Biomarkers of Cardiac Health and Disease.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are globally associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. CVDs are diagnosed based on clinical assessment, physical examination, disease history, electrocardiogram, and chest X-ray. However, these parameters have limited sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, CVDs include a range of conditions and are characterized by a wide variation in symptoms. Some patients with CVDs can also be asymptomatic. Hence, biomarkers are required for CVD confirmatory diagnoses. Although various biomarkers are suggestive of different CVDs, most of them are not used clinically in CVD diagnosis. This is because a single molecule is not completely suitable for diagnosis, especially at an early stage, or these markers have not been exploited beyond study stages. Because CVDs globally affect millions of individuals, a method for confirmatory detection at onset is eagerly required for effective clinical management of patients. This review focuses on potential biomolecules that can indicate the presence of different CVDs and cardiac health status.