Simple blood test costing just £5 could predict heart attacks 15 years early
Coronary heart disease is the UKs single biggest killer and causes nearly 70,000 deaths each year
A BLOOD test used to diagnose heart attacks could actually be used to predict them 15 years in advance, a study found.
And experts say it may be a more effective way of assessing future heart disease risk than traditional markers, such as blood pressure or cholesterol.
Coronary heart disease – the cause of heart attacks - is the UK’s single biggest killer, accounting for nearly 70,000 deaths each year.
When heart muscle is damaged it leaks a protein called troponin into the blood stream.
Patients suspected of suffering a heart attack will often be given a £5 troponin test to aide diagnosis.
Now researchers have used the test to accurately identify patients at risk of having a heart attack by looking for small traces of troponin in the blood.
They analysed samples from 3,318 men with high cholesterol but no history of heart disease and tracked them for 15 years.
Some 413 had a heart attack during this time.
Results showed those with a high level of tropin at the start of the trial were twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as someone with similar blood pressure and cholesterol.
Study leader Professor Nicholas Mills, from the University of Edinburgh said: “These results are tremendously exciting, and could revolutionise the way we manage patients at risk of coronary heart disease.
“Whilst blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure are important and associated with the risk of developing heart disease, troponin is a direct measure of injury to the heart.
“Troponin testing will help doctors to identify apparently healthy individuals who have ‘silent’ heart disease so we can target preventative treatments to those who are likely to benefit most.”
Patients currently considered to be at high risk of heart disease are often prescribed statins, which help to reduce levels of bad cholesterol.
But researchers found statins also reduced troponin levels.
Those whose troponin levels decreased the most had a five-fold lower risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who levels were unchanged or increased.
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Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The use of troponin tests to determine whether or not a person has had a heart attack when they first arrive at hospital is now firmly established in clinical practice.
“Now, the hope from this new research is that we may be able to use this simple test earlier on to identify people at higher risk of suffering from a heart attack.
“Those found to be at higher risk could have their preventative treatments intensified."
“Before the findings from this research can be clinically applied, the usefulness of measuring troponin findings need to be demonstrated in a wider group of patients.
“If this confirms its value, the test could easily be administered by GPs during standard check-ups, and could ultimately save lives.”
The researchers now want to see if the same effects are seen in women and men with lower cholesterol levels.
The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.