GMT Health Thousands of heart attacks go unnoticed Failure to detect heart disease can prove fatal One in two people in the UK who suffer from heart disease is completely unaware of the problem, researchers have found. And approximately one in three of these have suffered a heart attack without any knowledge of the episode. Scientists at Glasgow University believe that the failure to detect heart disease means that thousands of people are exposed to the risk of a potentially fatal recurrence.
Early treatment can cut that risk by around one third.
The researchers are developing a blood test that will reveal if a person has unknowingly suffered cardiac injury. It will be will be used on patients at approximately 50 GP surgeries in the Glasgow area to ascertain whether it is effective at identifying heart problems. The Glasgow team studied a random sample of patients aged between 25 and 74 registered with GPs in the city. Half were unaware that they had suffered a heart problem. It is very important that these people are identified, not only to pinpoint the extent to which damage to the heart may require specific treatment, but also so that preventative measures can be applied.