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full screen A simple test reveals the risk of a heart attack long in advance. Archive image. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
A new test can predict the risk of suffering a heart attack in the coming months.
– This is the first test of its kind. Previously, it was only possible to predict the risk within ten years, says Professor Johan Sundström.
With the help of a blood test, you can predict who will suffer a heart attack within six months. The factors that lead to a heart attack are visible in the blood several months before it occurs.
– We have found around 90 new markers in the blood that are involved in a heart attack. We hope that it can lead to people who will soon have a heart attack being found more quickly, says Johan Sundström, who led a research group at Uppsala University where the new test was developed.
It is also known that the psychological stress of the death of a partner or the news of a cancer diagnosis increases the risk of suffering a heart attack in the near future. Johan Sundström says that the week after a cancer diagnosis is announced, the risk of heart attack increases fivefold.
By taking such lifestyle factors into account, they have also developed a web test that private individuals can take. However, you first need to do a test that shows the value of the bad and the good cholesterol.
The idea of the test is to increase motivation for lifestyle changes.
– Previously, you could only see the risk of suffering a heart attack within ten years, and then it might not feel as justified to stop smoking or start taking a medicine. If you can instead see the risk of being hit in the near future, motivation will hopefully increase, says Johan Sundström.