New Blood Test Could Help Prevent Heart Attacks

Knowledge is power, and in medicine, knowledge can also save lives. Early detection is one of the best tools a doctor can have in the effort to keep their patients healthy and safe. 

Now, a recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has shown that measuring the levels of a protein called troponin in the blood could more accurately predict the likelihood of cardiovascular events in patients. This could truly be life saving. 

It Starts With Troponins
It all starts with troponins, reported the The Guardian. Troponins are a type of protein that are released into the bloodstream when there is damage to the heart. In fact, troponins are already used in hospitals to determine whether someone has had a heart attack. Now, according to the study, they may also be able to be used to predict whether someone will have a cardiovascular event in the future. 

The researchers analysed data from more than 62,000 people from across Europe and the US. Every participant had their troponin levels measured and other risk factors such as smoking, age, cholesterol, and their history of diabetes taken into account.  

The study found that people with higher levels of troponin in their blood had a greater risk of having a cardiovascular event or stroke within the next ten years. When they modeled adding troponin measurements to standard evaluations of risk factors for heart attacks, they found that it would prevent one stroke or heart attack for every 500 people tested. 

This predictive blood test can be done in a routine checkup along with other blood work like cholesterol tests and depending on the risk, physicians can prescribe preventive medications like statins and lifestyle changes. 

Identifying Risk
One of the more important elements of the study, according to News Medical, is that it better helps identify the risks of heart attack and stroke for people who are considered to be at an intermediate risk. The people in this group tend to be troublesome for doctors, as their risk is not high enough to qualify for preventative medical intervention. 

The study’s  author Dr Spencer Keene, Research Associate at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge notes told News Medical, “Our study found that measuring troponin can help reduce uncertainty in this decision-making process, especially for individuals at intermediate cardiovascular disease risk, where the next steps are often unclear.”

As modeled by the study, eight percent of people who had been classified as intermediate were subsequently changed to high risk, and thus qualified for medicines and treatment that could save their lives. In short, measuring troponin can help doctors make more accurate diagnoses and thus have a clearer picture of when medical intervention is required or not.

This is all very welcome news. Preventing heart disease or catching it early is the key to saving countless lives.