Early-life neighborhood conditions linked to higher heart disease risk later

Using the long-term CARDIA study, investigators devised a novel index that captures multiple neighborhood social factors such as socioeconomic status, food availability, physical-activity options, and local crime rates. When participants' early-adult neighborhood scores were compared with repeated measures of coronary artery calcification, those exposed to poorer conditions showed a higher risk of calcification in midlife.

The link was particularly pronounced for Black adults. Lead author Tao Gao and senior author Lifang Hou say the results highlight how early-life environments can produce measurable biological changes that influence cardiovascular risk. The team plans to test whether the same neighborhood factors predict heart attacks or heart failure and to identify modifiable community targets for intervention. Future work will also examine how changes in neighborhood conditions over time might alter disease risk.