Heart pill mimics effects of visit to the gym
AN ‘EXERCISE pill’ that boosts blood flow by mimicking the effects of a visit to the gym could revolutionise the lives of hundreds of thousands of heart disease sufferers. Scientists claim the experimental drug can even strengthen weak hearts.
The pill is based on a protein called CT1(cardiotrophin 1) that tricks the heart into thinking it is being exercised by growing healthily and pumping more blood. This replicates what happens during a workout, jog or cycle ride. Tests found that CT1 also repairs heart damage and improves blood flow.
It is not clear at this early stage how often it would have to be taken to have the desired effect.
Professor Lynn Megeney of Ottawa University said: “When part of the heart dies the remaining muscles try to adapt by getting bigger. But this happens in a dysfunctional way and it doesn’t actually help the heart pump more blood. We found CT1 causes heart muscles to grow in a more healthy way and it also stimulates blood vessel growth in the heart.”
Heart failure is believed to affect around 900,000 Britons, almost half of them undiagnosed, for whom any physical activity is exhausting. It is caused by the organ being unable to pump blood properly around the body, often after a heart attack.
British experts were cautiously optimistic about the news. Professor Metin Avkiran of the British Heart Foundation said: “This is an encouraging discovery, suggesting that the CT1 protein could help improve the function of a failing heart. However much more research is needed to find out if CT1 is safe and effective in humans.”