A NEW "DIY" test to assess the risk of heart disease is being launched by a York laboratory.

HeartintheBox, developed by Yorktest Laboratories at Osbaldwick, is the first kit that allows patients to test their levels of both cholesterol and homocysteine in the comfort of their own home.

Previously DIY kits only allowed patients to test their cholesterol - an important part of a healthy body, but often a contributing factor towards coronary heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.

Now, by using a pin-prick sample of blood dropped on to a plasma separator card and sent back to Yorktest, people can also test for homocysteine.

Research chemist Chris Rhodes, who developed the homocysteine test, said unlike cholesterol, high levels of homocysteine could not be determined by diet or lifestyle.

He said: "Homocysteine is an amino acid that is meant to be in your body. It's an essential chemical used in processes related to metabolism, but if you have too high a concentration, it starts attacking the linings of your heart and the arteries. It scars the arteries so if impurities are going through the blood, you can get blood clots that give you strokes and heart attacks.

"High levels of homocysteine aren't an indication of how healthy you are or how well you eat. People can eat very well, go jogging every day and just keel over and post-mortems reveal they had high homocysteine levels."

Mr Rhodes said homocysteine could be reduced and stabilised with vitamins.

Yorktest will post test results with a full report containing help and advice on what to do next.

A spokesman for York Hospitals NHS Trust said: "It is a combination of risk factors that leads to heart disease.

"A visit to your GP or practice nurse will result in a full examination to assess your fitness and well-being.

"Based on the results of the examination, they will be able to offer help and advice on how to reduce your risks of developing the disease."

The HeartintheBox testing kit costs £89.50.

Updated: 09:16 Saturday, February 14, 2004