Press Trust of India / Hyderabad Aug 21, 2009, 14:17 IST
Coronary Art Diseases can now be detected at an early stage with the help of a biomarker that also provides accurate diagnosis of patients.
Early diagnose can impact long-term health outcomes and enables the detection of even early or mild stages of heart failure when there are no generally no obvious symptoms, Dr Christopher DeFillippi, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Maryland told reporters here yesterday.
"The Biomarker is helpful especially to Indians as majority of Indian population is likely to be affected by CAD and most of them detect very late when the problem is irreversible," said Dr Bhuwnesh Agarwal, managing director, Roche Diagnostics India.
High risk persons like obese, diabetics and those who have a family history of CAD or aged above 60 years can actually go for the tests, he said.
"An inactive protein with NT-proBNP is mor stable and remains in the blood stream longer than other markers. This makes the biomarker a more sensitive test for early detection and management of congestive heart failure," DeFillippi said.
The treatment has been medically approved by the US FDA and costs around Rs 2,500.