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A way has been found to repair the heart after a heart attack
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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The joint efforts of an international research group, which consisted of American and Chinese scientists, developed a completely new method that helps restore the heart of a person who has suffered an attack. The new method is based on the principle of regeneration - a special type of molecules allows you to start the process of restoring damaged cells of the organ.
As is known, the heart of an adult human is practically unable to restore damaged cells, for example, after a heart attack. But in the course of the work of the international group, it was found that newborn mice have the ability to restore cardiomyocytes (muscle cells of the heart), but only during the first week of their birth.
The research project was led by Edward Morrisey (a professor at a private research university in Philadelphia). His team, in the course of their research, tried to determine whether it was possible to restore the ability to regenerate cardiomyocytes in adult individuals, as well as in humans.
For their work, the scientists chose miR302-367 molecules, which are capable of supporting cell self-renewal, as well as the ability to differentiate into various types of cells (except extraembryonic).
As experts noted, with the help of special molecular compounds, it is possible to start the regeneration process in heart cells (as already mentioned, the heart of an adult is not capable of recovery).
A group of researchers began their experiments on rodents and as a result they managed to achieve positive results. The only negative point was that the rodents did not live longer than a week after the procedure.
In addition, the use of molecules leads to rapid growth of cell mass, which increases the risk of developing heart failure.
Now a group of specialists faces the task of determining the mechanism of action of the new method and stopping excessive cell proliferation; clinical trials have already been scheduled for this purpose.
Meanwhile, a group of scientists from King's College have proven that healthy eating significantly reduces the risk of developing heart disease.
For the study, specialists selected more than 150 participants and monitored their health for three months. All volunteers had to switch to a healthy diet and eat mainly fruits, vegetables, fish and give up salty, fatty and sweet foods.
After examining the participants, specialists noted that almost everyone lost weight (1.3 kg on average), cholesterol levels in the blood decreased, blood pressure (arterial and renal) and heart rate per minute returned to normal. As is known, it is the heart rate and high blood pressure that provoke the development of heart attacks and strokes (and after 40 years, the risk increases by 30%).
The positive impact of healthy eating on the body has been established in earlier studies, for example, a predominance of vegetables and fruits in the diet helps improve mood and reduces the risk of developing depression.
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