The heart is a very resilient muscle. Scientists observed heart muscle cells regenerating in mice studies after a heart attack. Their heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, were observed dividing again after a heart attack, although human hearts are not yet as good at healing after a cardiovascular event, but it opens the door for research in humans.
In this new study, researchers examined living human heart tissue in a human patient who was declared brain dead, and also in samples collected from patients during bypass surgery. These findings were published in Circulation Research, an American Heart Association journal.
“Until now we’ve thought that, because heart cells die after a heart attack, those areas of the heart were irreparably damaged, leaving the heart less able to pump blood to the body’s organs,” said Robert Hume, PhD, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, and Lead of Translational Research at the Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Research, in a news release.
“Our research shows that while the heart is left scarred after a heart attack, it produces new muscle cells, which opens up new possibilities,” he added.
Heart disease and stroke remain the leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association, so this research could be promising for people with various heart conditions. The good news is that deaths from heart attacks are way down. The survival rate is more than 90 percent, according to Stanford Medicine, thanks to advances in medicine and lifesaving technologies.
More research is needed, but the hope is that this research could lead to regenerative therapies.
