Surprising Sign Can Predict Heart Disease Decades Before It Strikes

Heart disease risk is usually assessed through blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and family history. New research suggests another clue may appear much earlier: the neighborhood where someone lives in young adulthood.

Published in Nature Communications on March 31, 2026, the study was led by Tao Gao, with Lifang Hou as senior author. It connected local conditions with coronary artery calcification decades later, but found an association rather than proof that a ZIP code directly causes disease.