Simple blood test could spot patients most at risk of dying from heart failure, ... trends now

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A simple blood test could help identify patients who are at the most immediate risk of dying from heart failure, a study suggests.

Those with highest levels of a specific protein were 50 per cent more likely to die from a heart complication over the three-year study period, compared to those with lower levels.

Experts said the findings suggest measuring levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) could help predict how heart failure is likely to progress.

This could then be used to identify those most at risk and tailor treatments to slow the deadly disease, which occurs when the heart cannot pump blood around the body as well as it should.

More than one million people are currently estimated to be living with heart failure in the UK, with around 200,000 new diagnoses each year.