How a Standard Blood Test Can Predict a Heart Attack

Using the results of a standard blood test and an online tool, you can find out if you are at increased risk of heart attack within six months. The tool was developed by a research group at Uppsala University in the hope of increasing patients’ motivation to change their lifestyle.

Their article is published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Heart attacks are the most common cause of death worldwide and are increasing globally. Many people at high risk are not identified or do not follow their preventative treatment.

Now, researchers led by Professor Johan Sundström from Uppsala University have discovered that heart attacks can be predicted using a standard blood test. The problem, according to the researchers, is that risk factors have already been verified in studies involving five to ten years of follow-up, where only factors stable over time can be identified.

“However, we know that the time before a heart attack is very dynamic. For example, the risk of a heart attack doubles in the month following a divorce, and the risk of a fatal heart attack is five times higher in the of the week. after a cancer diagnosis,” says Sundström, cardiologist and professor of epidemiology at Uppsala University.

He and other European researchers hypothesized that several important biological processes are active in the months preceding a heart attack and that they could be detected using a simple blood test.

“We wanted to develop methods that would allow health services to identify people who would soon suffer their first heart attack,” says Sundström.

The research group had access to blood samples from 169,053 people without a history of cardiovascular disease in six European cohorts. In six months, 420 of these people suffered their first heart attack. Their blood was then compared to that of 1,598 healthy members of the cohorts.

“We identified around 90 molecules that were linked to a risk of a first heart attack. However, samples already taken in healthcare settings are now sufficient to predict the risk. We hope this will increase people’s motivation to take their preventative medications . or quit smoking, for example,” says Sundström.

The researchers also developed a simple online tool in which anyone can find out their risk of heart attack within six months.

“That was one of the goals of the whole study, because we know that people feel relatively unmotivated to take preventive treatments. If you find out that you are at increased risk of having a heart attack soon, you may feel more motivated to prevent it,” says Sundström.

Researchers will now study the approximately 90 new molecules to better understand them and see if there are treatment possibilities.

“We hope to be able to carry out a new study here in Uppsala to see if the online tool provides the kind of motivation we want,” concludes Sundström.

One of the six cohorts comes from the EpiHealth population study based in Uppsala.