The findings of a UCLA-led study may allow for medical professionals to identify patients with stable heart failure who are at risk.

UCLA cardiologist Olujimi Ajijola was the first author of a study that found a new way to detect which patients with “stable” heart failure have a higher risk of dying within one to three years. “Stable” heart failure patients refers to patients who, despite having heart injury, do not require hospitalization, according to a UCLA Health press release.

The study found that patients who have higher levels of neuropeptide Y – an amino acid released by the nervous system – are 10 times more likely to die within a few years than those with lower levels.

Researchers looked for biomarkers, or biological indicators, that can be used to measure how a body responds to a condition to best predict how likely someone was to die within a few years, and found that neuropeptide Y levels were the most significant indicator.

The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Cardiology, was co-authored by Jagmeet Singh, a cardiologist and associate chief of the cardiology division at the Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard University, with Neil Herring, an associate professor of cardiology at Oxford University, as the senior author.