New Study Reveals Why Healthy Women Experience Heart Attacks and Strokes

Previous research has shown that women have a higher risk of dying from heart diseases, including heart attack and stroke, than men.

Cardiovascular diseases know no age: today, according to the Cardiometabolic Institute, one in five patients with a heart attack is younger than 40 years. The statistics are even more alarming for women.

Previous research has shown that women have a higher risk of dying from heart diseases, including heart attack and stroke, than men.

The risk of cardiovascular diseases also “dramatically increases” after menopause. However, despite this information, researchers claim that women with heart problems are often not diagnosed or treated.

This is a common situation for women who do not have the standard modifiable risk factors for heart disease — medically called “SMuRF” — and who are ultimately considered “healthy” by their doctors.

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The four main SMuRF factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. However, statistics are clear: you can be “SMuRF-less” and still suffer a heart attack or stroke, writes Best Life.

According to a new study in Preventive Cardiology, published in the European Heart Journal, a blood test called hsCRP could help identify women who are at risk but are not detected through traditional screening methods.

The research was conducted by doctors at Mass General Brigham Hospital and was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2025.

“Women who have a heart attack or stroke without standard modifiable risk factors are not identified by the risk equations doctors use in daily practice,” said Dr. Paul Ridker, a preventive cardiologist at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Mass General Brigham, in a statement.

He adds that their data clearly show that seemingly healthy women who have inflammation carry significant risk throughout their lives.

“We should be identifying these women in their 40s, when they can begin preventive care, rather than waiting until the disease develops in their 70s, when it is often too late to make any real difference,” he said.

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The abbreviation for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein is hsCRP. This protein is produced by the liver, and elevated levels of CRP indicate inflammation in the body, explains the Mayo Clinic.

“High levels of hsCRP in the blood are associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Also, people who have already had a heart attack are at greater risk of another one if their hsCRP is elevated. However, their risk decreases when hsCRP is in the normal range,” the clinic says.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking are the four main risk factors for heart disease, but obesity, age, family history, poor diet, lack of exercise, and alcohol consumption also increase the risk.

It is important to note that the symptoms of a heart attack often manifest differently in women than in men.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, common heart attack symptoms in women include pain or discomfort in the upper body, shortness of breath, dizziness, cold sweat, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.