{"id":9497,"date":"2026-01-12T17:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/?p=9497"},"modified":"2026-01-12T17:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:03:16","slug":"cad-without-risk-factorssmurf-less-but-inflamed-is-inflammation-the-missing-link-in-womens-heart-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/cad-without-risk-factorssmurf-less-but-inflamed-is-inflammation-the-missing-link-in-womens-heart-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"CAD, without RIsk Factors(=SMuRF-Less )but Inflamed: Is Inflammation the Missing Link in Women\u2019s Heart Disease?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CAD, without RIsk Factors(=SMuRF-Less )but Inflamed:
\nIs Inflammation the Missing Link in Women\u2019s Heart Disease?<\/p>\n

Source: Medscape Medical News
\nDate: January 8, 2026<\/p>\n

Key Points
\n\u2022 Major burden in women:
\n\u2022 Despite this, women represent <40% of participants in cardiovascular clinical trials.
\n\u2022 The SMuRF-less paradox:
\n\u2022 Many women experience acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs) such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or smoking.
\n\u2022 SMuRF-less women have been shown to have up to threefold higher AMI mortality compared with men who have at least one traditional risk factor.
\n\u2022 Inflammation as the missing risk factor:
\n\u2022 New data presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and published in The European Heart Journal highlight high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) as a key predictor of risk.
\n\u2022 In 12,530 initially healthy women followed for 30 years, hsCRP >3 mg\/L was associated with:
\n\u2022 77% higher risk of coronary heart disease
\n\u2022 52% higher risk of cardiovascular events
\n\u2022 39% higher risk of stroke
\n\u2022 These associations persisted after adjustment for BMI and kidney function.
\n\u2022 Inflammation vs cholesterol:
\n\u2022 HsCRP predicted first cardiovascular events more strongly than LDL-C or lipoprotein(a) in this population.
\n\u2022 From risk marker to treatment target:
\n\u2022 Reanalysis of the JUPITER trial showed that SMuRF-less but inflamed patients (hsCRP >2 mg\/L) treated with rosuvastatin had a 38% reduction in major cardiovascular events compared with placebo.
\n\u2022 Clinical implications:
\n\u2022 Inflammation should be considered an independent cardiovascular risk factor, particularly in women.
\n\u2022 Measuring hsCRP may help refine risk assessment when traditional scores appear reassuring.
\n\u2022 Earlier statin therapy may be reasonable in SMuRF-less patients with elevated inflammation, even before overt disease develops.
\n\u2022 Expert perspective:
\n\u2022 Inflammatory states such as pregnancy complications, autoimmune and rheumatologic diseases may act as risk enhancers in women.
\n\u2022 When traditional risk factors fail to explain events, clinicians are urged to \u201clook beyond cholesterol\u201d toward inflammation.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line:
\nFor many women, cardiovascular risk may be driven less by classic factors and more by chronic vascular inflammation, positioning hsCRP as both a critical risk marker and a potential therapeutic guide.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.medscape.com\/viewarticle\/smurf-less-but-inflamed-inflammation-key-womens-heart-health-2026a10000lu<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAD, without RIsk Factors(=SMuRF-Less )but Inflamed: Is Inflammation the Missing Link in Women\u2019s Heart Disease? Source: Medscape Medical News Date: January 8, 2026 Key Points \u2022 Major burden in women: \u2022 Despite this, women represent <40% of participants in cardiovascular clinical trials. \u2022 The SMuRF-less paradox: \u2022 Many women experience acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9498,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions\/9498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}