Revolutionizing Heart Health: The SCAPIS Initiative Aims to Prevent Heart Attacks
In a groundbreaking effort to combat heart attacks, Göran Bergström, a senior physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, leads the world's largest study focused on heart health, known as SCAPIS. Every year, approximately 8,000 people under 70 experience their first heart attack, with over 1,000 of them losing their lives. With a firm goal to reduce these grim statistics by 2030, Bergström emphasizes the urgent need for early identification of individuals at risk.
SCAPIS, a collaboration involving six Swedish universities and university hospitals, aims to investigate the health of 30,000 residents. The principal objective is to develop methods to predict and prevent heart and lung diseases.
Bergström, also a professor at the University of Gothenburg, states, "My focus is to try to identify completely healthy people who are walking around without symptoms but who have an imminent risk of having a heart attack without them even knowing it. Those people I really want to find tools for identifying."
The initial findings of SCAPIS have been alarming yet enlightening: more than 40 percent of the 30,000 participants exhibited changes in their heart's blood vessels, signaling a potential risk for heart attacks. Most of these changes were minor, but one out of every 20 participants had more significant alterations despite being unaware.
Bergström notes the need for advanced and cost-effective screening methods. Currently, identifying these individuals is an expensive endeavor, but researchers are exploring the possibility of using simple blood tests to flag at-risk patients. "If we find them, we can provide preventive assistance so they don’t have heart attacks. It’s largely about making lifestyle changes but there are also amazing medications available. We have many tools for people living with risk, but we first need to find the individuals," he explains.
The vision extends to a revolutionary approach where cost-effective blood tests could potentially screen for high-risk individuals efficiently. Bergström aims for the screening process to eliminate between 20 to 30 percent of those at risk by 2030, should SCAPIS unveil a practical screening method.
However, the ambitious study requires substantial funding. The Heart-Lung Foundation is the main financier supporting SCAPIS, but Bergström highlights that every contribution matters. "We can measure a variety of things in the blood of these individuals, but we still can’t afford to measure everything we want to measure. I think that soon ideas for a solution will come, and funding is what enables us to take that step," he concludes.
As SCAPIS progresses, the importance of community support and contributions becomes even more significant in the fight against heart disease. By fostering awareness and funding research, it is possible to prevent heart attacks before they happen and improve the health outcomes for countless individuals.
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