New therapy may help reverse damage to blood vessels after heart attack

Washington, Sept 11: Scientists at Ohio State University say that they have discovered why blood vessels constrict during and after a heart attack.

The researchers say that delivering a vital molecule that is depleted during this process directly to those blood vessels can reverse damage and help restore blood flow.

According to them, the new findings are significant because they have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with acute coronary episodes related to ischemia, and to improve the restriction of blood supply to the heart.

"This is a useful therapeutic approach and should be easy to translate," said Jay L. Zweier, director of the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at Ohio State University Medical Center, and senior author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read full story: New therapy may help reverse damage to blood vessels after heart attack.