HLI Team Identifies a Key Predictor of Cardiovascular Death
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) hospitalizes more than 160,000 Canadians every year, and almost one quarter of those patients die from this common form of heart disease. But now a team of Vancouver based researchers has identified a key predictor of mortality in CAD patients, which means that specialists can better determine how to treat and improve outcomes for patients with CAD.
In an article published today in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers Claire Heslop, Dr. Jiri Frohlich, and Dr. John Hill from The Providence Heart + Lung Institute and the University of British Columbia detail their discovery, that high levels of an enzyme, myeloperoxidase, in the blood of CAD patients more than doubles the risk for death over a 13 year period. Myeloperoxidase is an enzyme associated with oxidative stress, which damages arterial tissue. Read more