Image Credit: attapornfoto/123rf.com
A new study has revealed that a simple £5 ($6.30) blood test could play a crucial role in preventing heart attacks and strokes, potentially reshaping cardiovascular risk assessment. Funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the research focuses on measuring troponin levels, a protein released when the heart sustains damage.
Traditionally, troponin tests are used to diagnose heart attacks after they occur. However, researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine discovered that these tests could also be effective in a preventive context, offering significant insights into silent heart muscle damage even when troponin levels fall within the normal range.
The study analyzed data from over 62,000 individuals across Europe and the United States, tracking participants for a decade. By integrating troponin levels with conventional risk factors—such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure, smoking status, age, and diabetes history—the predictive accuracy of cardiovascular risk assessments improved by up to four times. This advancement could enable healthcare providers to better identify individuals at risk, particularly those categorized as intermediate-risk who do not currently qualify for preventive treatments under existing guidelines.
The research indicates that troponin testing could help reclassify up to eight percent of patients in the intermediate-risk group as high-risk. For these individuals, early intervention with treatments like statins may significantly reduce the likelihood of serious cardiovascular events.
With approximately 100,000 people hospitalized for heart attacks annually in the UK, the ability to identify at-risk individuals earlier could alleviate pressure on healthcare systems and save lives. The study’s findings suggest that incorporating troponin screening into routine cholesterol tests could be a cost-effective strategy to enhance patient care.
Modeling from the research indicates that testing 500 intermediate-risk patients with this method could prevent one heart attack or stroke. While this may seem modest, it could ultimately translate to thousands of lives saved across national health systems.
As the healthcare sector seeks more precise and equitable care delivery methods, this low-cost yet impactful approach represents a promising advancement in cardiovascular health management.
Check out the original article here: Source link
