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Photo of Carl Johan Östgren

Carl Johan Östgren

Professor

My wish is to find better risk markers for cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes than is available today. Another aim with my research is to better be able to individualize treatment to counter complications from diabetes.

Improved tools for assessing cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes and in the general population

My research is primarily confined to two studies; Cardiovascular Risk factors in type 2 Diabetes - a Prospective cohort in primary care (CARDIPP) and the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Study (SCAPIS) where I have the role of principal investigator (PI) at Linköping University. In the CARDIPP cohort study the collection of data is completed and in SCAPIS the data collection is currently starting.

About me

Other assignments

I am Medical Editor with the Journal of the Swedish Medical Association where I represent General Practice


Publications

2026

Wei Li, Mats Fredrikson, Dzeneta Nezirevic Dernroth, Hevi Mahmod, Xiao-Mei Mai, Carl Johan Östgren, Ximing Yuan (2026) Sex differences in iron stores and associations of body iron with cardiovascular risk factors in the middle-aged general population Frontiers in Endocrinology, Vol. 17, Article 1832141 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2026.1832141
David Kylhammar, Lina Hult, Peter Blomstrand, Hannes Holm Isholth, Amra Jujic, Martin Magnusson, Carl Johan Östgren, Jan Engvall, Kristofer Hedman (2026) Diastolic dysfunction is equally common in pre-diabetes and diabetes and associated with concomitant cardiometabolic risk factors Open heart, Vol. 13, Article e004052 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2026-004052
Agnes Wahrenberg, Karin Leander, Henrike Habel, Patrik K. E. Magnusson, Ralf Kuja-Halkola, Goran Bergstrom, Lars Lind, Emil Hagstrom, Gunnar Engstrom, Tomas Jernberg, Stefan Soderberg, Carl Johan Östgren, Per Svensson (2026) Validation of self-reported family history of myocardial infarction using nationwide health care data European Journal of Epidemiology (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10654-026-01399-x
Filip Hammaréus, Lennart Nilsson, Rosanna Chung, Fredrik H Nyström, Carl Johan Östgren, Lena Jonasson (2026) Circulating type I collagen pro-a1 chain is inversely associated with the presence of coronary atherosclerosis in a Swedish middle-aged population Scientific Reports, Vol. 16, Article 9965 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45736-2
Xiangyu Qiao, Vanessa William Toma, Jing Wang, Ángel Herraiz-Adillo, Simon Söderholm, Daniel Berglind, Susanna Calling, Bledar Daka, Mats Martinell, Frida Bergman, Pontus Henriksson, Bijar Ghafouri, Martin Ulander, Carl Johan Östgren, Claudio Cantù, Wen Zhong, Fredrik Iredahl (2026) Genetic predisposition to coffee consumption and the association with the early risk of atherosclerosis Scientific Reports, Vol. 16, Article 9652 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44122-2

Research

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Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Type 2-diabetes - CARDIPP

The aim is to identify risk markers for cardiovascular disease to facilitate early and individually adjusted interventions in middle-aged men and women with Type 2-diabetes.
CT scanner at SCAPIS

SCAPIS - The Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study

SCAPIS combines the use of new imaging technologies, advances in large-scale 'comics' and epidemiological analyses to extensively characterize a Swedish cohort of 30 000 men and women aged between 50 and 64 years.

Coworkers

Photo of Fredrik Nyström

Fredrik Nyström

Professor

Photo of Tomas Strömberg

Tomas Strömberg

Professor

Photo of Anders Persson

Anders Persson

Director, Professor, Head of Division

Photo of Eva Swahn

Eva Swahn

Adjunct Professor

Photo of Jan Engvall

Jan Engvall

Visiting Professor

Photo of Tomas Faresjö

Tomas Faresjö

Professor Emeritus

Organisation

Illustration of the letters HMV

Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences (HMV)

The research areas at HMV include experimental basic research to clinical, social and public health research. We conduct high-quality education in the sought-after care professions.
A physiotherapist in a blue shirt is standing to the left of a woman in a pink shirt doing an exercise. You can not see their faces.

Division of Prevention, Rehabilitation and Community Medicine (PRNV)

We are an interdisciplinary division that consists of three units: Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Clinical Medicine.
Five people in a laboratory.

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (MEDFAK)

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences conducts research and education within medicine, healthcare and public health.

News

Physician measures a young man's blood pressure.

High blood pressure in adolescence a silent risk

A blood pressure as low as 120/80 mm Hg in adolescence is linked to a higher risk of atherosclerosis in middle age. These findings indicate that high blood pressure early in life plays an important role in the development of coronary artery disease.
young man taking a break from running.

Physical fitness in adolescence linked to less atherosclerosis later

Men who were physically fit when they were young had a lower risk of atherosclerosis almost 40 years later. These findings suggest that atherosclerosis is one of the mechanisms behind the link between physical fitness and cardiovascular disease.
Ultra sound of blood vessels

Stop the heart attack before it occurs

By way of a large national population study, researchers are looking for increasingly better ways of determining which individuals run the greatest risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.