[ad_1]
Scientists are racing against time to develop a simple blood test to predict whether someone is at risk of suffering from the world’s most common hereditary heart disease, for which there is still no cure.
The common genetic heart condition under the lens is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Millions of people around the world suffer from this condition in which the walls of the heart thicken. It is caused by abnormal genes in the heart muscle and mostly runs in families.
The problem is that there is no cure for this genetic condition. according to GuardianDoctors also don’t know which patients with genetic conditions are at greatest risk of fatal complications.
But now a team of scientists from universities including Harvard and Oxford have found a way to predict the risk for people living with HCM – a blood test.
According to the report, this blood test can identify patients who are at highest risk of complications. This will allow doctors to monitor them more closely and provide them with life-saving treatment.
How will this work?
In a landmark study, the team measured levels of a protein, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP), in the blood of 700 HCM patients.
NT-pro-BNP is released by the heart as part of normal pumping. But high levels are a sign that the heart is working too hard.
People with the highest levels had less blood flow, more scar tissue and had changes in their hearts that could lead to atrial fibrillation or heart failure.
A blood test measuring NT-pro-BNP could transform the care of millions of people suffering from the world’s most common hereditary heart disease.
“This trial could benefit patients around the world,” Professor Brian Williams, chief scientist and medical officer of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“After being diagnosed with HCM, patients and their families want to know what will happen in the future. This study shows that measuring different proteins circulating in the blood can help predict how the heart is working and the risk of future complications from heart disease,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, Professor Caroline Ho, medical director of the Center for Cardiovascular Genetics at Harvard Medical School, said the test could help “target the right treatment to the right patients at the right time”.
He said continued studies on blood biomarkers will lead to a better understanding of HCM so that, in the future, “we can offer blood testing to our patients to identify who is at higher versus lower risk of experiencing severe outcomes of the disease.”
“People at highest risk can be targeted for potentially life-saving treatments because they have the greatest benefit, while those at lowest risk can avoid unnecessary treatments,” he said.
Symptoms of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
According to the Cleveland Clinic, common symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include:
- Chest pain – usually with physical activity
- Dizziness
- shortness of breath and fatigue, especially with physical activity
- unconsciousness
- Feeling as if your heart is beating too fast or your chest is fluttering (palpitations)
- Swelling (edema) in the veins of your lower body or neck.
But there may be cases when the patient does not experience these symptoms at all.
[ad_2]
