A simple blood test could identify women most likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease thirty years later, shows a study published by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
Published at 11:13 a.m.
Jean-Benoit Legault
The Canadian Press
This could open the door to early interventions, such as lifestyle changes, to reduce disease risks decades later.
“We cannot ensure causality since this is not a study that was done prospectively,” commented cardiac surgeon Jessica Forcillo, who is the co-founder of the CardioF Expertise Center at the CHUM.
“But we can see that there is an association, so it can give us clues about which woman […] would be at greater risk of developing the disease in the future. This is additional information that helps us better detect and prevent diseases.”
Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) measured two types of fat in the blood as well as C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation.
The approximately 28,000 women studied all came from the health sector and had been participating in the gigantic American Women’s Health Study since 1992 or 1995. During a thirty-year follow-up, 3,662 of them suffered a myocardial infarction, a stroke or a death from cardiovascular causes. Others required surgery to restore normal circulation.
NIH researchers found that women with the highest levels of LDL cholesterol had a 36 percent higher risk of heart disease than women with the lowest levels.
The risk of heart disease was 33% and 70% higher in women with the highest levels of lipoprotein(a) and C-reactive protein, respectively, compared with women with the lowest levels.
When these three measures were combined, the risk of stroke was 1.5 times greater and the risk of coronary heart disease three times greater in participants with the highest levels.
“Each biomarker contributed independently to the overall risk,” the study authors write. “The greatest dispersion of risk was obtained in models that incorporated all three biomarkers.”
And although the study only involved women, researchers believe the results would be very similar in men.
In light of these results, the authors of the study reiterate the usual advice for promoting coronary health: regular physical activity, a heart-healthy diet, quality sleep, adequate stress management, and of course avoiding (or giving up) smoking.
The earlier these measures are adopted in life, they point out, the greater their combined effect can be decades later. This is even more relevant for women who are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease.
“It’s certain that we’re moving towards a more individualized medicine,” said Dr. Forcillo. “Each patient has their own risk factors. If we test biomarkers, it can give us additional information to say that a particular woman would be more at risk than another, and then to focus the monitoring or the effect of a treatment earlier on these women.”
