About 4 out of every 10 young adults with early signs of artery clogging don't have high cholesterol or high blood pressure—so our usual heart risk checks might be missing a lot of people who already have early heart disease.

If you're under 40 and have high 'bad' cholesterol or high blood pressure, you're more likely to have buildup in the neck arteries that supply your brain — a sign that heart disease might be starting early.

People with plaque in their neck arteries are much more likely to have heart disease — about 8.6 times more likely — even after accounting for age and gender.

If healthy adults have higher 'bad' cholesterol levels, they’re more likely to show early signs of artery hardening, like thicker artery walls or plaque buildup in the neck arteries.

Even if you're a middle-aged adult with normal cholesterol and no obvious heart disease risks, there's almost a 50% chance you already have early signs of heart disease, like buildup in your arteries.

Even if you're middle-aged and seem healthy with normal cholesterol and no heart disease risks, almost half of people like you might already have early signs of heart disease you can't feel.