Coronary heart disease (CHD) relates to the failure of the coronary circulation, as a result of atherosclerosis, narrowing the coronary arteries and limiting the circulation to the cardiac muscle and neighbouring tissue. The Oxford Heart Study (2008) suggests there are 2.8 million men and 900,000 women in the UK who face a high risk of developing CVD in the next ten years but have not been diagnosed. This means that one in three adults who are most at risk of developing heart disease over the next 10 years have not been diagnosed yet. The cost of heart disease to the NHS in 2004 was £16bn and 69 million work days were lost. A substantial cost is for drug and hospital treatment. It is therefore likely to be effective and cost- effective to identify and intervene with those who are most at risk of CHD. Facts: 1. CHD disease is the leading cause of mortality in the developed world (WHO) 2. CHD kills over 100,000 people in England every year (Department of Health 2007) 3. Around 4 million people in the UK may be unaware that they are at high risk of heart disease 4. This means one in three adults who are most at risk of developing CHD over the next 10 years haven’t been diagnosed yet 5. Diagnostic risk assessment techniques are the primary means of addressing cardiovascular mortality 6. Traditional techniques only identify around 1 in 10 potential high risk patients 7. Genet profiling techniques are proven to be more effective at identifying high risk individuals Background © StoreGene, 2011