Just because you have suffered from a heart attack doesn’t mean you can’t live a full and healthy life. New studies have found a way to protect patients from heart failure, a chronic condition that can occur after a heart attack.
Heart failure occurs when the heart isn’t pumping enough blood to the body. You can develop heart failure in many ways.
- Coincides with diabetes and high blood pressure
- Family history of heart disease
- Have had a heart attack or coronary artery disease
It is estimated that 5 million American have heart failure and it is the most common reason for people over the age of 65 to be hospitalized. That is why new research from UConn Health is so important.The research discovered that a specific “ion channel” in the heart can protect against heart failure. Ion channels are receptor proteins, and this one in particular uses nitric oxide which Dr. Bruce T. Lian says “has long been known to prevent heart failure. What’s unique here is that this receptor channel directly associates with the enzyme that makes nitric oxide with a localized increase at strategic sites within the muscle cell.”
This new mechanism may be the best approach for helping patients with heart failure, and preventing it in others. “Preventing a condition like heart failure is always a much better option for patients”, said Laing.