UK scientist have developed a cheap blood test that spots small increases in a protein , Tropinin, which is released after a heart attack, due to damage io the heart muscle.
Early results show that it could potentially detect twice as many heart attacks in comparison to standard tests. Heart attacks tend to be harder to diagnose in women mainly because they tend to have milder attacks, with less obvious signs ( back and abdominal rather than chest pain), which can be missed by standard testing such as ECG’s. Women are also less likely to go present at A&E.
Troponin testing has been available for some time, but the new test can detect it in much smaller concentrations , and as a result can aid in making a diagnosis quicker . This speeds up the referral of patients for urgent surgery, which could save lives and possible prevent a further heart attack.
Early results show that it could potentially detect twice as many heart attacks in comparison to standard tests. Heart attacks tend to be harder to diagnose in women mainly because they tend to have milder attacks, with less obvious signs ( back and abdominal rather than chest pain), which can be missed by standard testing such as ECG’s. Women are also less likely to go present at A&E.
Troponin testing has been available for some time, but the new test can detect it in much smaller concentrations , and as a result can aid in making a diagnosis quicker . This speeds up the referral of patients for urgent surgery, which could save lives and possible prevent a further heart attack.
The test is also much cheaper than currently available tests.