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Research shows new blood test can predict risk of heart attack2 December 2004 One of the biggest challenges facing clinicians is predicting whether someone with chest pain is going to suffer a life threatening heart attack, and then to prescribe appropriate medication and treatment. Professor Stanley Hazen and a team from the major heart research institute in the USA, the Cleveland Clinic, have recently discovered an enzyme which enables doctors to predict with up to 95% accuracy if a patient admitted to Emergency is likely to suffer a heart attack in the next six months. Professor Hazen will be talking about this breakthrough research in cardiovascular diagnosis at the Society for Free Radical Research Australasia conference at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, starting Friday December 3. His study of 600 Emergency patients at the Cleveland Clinic, recently published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, shows that when the free radical producing enzyme myeloperoxidase is elevated in the blood, patients are at a much greater risk of heart attack. This discovery can potentially save the lives of millions of people suffering from heart disease world wide. Professor Hazen is one of a number of New Zealand and international experts who speaking at the conference on the role of free radicals in disease, and whether antioxidants are capable of preventing illnesses such as cancer and heart failure. Free radical research is of interest to the public as increasingly in recent years antioxidants have been marketed by health retailers as complementary or alternative medicines for a wide range of conditions. Other speakers of interest are: Professor Michael Fenech from the CSIRO in Adelaide will present his research on preventing DNA and genetic damage and cancers through correct nutrition. He is an expert on the optimal micronutrients needed in the diet to prevent genetic damage and possible health risks. Professor Kevin Barnham from the University of Melbourne will talk about his research into oxidation of proteins in the brain that promote the toxicity and degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, which now affects some 39,000 New Zealanders. Professor Robin Smith and Dr Michael Murphy from the University of Otago have developed a synthetic antioxidant which is being used to treat neurodegenerative conditions such as Friedrich’s Ataxia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The antioxidant, called mitoquinone, protects nerve and brain cells by targeting free radicals in the cell’s energy source, the mitochondria, where they do the most damage. The Free Radical Research Group at the School of Medicine will present local research into medical aspects of free radical damage, including new findings on their involvement in heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and Alzheimer’s Disease. The Society for Free Radical Research Australasia conference will be held in the Rolleston Lecture Theatre from December 3-5. Associate Professor Tony Kettle
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