HMN 2026: How Good fitness in your 30s may shape artery health decades later

People with good physical fitness in their 30s and 50s have more elastic arteries later in life. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Scientific Reports, titled “Aerobic capacity at age 34 predicts arterial stiffness in age 63, independent of classical and advanced lipid-related cardiovascular risk factors: a longitudinal cohort study.” The association remains regardless of cholesterol levels and other risk factors.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. One early sign of increased risk is stiffening of the arteries, which can contribute to heart attack and stroke. In the present study, researchers investigated whether physical fitness earlier in life can predict how elastic the blood vessels are in older age.

The study is based on data from the Swedish longitudinal study SPAF?1958, led by Maria Westerståhl, senior lecturer at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, where 425 individuals were followed across adulthood. Participants were examined at ages 34, 52, and 63.

The researchers assessed fitness using a cycle ergometer test, analyzed blood samples to study lipids, and measured arterial stiffness at age 63 using a non-invasive method.

Fitness more important than blood lipids

The results show that individuals with higher fitness at ages 34 and 52 had more elastic arteries at age 63. The association remained even after accounting for factors such as blood pressure, body weight, smoking, and cholesterol levels. However, neither cholesterol nor more advanced measures of so-called “good” HDL cholesterol could predict arterial stiffness.

“Our findings show that good physical fitness early in life is linked to vascular health later in life, independently of traditional risk factors,” says Andrea Tryfonos, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet.

According to the researchers, the results suggest that regular physical activity may have long-term effects on cardiovascular health that are not captured by blood lipids and other common risk markers alone.

“This highlights the importance of maintaining good fitness from early adulthood to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” says Tryfonos.

The researchers are now planning a follow-up of the participants at age 68 to investigate how changes in fitness over time affect vascular health later in life.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the division of clinical physiology and the division of clinical chemistry at the department of laboratory medicine, as well as Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge.

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