By IANS
Sydney : Scientists from US and Germany claim to have developed a new test that identifies heart disease risk of a patient better than the existing ones.
The new test, known as ‘Omega-3 Index’, measures the level of Omega 3 fatty acid in a patient blood.
“If your level is low you’re at a higher risk of a heart attack, if it’s higher you’re at a much reduced risk of a heart attack,” said Wendy Morgan, the executive director of the Omega-3 Centre.
The researchers have described the new test as an improvement on other blood pressure and cholesterol tests, reported the online edition of ABC News.
“The test can be done now but it’s just quite a lengthy procedure to do the analysis, so the rapid analysis technique is being worked on very hard so I would hope within a few months that (test) would be available in Australia,” Morgan said.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to human health but cannot be manufactured by the body. It can be found in certain fish, such as salmon and tuna and in certain plants, nuts and oils. The acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.