Silent artery plaque can already be found in young adults with no symptoms, a major international study has found.

The first phase of the REACT study examined more than 16,000 people with no symptoms or previous heart disease diagnosis. It found atherosclerotic plaques in 57.1 per cent of them.

One in 13 adults under 30 already had hidden artery plaque. The findings were presented at the ESC Congress 2026 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was led by Professor Henning Bundgaard of Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen and Dr Borja Ibanez of CNIC in Spain. It is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Men developed plaque five to 10 years earlier than women. Women saw their steepest increase between the ages of 40 and 60.

Commonly used risk scores identified only a small share of people who already had silent plaque. That suggests some cases go undetected by traditional checks.

Researchers say portable ultrasound could one day help spot hidden plaque earlier. More trials are needed first.