Blood test to ID smokers at higher risk.

• Position: Heart Disease - Brief article

A simple blood test someday could quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, predicts a study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. smoke, and smoking-related medical expenses and loss of productivity exceed $167,000,000,000 annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. Levels of a lung protein found in the blood of smokers could indicate their risk of dangerous plaque buildup in blood vessels, points out internist Anand Rohatgi, co-lead author of the study.

"We now are close to having a blood test to help measure the smoking-related effects that contribute to atherosclerotic heart disease. Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to the development of heart disease."

Smokers are at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and dying from heart disease, but the risk varies among individuals. Until this study, there had been no simple blood test to measure the varied effects of...