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Blood Test To Predict Heart Attacks Found By Scripps Researchers
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute are close to making a blood test that can predict heart attacks.
Chest pain could mean you've got a pinched nerve, an inflammation or it could mean nothing at all. Or it could mean plaque on your arteries is breaking loose and accumulating in your heart and a heart attack is soon to come.
So what if a simple blood test could tell us that process is underway? Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute are close to making that a reality.
Their research has been published in the journalPhysical Biology. Researchers say the presence of so-called endothelial cells in the blood show that dangerous plaque is circulating in the bloodstream. So a positive blood test for the cells can predict a heart attack.
"So we have something that shows up before the heart attack," said Peter Kuhn, a Scripps faculty member and co-author of the scientific discovery. "What we do not know yet is how much in advance does this actually show up."
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Kuhn says further research must determine when endothelial cells appear in the blood. It could be two days or it could be two weeks before a heart attack.
If you know a heart attack is imminent, doctors can try to ward it off with blood thinners and other treatments.
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