“Thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented with the aid of a simple £5 blood test, research suggests.

Checking levels of troponin in patients could enable doctors to predict their risk of cardiovascular events with much greater accuracy, according to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The protein is found in heart muscle cells and seeps into the blood when hearts are damaged. Troponin blood tests are already used in hospitals to diagnose heart attacks after they have occurred.

Research suggests the inexpensive tests could also be used to detect ‘silent’ harm to the heart, helping to predict a patient’s future risk of cardiovascular events.

The tests, which can be done alongside routine cholesterol tests at GP surgeries, could enable preventive treatment, such as statins, with the potential to avoid thousands of heart attacks and strokes.”

From The Guardian.