🔎 A Heart Inflamed For decades, four big risks for heart disease have been the focus of cardiology: hypertension, smoking, high levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. But now, research is shifting to study the role of chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation, or the prolonged and damaging state of immune system activation, may accelerate cardiovascular problems. In 2023, the FDA approved an existing drug for gout, colchicine, for the treatment of heart disease; a clinical trial showed that those who took it had 30 percent less chance of cardiac incidents, especially when combined with statins. Why this matters: Nearly a quarter of people admitted to hospitals for heart attacks don’t have any of the four classic risk factors. In fact, a 2023 analysis found that hospitalized acute coronary patients without any of the four hazards were 57 percent more likely to die compared to those who had at least one. This medical mystery means that for more than 200,000 people who d...