At the end of follow-up, when adjusting for the above-mentioned confounders (sex, BMI, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and chronic treatment at baseline with anticoagulants), participants with IL6 levels > 75th percentile were diagnosed with AF 4.3 years earlier (95% CI 1.1–7.5 years, p = 0.008) compared to those with lower levels. Here, IL6 is linked to Hypertension.