Autoimmune disease linked to higher heart risk in women than men
In fully adjusted models over 13.6 years of follow-up, hazard ratios for cardiovascular disease were 1.45 in females compared with 1.25 in males.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers tracked 443,709 participants aged 56.0 years on average without known cardiovascular disease, conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, in an observational cohort study of the UK Biobank. At enrollment, 56% of participants were female, and 24,847 had at least one autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. Over a median follow-up of 13.6 years, cardiovascular disease developed in 6,621 participants (26.6%) with autoimmune disease and 76,049 (18.2%) without it.
Autoimmune disease was more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease in females than in males. In age-adjusted models, hazard ratios were 1.63 in females and 1.41 in males. In models adjusted for known risk factors, hazard ratios were 1.45 in females and 1.25 in males. Adjustment for measured risk factors attenuated the excess hazard by 23.9% in females and 34.4% in males.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of illness and death as people grow older. Because immune responses and cardiovascular risks change with age and differ by sex, understanding these patterns may help clarify how immune conditions shape long-term cardiovascular health in older women and men.
Caveats
Because this was an observational study, it can identify links between conditions but cannot establish that autoimmune diseases cause cardiovascular illness. The findings come from a conference abstract of UK Biobank participants and do not apply to people with preexisting cardiovascular disease, whom the study excluded at enrollment.
The paper
KU Leuven; University of Oxford
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
