Imagine you are driving your car down a long, quiet highway. You feel safe because you are looking at your dashboard. The gas tank is full, the engine temperature is fine, and no warning lights are blinking. To you, the car seems perfect. But deep inside the engine, out of sight, a tiny fuel line is leaking or a belt is starting to fray. You wouldn’t know there was a problem just by looking at the dashboard. You would only know if you pulled over, popped the hood, and had a mechanic look at the actual parts.
The publication of the Bergström et al. study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on November 9, 2025, represents a landmark moment in the transition from population-based risk estimation to individualized, disease-based risk assessment.¹ This observational cohort study, conducted as part of the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study (SCAPIS), analyzed 24,791 individuals aged 50 to 64 years without established cardiovascular disease.
