New: heart attack patch
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Scientists have invented a special heart patch, which is a functioning muscle element made on the basis of living human stem cells. Presumably, in the future, such a patch will be used to accelerate and optimize the recovery of patients who have suffered a heart attack.
Representatives of Imperial College London announced their invention at the Manchester Cardiology Conference. Scientists assure that their research on mammals (namely, on rabbits) showed an optimistic result. Testing the patch on a person is supposed to be carried out in the near future.
What is an invention? This is an elastic element with dimensions of 20 by 30 mm, which is nothing more than a functioning muscle. The element produces chemical compounds that can repair damaged cellular structures of the heart.
According to statistics, in the UK alone, heart failure is diagnosed every year in more than 900 thousand patients. An exacerbation occurs if a clogged arterial vessel blocks the movement of blood to the myocardium, preventing oxygen and food from reaching it. In this state, the activity of the heart is disrupted, the process of pumping blood is lost, which causes irreversible changes in the heart and the development of heart failure.
“In the near future, we intend to supplement the conventional methods of treating cardiac diseases with the use of a patch. We are sure that very soon medical workers will be able to prescribe such a patch on a regular basis to patients who have experienced one degree or another of a heart attack, ”says one of the representatives of the research team, Professor Richard Jabbur. “Doctors will be able to prescribe our patch for all patients at the same time as other medicines used for heart failure, and specially trained health workers will deal with their installation.”
According to statistics from the World Health Organization, cardiological pathologies have long become the main factor in death in patients around the world. Every year, cardiovascular pathologies cut short the lives of seventeen million people. More than seventy-five percent of deaths are among the populations of countries with low and middle standards of living and income.
The population of our country in 70% of cases dies due to the same cardiovascular diseases.
Patients who have been diagnosed with heart and vascular diseases, or people who are at a high risk of developing such pathologies, require cardiological problems to be detected and treated as early as possible. Perhaps the patch for a heart attack can be very helpful. Experts are still silent about the likely cost of this product.
Information is provided on the BBC website (www.bbc.com/news/health-48495313?fbclid=IwAR1TsnHfQPcy_oOoOBwU148OsU8cZX9fCINjau3IlUn0s6-rJdst36tBvmU).