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" A combination of blood tests may be able to detect any low-level damage to the heart that may otherwise have no obvious symptoms, a study has found. Researchers at the University of Dundee, led by professor Allan Struthers, carried out a study using the blood tests of 300 people known to suffer from high blood pressure or cholesterol. Funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the findings showed that any positive blood tests were usually associated with damage to the heart at an early stage. In total 102 of the 300 participants were found to have &amp;#039;silent&amp;#039; heart disease, following scans, with the results from these examinations correlating with those of the blood test. These kinds of tests are already used in patients with more obvious, developed heart diseases and are designed to note the presence of the molecules troponin and B-type natriuretic peptide, which are both released when the heart is damaged or under stress. British Heart Foundation medical director professor Peter Weissberg described the findings as &amp;#039;an important step in the right direction&amp;#039;. &amp;#039;The next steps will be to confirm how reliable the tests are, and show that early treatment of people who test positive can improve their outlook,&amp;#039; he added. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a22949/blood-tests-could-detect-silent-heart-disease/>