Breakthrough in the fight to stop healthy people getting heart disease

Key points

• Sydney researchers at Royal North Shore Hospital say they have developed a screening process that could detect coronary plaque before symptoms appear. The process uses blood samples and CT scans from more than 5,000 heart disease patients, and identifies five biomarkers.
• The team is seeking $8 million to speed up clinical trials and put screening kits into the hands of GPs across the country.
• Indigenous adults experience heart attacks at almost three times the rate of non-Indigenous adults, and people in regional and remote areas stand to benefit most.