United Kingdom, May 13 -- Researchers have made a "very exciting and significant development" to help identify people at risk of heart disease - 10 years before a potential heart attack or stroke.

Vascular medicine professor Jill Belch, who led a study at the University of Dundee, has discovered a "simple" MRI scan can help doctors to make such a discovery.

The researchers found that the "mass of the left ventricle" of the heart was a "clear indicator of future risk of cardiovascular disease".

Jill said: "We looked at thousands of health records and it became apparent that the mass of the left ventricle was a clear indicator of future risk of cardiovascular disease.

"We have clearly identified a very early marker of future cardiovascu...