters because standard lipid panels miss this entirely. A normal LDL does not mean clean arteries.
🩺 I am a cardiologist. I practice preventive cardiology every single day.
I have patients who were told they were fine at their annual physical. Normal cholesterol. Normal blood pressure. No symptoms. Then they sat across from me and we looked deeper. ApoB elevated. Coronary artery calcium score positive. Carotid intima-media thickness abnormal.
Disease. Silent. Already there.
A patient who catches subclinical atherosclerosis at 45 and treats it aggressively can halt plaque progression and dramatically reduce their 10-year event risk. That is the difference between a heart attack at 55 and never having one at all.
⚠️ What the PESA Trial tells us to do differently right now.
✅ Measure ApoB, not just LDL. ApoB counts every atherogenic particle. LDL does not.
✅ Get a coronary artery calcium score if you are over 40. It is the best single predictor of future cardiovascular events in asymptomatic patients.
✅ Treat metabolic dysfunction early. Insulin resistance drives plaque even when your fasting glucose looks normal.
✅ Stop waiting for symptoms. Symptoms are late-stage disease. Prevention happens upstream.
❌ Do not assume a clean annual physical means clean arteries.
❌ Do not rely on total cholesterol alone. It will miss the most dangerous patients.
❌ Do not wait until your doctor gets worried. Get ahead of it yourself.
❤️ Bottom line:
Feeling healthy is not the same as being healthy. The PESA Trial proved this in 4,184 people who thought they were fine.
63% already had atherosclerotic plaque. Most had no idea.
The tools exist to find this disease early. ApoB. Coronary artery calcium scoring. Advanced metabolic panels. Imaging.
The only question is whether you use them before your first cardiac event or after.
Are you actually healthy, or do you just feel healthy? Because the PESA Trial says those are two very different things.
#Cardiology #HeartDisease #HeartHealth #CardiovascularHealth #Atherosclerosis #PESATrial #SubclinicalDisease #ApoB #PreventiveCardiology #MetabolicHealth
Connect with others who understand. The Chain of Survival UK offers support and resources for co-survivors and key supporters impacted by sudden cardiac arrest. Join our community! #ChainOfSurvivalUK#CoSurvivors#SupportNetwork
https://t.co/0Mit3RhBLC
Answering questions on PoTS (Postural Tachycardia Syndrome), syncope, and unexplained loss of consciousness at the next STARS online coffee morning will be Dr Helen Eftekhari. Registration essential: https://t.co/IegIqDrk1h @BlackoutsTrust#PoTS#Syncope
Coronary inflammation and AI-Risk scores from cardiovascular computed tomography: impact on risk prediction and clinical management in a real-world setting https://t.co/H4W5WOG8c7 #AI#imaging#CTCA#FAI#prevention@CaristoHeart
6 days to go!
If you’d like to attend CRY’s Bridges Walk event this Sunday but missed pre-registration, don’t worry - you can still sign up on the day!
Just visit our Registration desk at Southwark Park when you arrive to register and collect your T-shirt pack.
On the day registration is £15 for adults, with children aged 16 and under walking for free.
Walkers can arrive from 9:00am, with the walk starting at 11:00am.
Under-50s age ‘faster than previous generations’ amid cancer surge.
Young adults today appear to be aging on a molecular level faster than their parents’ generation, which may explain a rise in early-onset cancer cases
https://t.co/JZ4X0VS5pf
Preventive cardiology is evolving.
A new perspective highlights the shift from focusing solely on risk factors to understanding risk phenotypes—integrating biology, imaging, and clinical context to better individualize prevention.
As the field advances, this approach may redefine how we assess risk and deliver more precise, patient-centered care.
Important read on the future direction of prevention from ASPC President @DrMichaelShapir
https://t.co/y2x2mm9W0O
#PreventiveCardiology #Cardiology #PrecisionMedicine #CardiovascularPrevention #RiskStratification #ASPC
Heart disease is often preventable - but only if we identify risk early.
Heart for Life brings expert cardiovascular screening and prevention to Jersey, helping people take control of their future heart health.
https://t.co/Z3JHzjy8eY
#Jersey#Cardiology#Prevention
Zero Calcium. Doubled Plaque. A new natural-history study watched atherosclerosis grow in untreated, low-risk adults over five years https://t.co/irRxSu55l8 via @MichaelAlbertMD
Screening to identify young people at risk is cost-effective when conducted correctly – the conditions can be treated, securing a future for those identified. All young people should have the choice to be tested. Register your interest to be screened here: https://t.co/AwSHVw9YYA
Did you know that 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the UK every year?*
Many lives are saved through rapid response from bystanders, and access to rescue-ready defibrillators.
If you own a defib, follow these simple steps to ensure your defib is ready to give someone their best chance of survival.
*source: ~40,000 per year where resuscitation is attempted https://t.co/9Td7yygMY4
Huge well done to our Jersey Heart Team members taking part in the TMF Island Walk today ❤️
They’re raising funds for the Jersey Heart Support Group, supporting cardiac services in Jersey and the Island-wide AED/defibrillator network.
Please donate here:
https://t.co/4meAER2sUn
#IslandWalk #Jersey #AED #Cardiology #JerseyHeartTeam @jsyheartsupport
A petition created in memory of Nathan Bryan, is pushing for change that could save young lives and would offer cardiac screening to young people when they turn 14. Please sign the petition before it closes on 14 July.
Don’t miss your chance to make a difference.
Sign today.
#YSCD #SignThePetition
https://t.co/igHVKXmL5Y