Cardiovascular disease linked to fewer years free of it
Loss of life expectancy free of cardiovascular disease was 16.0 years at ages 45 to 54 compared with 4.6 years at ages 75 to 80.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study examined 385,096 individuals aged 18 to 80 years with a first cardiovascular disease event in the Netherlands, matched to 1,524,399 people without prior cardiovascular disease.
The estimated loss of life expectancy free from cardiovascular disease associated with disease onset was 16.0 years at ages 45 to 54 compared with 4.6 years at ages 75 to 80. The loss was 17.0 years in women compared with 13.0 years in men. The lowest income group had a loss of 15.8 years compared with 11.6 years in the highest income group. Individuals of non-Dutch ethnicity experienced larger losses than native Dutch individuals. The relative rate of subsequent cardiovascular events was higher among people with a first event, with a hazard ratio of 2.66 compared with matched peers without prior disease.
Why it matters
The study addressed which age and demographic groups might have the greatest need for prevention after a first cardiovascular event. The authors emphasized preventing further events to reduce disparities in cardiovascular outcomes.
Caveats
As an observational study relying on hospital records, the analysis shows associations rather than cause, and household income served as a proxy for socioeconomic status. The findings from this Dutch cohort may not apply to people older than 80 or populations outside the Netherlands.
The paper
University Medical Center Utrecht
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026