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Doctors advise you to exercise, control your diet, reduce smoking and drinking and more to reduce your cholesterol levels so that your risk for heart attack is reduced. What if there was a magic potion that could be injected just once and your heart attack risk would drop by a whopping 40-90 per cent?
Scientists at Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) along with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a 'genome-editing' approach for permanently reducing cholesterol levels in mice through a single injection. 'You have people who have won the genetic lottery. They are protected from heart attack, and there are no known adverse consequences. So that led us to reason that if we could find a way to replicate this, we could significantly protect people from heart attack,' explained Kiran Musunuru from HSCI.(Read: Beware a broken heart can actually kill you!)
PCSK9 is a gene that works as cholesterol regulator. But some people have mutations in PCSK9 that have the opposite effect. Those with the mutations have low-density lipoprotein (LDL or bad) cholesterol levels about 15-28 percent lower than the average level. And the people with that 'good' defect have heart attack risks that range from about 47-88 percent below average. Musunuru and his team project to turn normal PCSK9 genes into those with the 'good' defect. The PCSK9 gene is expressed primarily in the liver.(Read: 10 things that happen during a heart attack)
It produces a protein that is active in the bloodstream and prevents the removal of cholesterol from the blood. 'The main option for reducing cholesterol is statin drugs such as Lipitor but many people taking statin drugs every day still have heart attacks. So there is still a great need for other approaches,' Musunuru noted. 'With this genome-editing technology, we can make permanent changes in the genome at the level of the DNA,' he added. The research was published in the journal Circulation Research. (Read: Beware angry outbursts could actually give you a heart attack!)
What is heart attack?
A heart attack also referred to as a myocardial infarction (MI), coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion. It usually occurs when the blood supply to the heart is blocked suddenly due to complete blockage of the artery supplying blood to the heart. This causes the heart muscle cells to die. The blockage of artery is often caused by plaque formation (deposition and hardening of fatty substances and cholesterol on the walls of arteries) resulting in coronary heart disease (CHD). If left untreated it can be fatal. Some of the symptoms of heart attack include feeling a tight band around the chest, shooting pain up and down the left side of your body,anxiety, cough, fainting, heavy pressure, palpitations, shortness of breath and sweating. Most people tend to ignore the initial symptoms of heart attack which causes greater damage to the heart. If you have thesewarning signs of heart attack, you should call your local emergency number right away. You can also take a look at these 9 expert tips to prevent heart attacks and also read why more and more women are suffering from heart disease. This section will also answer your common queries like why heart attacks are common in winters and how exercise helps in lowering the risk of heart attacks. (Read: Heart attack symptoms everyone should know)
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With inputs from IANS
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