Functional decline may show up as much as a decade before a cardiovascular disease (CVD) event, according to a nested case-control study published in JAMA Cardiology. The finding suggests that changes in daily functioning are not just a consequence of advanced disease but can emerge well before a heart attack, stroke, or other major event.
The study's authors argue that this early signal creates a prolonged window for identifying people at higher risk. If confirmed, it could support screening strategies that track functional status over time, rather than waiting for traditional risk factors to become apparent.
Because the source is a brief roundup, it does not specify which functional measures were assessed or how large the study population was. Still, the result adds to evidence that the path to CVD may begin years earlier than previously recognized.