MEDICAL RESEARCH

THOUSANDS of lives could be saved every year after scientists discovered a group of antibodies that dramatically reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes – and revealed plans to develop an injection of the substance for those most at risk.

The researchers say their discovery could lead to the development of a test to determine a person’s risk of heart disease within three years and an antibody injection to protect them in as little as five years.

A lead researcher at Imperial College London, said: “If this line of research is successful it would mean a revolution in tackling the biggest killer in the world.”

Everybody has at least some of these antibodies, but levels vary widely between people and that plays a crucial role in determining how likely they are to suffer life-threatening heart problems.

The effect of the antibodies is so profound that people with high levels of them are 70 per cent less likely to develop heart disease than people with low levels of them.

High levels of the antibodies show their hosts have less of the dangerous plaques in their arteries that cause most heart attacks and strokes.

The discovery has the potential to save numerous lives, leading heart specialists have said.

More than 100,000 people in the UK die each year from a cardiac arrest or stroke that has been caused by plaque on the inside of an artery. By discovering which patients have plaques that are more likely to rupture and why, thousands of lives a year could be saved.

The development of new drugs might be used to tweak the immune system to prevent people from having a heart attack or stroke.

The British Heart Foundation is known to have funded much of the research and has given Dr Khamis – a consultant cardiologist at Hammersmith Hospital – £1million to develop his work further. He is working on a blood test to identify people at high risk of heart disease by measuring levels of the antibody. He hopes this will be available on the NHS in the next three to four years.

Those people identified as being most at risk can then make lifestyle changes to reduce the threat.

Even more significant, Dr Khamis is also developing an antibody injection that could be given to patients at high risk, which he hopes would be available in the next five to ten years.

However, he cautions more research is needed on both the test and the treatment to confirm their effectiveness before they could become available.

Scientists do not yet fully know why some people have higher levels of the antibodies.