Simple blood test could predict a person’s heart disease risk 30 years out, study finds
A new approach to a routine blood test could predict a person’s 30-year risk of heart disease, research published Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine found.
A new approach to a routine blood test could predict a person’s 30-year risk of heart disease, research published Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine found.
Doctors have long assessed their patients’ risk for cardiovascular disease by using a blood test to look at cholesterol levels, focusing particularly on LDL or “bad” cholesterol. But limiting blood testing to just cholesterol misses important — and usually silent — risk factors, experts say.
“We have other biomarkers that tell us about other kinds of biological problems our patients who are destined to have cardiovascular disease are likely to have,” said lead study author Dr. Paul Ridker, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Ridker and his team found that in addition to LDL cholesterol, two other markers — a type of fat in the blood called lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a), and an indicator of inflammation — are important predictors of a person's risk of heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease.
The findings were also presented Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024 in London.
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