Researchers in bid to help cut heart attacks

"Researchers are carrying out a study which could ultimately lead to a dramatic drop in the number of heart attacks. A GBP161,500 project, taking place at Glenfield Hospital and funded by the British Heart Foundation, aims to find out how the heart might be able to protect itself during very brief interruptions of blood flow. If researchers are successful, their findings could herald the start of work to develop a new generation of medicines, as well as the start of clinical trials on heart surgery - possibly in Leicester. The race is on to make the discoveries before colleagues in Europe and America. Dr Glenn Rodrigo, a scientist at the University of Leicester, is heading the project. He has devised a way of studying how the heart might be able to protect itself during brief interruptions of blood flow, such as during a heart attack. During an attack, a blood clot in the artery starves the heart of vital oxygen. As a result, cells in the heart die and it cannot then work normally. Researchers have discovered that if the blood supply is cut for very short, sharp periods, the heart seems better able to cope. Dr Rodrigo and his team are now aiming to better understand how this works" - Leicester Mercury