(Press-News.org) NEW ORLEANS (Nov. 6, 2025) —Fewer than half of young adults with severely high low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), or “bad” cholesterol, levels start taking a statin within five years of first high LDL-C measurement, according to a study published in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology, and presented at the American Heart Association’s 2025 Scientific Sessions. The 2018 ACC/AHA Cholesterol Guideline recommends a statin in patients with LDL-C over 190 mg/dL and these findings highlight significant care gaps in lipid management among adults aged 18 to 39, particularly those at high risk for premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).
People with elevated LDL-C are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. More than half of U.S. young adults have elevated LDL-C levels (above 100 mg/dL), yet they are significantly less likely than older adults to be aware of their cholesterol levels or receive recommended treatment. This study is one of the largest to date examining real-world patterns of LDL-C testing and statin initiation in this age group.
"Within our integrated system in Southern California, we observed that some high -risk young adults were not consistently following up with the LDL-C testing or statin therapy recommended by guidelines.” said Teresa N. Harrison, SM, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation and lead author of the study. “Our findings underscore that early adulthood is a critical window for prevention, and identifying these areas of opportunities for earlier intervention is essential to reducing young adults’ lifelong heart risk.”
Researchers analyzed data from 771,681 members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California aged 18–39 years who had their first elevated LDL-C measurement between 2008 and 2020. Participants were stratified by LDL-C levels and groups at high-risk of ASCVD, and researchers tracked follow-up LDL-C testing and statin initiation over one, two, and five years.
Key findings include:
Among those with LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL, only 28.4% initiated a statin within one year, and only 45.7% by five years.
Among those with LDL-C 160–189 mg/dL and high 30-year ASCVD risk, 25.3% initiated a statin within one year, rising to 46.4% within five years.
Follow-up LDL-C testing within one year declined from 52.5% in 2008 to 35.4% in 2018 among high-risk individuals.
Statin initiation within one year also declined from 31.7% to 20.1% for those with LDL-C 160–189 mg/dL and high risk, and from 36.5% to 12.6% for those with LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL.
“The good news is that health care systems have a potential roadmap to develop next-generation care models,” Harrison said. “The promising results from our safety net program, SureNet, suggest that integrating patient outreach and clinician decision support may be an effective strategy to further advance proactive, early cardiovascular prevention.”
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, Editor-in-Chief of JACC, said the findings highlight how often opportunities for prevention are being missed, and for many young adults, elevated LDL cholesterol marks the start of a decades-long exposure to cardiovascular risk.
“By identifying and addressing these gaps early, we can change the trajectory of heart disease across the lifespan,” Krumholz said.
This study was conducted within a large, insured health system population in Southern California, which may limit how broadly the findings apply to uninsured populations or those in different care settings. The researchers did not assess whether patients consistently took their prescribed statins, which could influence long-term cardiovascular outcomes. Additionally, the study did not capture patient or clinician perspectives on why statins weren’t started or follow-up testing wasn’t complete —factors that may play a key role in real-world treatment decisions.
The findings will be presented at AHA.25 on Monday, November 10, at 1:00 p.m. CT / 2:00 p.m. ET. For an embargoed copy of the study “Follow-up Lipid Testing and Statin Initiation among Young Adults in a US Healthcare System,” contact JACC Media Relations Manager Olivia Walther at owalther@acc.org.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is a global leader dedicated to transforming cardiovascular care and improving heart health for all. For more than 75 years, the ACC has empowered a community of over 60,000 cardiovascular professionals across more than 140 countries with cutting-edge education and advocacy, rigorous professional credentials, and trusted clinical guidance. From its world-class JACC Journals and NCDR registries to its Accreditation Services, global network of Chapters and Sections, and CardioSmart patient initiatives, the College is committed to creating a world where science, knowledge and innovation optimize patient care and outcomes. Learn more at www.ACC.org or connect on social media at @ACCinTouch.
The ACC’s JACC Journals rank among the top cardiovascular journals in the world for scientific impact. The flagship journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) — and specialty journals consisting of JACC: Advances, JACC: Asia, JACC: Basic to Translational Science, JACC: CardioOncology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, JACC: Case Reports, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and JACC: Heart Failure — pride themselves on publishing the top peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cardiovascular disease. Learn more at JACC.org.
