A recent study has revealed that women’s heart disease risks and their need to start taking preventative medications should be evaluated when they are in their 30s. However, in the present times, women usually begin taking measures after menopause.

The study presented during the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in London showed that a simple blood test will make it possible to estimate a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease over the next three decades.

Read also: OpenAI Taps Political Veteran Chris Lehane As Global Policy Chief

“This is good for patients first and foremost, but it is also important information for (manufacturers of) cholesterol lowering drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and lipoprotein(a)lowering drugs – the implications for therapy are broad,” said study leader Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

He further emphasized the need to move beyond and discuss the risk of 5 or 10 years rather than considering preventative therapies until the 60s or 70s.

From the study conducted, the researchers were able to find that 27,939 participants in the long-term Women’s Health Initiative study had blood tests between 1992 and 1995 for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which is already a part of routine care, reports Reuters.

When comparing the risks in women with the lowest levels of each marker, risks for cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes over the next 30 years were 36% higher in women with the highest levels of LDL-C, 70% higher in women with the highest levels of hsCRP, and 33% higher in those with the highest levels of lipoprotein.

As per the report, “Women in whom all three markers were in the highest range were 2.6 times more likely to have a major cardiovascular event and 3.7 times more likely to have a stroke over the next three decades”.

“The three biomarkers are fully independent of each other and tell us about different biologic issues each individual woman faces,” Ridker said.

Read also: What Zomato Did To Its App In 6 Months?

The elevation in each biomarker are marked differently, and physician can now specifically target the individual person’s biologic problem.

While drugs that lower LDL-C and hsCRP are widely available – including statins and certain pills for high blood pressure and heart failure – drugs that reduce lipoprotein(a) levels are still in development by companies, including Novartis, Amgen , Eli Lilly and London-based Silence Therapeutics.

The study noted that in some cases, lifestyle changes are exercising and quitting smoking can be helpful.

However, the test was conducted in white Americans while the findings are likely to have an “even greater impact among Black and Hispanic women for whom there is even a higher prevalence of undetected and untreated inflammation,” Ridker said.

He further added that this is indeed a global problem and a universal screening is necessary for hsCRP and lipoprotein just like we have it for cholesterol.