Genetically predicted high BP and LDL-C increase risk of CHD independent of age

The impact of blood pressure and cholesterol levels on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk across different life stages has always been a subject of uncertainty. A recent study by the Nelson Wang and team utilized data from the UK Biobank and looked into the long term implications of elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on CHD risk. The findings of the study were published in PloS One.

The study included 136,648 participants for LDL-C, 135,431 for SBP, and 24,052 CHD cases. The study assessed the duration of exposure to these risk factors on CHD risk. Univariable analyses revealed a consistent association between higher LDL-C and SBP and increased odds of incident CHD in individuals aged ≤55, ≤60, and ≤65 years after stratified by age at enrollment. Importantly, multivariable MR analyses demonstrated that exposure to elevated LDL-C/SBP in early life (≤55 years) was independently associated with a higher CHD risk, irrespective of later-life levels (age >55 years) (odds ratio 1.68, 95% CI 1.20–2.34 per 1 mmol/L LDL-C, and odds ratio 1.33, 95% CI 1.18–1.51 per 10 mmHg SBP).