The NHS has begun a world-first genetic testing pilot aimed at identifying those at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
The NHS pilot, called Heart, is offering genetic tests to 1,000 healthy volunteers in the north of England aged between 45 and 64.
The scheme could lead to a wider rollout of predictive genetic testing on the NHS for conditions such as diabetes, breast and bowel cancer and osteoporosis.
Prof Sir Peter Donnelly, the founder and chief executive of Genomics, the company that developed the tests, said:
“These are people going about their daily lives who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease who are currently invisible to the NHS.
“We can find these people who are actually at quite high levels of risk but not aware of it.”
Participants will be recruiting from those undergoing a routine over-40s health check.
GPs use the QRisk algorithm that combines non-genetic factors such as age, blood pressure and smoking history to identify those at risk of disease.
Participants estimated to have a 10 per cent chance of having a stroke or heart attack within 10 years are advised to make lifestyle changes and be offered preventative medicine.
The pilot will combine the QRisk score with the genetic test score to provide a more precise risk estimate.
GP and chief investigator Prof Ahmet Fuat said:
“Genomic testing can improve our identification of patients who need extra management, screening or treatment, and better personalise those interventions to them.
“Common diseases like cardiovascular disease place a great deal of demand on our resources and anything that helps us use those more efficiently and effectively is incredibly valuable.”
