United States : A study has indicated that blood tests which were designed to be detect heart attack or stroke risk, are only as good as cholesterol tests , or blood pressure tests and not superior to them, in terms of being a veritable risk indicator.
Doctors have been making too much of substances in the blood which they interpreted as indicators of a heart attack risk. The substances were C-reactive protein, or CRP; homocysteine; and BNP, or B-type natriuretic peptide.It is becoming a trend where family doctors have directed many patients to undergo these tests to detect these substances, with a motive of detecting a heart risk and averting them.
Scientists from the reputed Framingham Heart Study unraveled that the tests of CRP, BNP, homocysteine and seven other substances are just a few notches above the standard tests in forecasting potential heart attack risks.
Lead author Thomas J Wang, a Harvard Medical School assistant professor said, "It's a little bit disappointing. The traditional risk factors that have stood the test of time turn out to be the best evaluation of risk."
Source-Medindia
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