A single blood test can predict heart diseases up to 15 years before onset

A research team from the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has developed an innovative AI-based cardiovascular risk prediction tool, called CardiOmicScore

CVDs remain the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 19.8 million fatalities in 2022 alone. In routine health assessments, physicians typically evaluate cardiovascular risk based on age, blood pressure, smoking, and other conventional clinical indicators.

However, these measures often fail to capture subtle and early biological changes before the disease becomes clinically apparent, leading to many patients missing the optimal window for preventive intervention. Although polygenic risk scores have become popular in recent years, genetic predisposition is largely fixed at birth and does not change over time.

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