Even an eye test may be able to predict risk of heart attack, says study

With the rise in the number of heart ailments in the recent future, the need to keep the heart healthy seems to have come to the fore. Along with this, several studies have also come up suggesting ways to diagnose risks to the heart. In one such study, the researchers have found that even a simple non-invasive eye examination can predict the risk of heart attack, media reports said.To identify risk of an attack, the information about the pattern of blood vessels in the retina along with traditional clinical factors can be helpful, the researchers found. It has been found to be better in comparison with the established models, which include only demographic data.

Also Read:Ditch sedentary lifestyle! Sit less, move more to reduce risk of stroke, says study. Read details here

The researchers have used data from UK Biobank to calculate a measure called fractal dimension. The biobank has medical and lifestyle records of over 500,000 people. These professionals then combined it in a model with factors like systolic blood pressure, sex, age, body mass index and smoking status.They studied people in the database who experienced a heart attack or myocardial infarction or MI after their retinal images were collected.These experts will present an abstract about this study at the European Society of Human Genetics annual conference in Vienna on Monday.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Watch | Superfetation: Can a woman get pregnant again while already being pregnant?

Ana Villaplana-Velasco, PhD student, Usher and Roslin institutes at the University of Edinburgh and the presenting author, said, “Strikingly, we discovered that our model was able to better classify participants with low or high MI risk in UK Biobank when compared with established models that only include demographic data. The improvement of our model was even higher if we added a score related to the genetic propensity of developing MI.”

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

“The calculation of an individualised MI risk from those over 50 years old would seem to be appropriate. This would enable doctors to suggest behaviours that could reduce risk, such as giving up smoking and maintaining normal cholesterol and blood pressure,” said Villaplana-Velasco.

(With inputs from agencies)

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.