* Science

Drop of blood can reveal deadly stress levels

     *

   A woman has her blood checked A blood test could check whether mental
   stress is damaging the heart  Credit: Alamy /Alamy
     * Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

   4 April 2016 • 12:00am

   A blood test which detects stress and shows when it is damaging the
   heart has been developed by scientists.

   Many studies have concluded that stress and anxiety are bad for health,
   putting a person at greater risk of disease and early death. But there
   has never been a way to measure the impact clinically.
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   Now scientists at Emory University in the US have found that
   the level of the protein troponin rises in the blood when a person is
   dangerously stressed, because the heart is not getting enough oxygen.
   "Doctors may eventually use this information to prevent serious
   complications from developing."
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   appear to have any other risk factors, such as high cholesterol.
   Patients could then be offered medication of therapy to help reduce
   their stress levels.

   "We've always believed that stress can be harmful to cardiac
   health,”said lead study author Dr Arshed Quyyumi, professor of medicine
   at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
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   But the new study shows the troponin levels are already rising before
   heart problems have begun and are directly linked to rising stress
   levels.

   To test the link scientists evaluated 587 patients with heart problems
   were asked to take part in mental and physical stress tests. The mental
   health test involved speaking in public while the physical involved
   exercising.

   The experiment showed that one third of patients suffered an inadequate
   flow of oxygen to the heart when stressed which could be spotted
   through elevated levels of troponin.

   "Until now, doctors have never had a way of measuring the impact of
   stress on the heart so that we have the necessary information to begin
   to address the problem," said Dr Agim Beshiri, M.D., senior medical
   director of diagnostics company Abbott, which already provides troponin
--
   objective information to better treat their patients -- helping to
   prevent or treat additional cardiac issues that could result from
   stress."


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