Protein exposes long-term risk from heart problems
By Nathan Seppa
Since 2000, doctors have used elevated blood concentrations of a protein called B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) to detect incipient heart failure in people with chest pain or other inconclusive symptoms.
BNP might also be a tool for predicting a person’s risk of death, researchers report in the Dec. 14, 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association.
The team measured BNP in 4,266 patients entering hospitals with various symptoms of heart problems, retested most of them 4 months later, and followed as many patients as possible for 2 years. By that time, 230 of the patients had died.