###
END
HERSHEY, Pa. — In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the federal constitutional right to abortion and returned authority to individual states to regulate abortion. A new study from researchers at Penn State, Albany Medical Center, University of South Florida and University of Tennessee Medical Center revealed that the change in abortion policies appears to have a trickle-down effect, influencing reproductive health and family planning decisions.
The research team found that the number of women undergoing tubal ligations — ...
Current U.S. immigration enforcement and deportation policies are producing widespread harm to physical and mental health, with family separation and the specters of fear and intimidation affecting the well-being of immigrant and non-immigrant communities.
That’s the warning from several longtime public health researchers, who also outline proven community and policy actions that could reduce harm and strengthen health in communities across the nation.
Professors from five prestigious U.S. research universities called for health care professionals and researchers to advocate for the end of deportations and restrictive immigration policies. Their insights appear in the ...
Toronto, ON, November 6, 2025 – Adults diagnosed with a concussion may be at about 50 per cent higher risk of a subsequent traffic crash, finds a new study from researchers at ICES and Sunnybrook Research Institute.
Concussions can temporarily affect brain function, with symptoms including insomnia, dizziness, depression, brain fog, and slowed reaction times that can linger for weeks. These symptoms could alter driving skills and increase the risk of a motor vehicle accident.
“I worry ...
When Linda Moslow, A16P, A18P, entered perimenopause in her early 40s, she was blindsided. “I’d always been healthy and grounded in wellness,” she says. “Suddenly, I couldn’t recognize myself.” The months of anxiety, sleeplessness, and confusion that followed left her feeling unmoored until she found a team of doctors who helped her understand what was happening.
The experience was both personal and galvanizing. Realizing that millions of women lacked the support she’d been lucky to find, Moslow started ...
Plant biologists have developed a method for growing transgenic and gene-edited plants that cuts the slow and expensive process down from months to weeks. Publishing November 6 in the Cell Press journal Molecular Plant, the method takes advantage of plants’ natural ability to regenerate after being wounded or pruned. By injecting bacteria carrying genetic instructions for wound healing and regeneration into a pruned plant’s wound site, the researchers triggered the plant to grow new shoots, some of which were transgenic and gene edited. The method shows potential even in species that ...
Type 1 diabetes is caused by an insufficient production of the hormone insulin by cells in the pancreas called beta cells and estimated to affect 9.5 million people worldwide. Low insulin levels allow glucose levels to remain elevated, which in the long term can damage organs such as the kidneys, the eyes, and the cardiovascular system. People with diabetes require lifelong monitoring of blood sugar levels coupled with insulin injections to keep blood sugar levels at a stable, healthy level.
A potential new treatment option ...
A new high resolution digital dataset and map — named Itiner-e — of roads throughout the Roman Empire around the year 150 CE is presented in research published in Scientific Data. The findings increase the known length of the Empire’s road system by over 100,000 kilometres.
At its height in the second century CE, the Roman Empire included over 55 million people and stretched from modern day Britain to Egypt and Syria. Although a network of roads throughout the Empire facilitated ...
About The Study: In this large, diverse sample of first-time mothers in the U.S., 1 in 27 participants reported feeding their infants shared human milk. Prior work indicates that families engage in many, but not all, recommended milk sharing risk mitigation measures and fear disclosing their milk sharing to practitioners. Given the prevalence in this study, pediatric practitioners should be aware that milk sharing occurs across demographics; they can counsel families considering or using shared milk on risks and risk-reduction strategies ...
Over-the-counter pain medications work as well or better than opioids after wisdom tooth extraction for both men and women, according to a Rutgers Health-led follow-up to a landmark paper on comparative pain relief.
That first paper on the collective experience of more than 1,800 trial patients found that the combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen provided better pain relief than hydrocodone with acetaminophen for the first two days after surgery and greater satisfaction over the post-operative period. The new subgroup analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, demonstrated that the results held for both ...
About The Study: The results of this study of pharmacies in British Columbia, Canada, suggest that when medication abortion is available as a routine health service and mifepristone is regulated as a routine prescription, pharmacists play a key role in providing geographically distributed access to medication abortion. These findings may inform policy and initiatives to enhance pharmacist referral networks and improve mifepristone access, as well as service planning for international jurisdictions considering a similar medication abortion ...
