According to researchers in Scotland, more than six thousand people in the UK could have been prevented from having heart attacks three years ago. A study from the Greater Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre at Glasgow University, published in the British Medical Journal, claims not enough is being done to screen family members of heart attack victims – or those who live with them – despite the fact that relatives and partners of people with heart disease are known to have a significantly higher risk for heart attack.
While some guidelines recommend that relatives of heart attack victims be screened, in practice this is not happening, say the researchers. Their recommendations include automatically identifying and offering advice and screening to relatives of all middle-aged patients admitted to hospital with heart attacks or serious heart disease.
The Glasgow University scientists suggest that, as well as information on how to stop smoking and other lifestyle advice, relatives and partners of heart attack victims should be given cholesterol and blood pressure tests that could identify their risk further.Traditionally GPs have to send patients’ blood samples to hospital laboratories to determine their cholesterol levels, which can take weeks.
However, a new portable test has been developed that gives accurate cholesterol readings on the spot. The CardioChek PA blood analyser can be used to speed up testing for total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and direct LDL cholesterol.
