Revolutionizing Heart Attack Prevention: Insights from SCAPIS Study
Every year, approximately 8,000 individuals under the age of 70 experience their first heart attack, with over 1,000 fatalities resulting from these incidents. Göran Bergström, chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, aims to significantly reduce these numbers by 2030.
As a professor at the University of Gothenburg and the scientific leader of SCAPIS, the world’s largest heart and lung study, Bergström is dedicated to understanding and preventing heart-related diseases. SCAPIS brings together six universities and hospitals to investigate the health of 30,000 residents, focusing specifically on predicting and preventing heart and lung diseases. Bergström states, "My focus is to try to identify completely healthy people who are walking around without symptoms but have a significant risk of having a heart attack without them even knowing it. I really want to find tools to identify those individuals. That’s why SCAPIS is super interesting."
The study has already examined 30,000 individuals, looking for early changes in the heart's blood vessels that might indicate a risk for heart attacks. Astonishingly, researchers found that over 40% of those examined exhibited such changes. While many had minor alterations, one in twenty showed significant changes, completely unaware of their risk. Bergström emphasizes the importance of finding these individuals early, stating, "If we find them, we can provide preventive help so that they do not have a heart attack." This prevention primarily entails lifestyle changes and medical interventions.
Bergström envisions a future where the identification of high-risk individuals could become a simple and cost-effective process, potentially via a blood test. If SCAPIS paves the way for a smart screening method, Bergström aims to eliminate 20-30% of those in the risk zone.
However, conducting such an extensive and comprehensive study comes with significant financial implications. The HeartLung Foundation is the main financier, and Bergström highlights that every contribution counts in advancing this crucial research. "We can measure a multitude of things in the blood of these individuals, but we still cannot afford to measure everything we want to measure. I believe that soon the ideas for a solution will come and it is financing that will enable us to take that step," he concludes.
As innovative research continues at SCAPIS, the hope remains that through improved detection and prevention strategies, we can significantly reduce the occurrence of heart attacks in the future.
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