How easy life could be if one gets to know about the possibility of being affected with a lethal disease like heart attack in advance. It has been reported that researchers and medical practitioners are trying their best to predict heart attacks before a patient actually becomes a victim of it.

The point might sound bizarre. However, in the journal Science Translational Medicine an article claiming the possibility of predicting heart attack beforehand has been published. The article was written by Dr. Eric Topol, who works as a cardiologist at the Scripps Translational Science Institute.

It has been informed that the researchers would be tracking the circulation of endothelial cell. A healthy person has a very fewer number of circulating endothelial cell. The patients prone to succumbing to heart attacks have a higher number of circulating endothelial cell.

A heart attack occurs when the blood flow to the heart is poor because of the blood clots. While acknowledging the assertion of the researchers, Dr. Douglas Zipes from Indiana University School of Medicine said, “We do prostate tests, we do cholesterol tests. Perhaps we should have [circulating endothelial cell] tests too, in people at risk”.

Dr. Robert Harrington from the Duke University have emphasized that further studies should be conducted to gauge ways by which heart attacks could be predicted so that patients could be saved from the devastating experience.

Dr. Topol is of the view that within years, a test to predict heart attacks would be made available. It is hoped that the tests would help in saving lives from the deadly heart attacks. The American researchers are continuously trying hard to develop tests to predict heart attacks. At present, the medical professional are only able to gauge whether or not a patient had received a heart attack.