An “old drug” may prevent morning heart attacks

England – British researchers have revealed an old drug “available on the market” that could save thousands of lives annually by preventing morning heart attacks.

Heart attacks are caused by a condition called ventricular arrhythmia, when the heart beats in an abnormal rhythm.

The research team, led by Dr Alicia D’Souza from Imperial College London, and Mark Boyett, Emeritus Professor at the University of Bradford, found that the stress hormone cortisol, which rises to its peak in the morning, binds to heart cells and causes changes in the signals that control the heartbeat.

This connection does not cause a serious problem in healthy hearts, but in diseased hearts it leads to the development of dangerous ventricular arrhythmias.

In this regard, the team tested injecting a drug called RU486 into mice, which prevents cortisol from binding to heart cells, and found that the changes did not actually occur.

This drug is used to treat Cushing’s syndrome, where the body produces an excessive amount of cortisol. Patients often suffer from increased fat in the chest or stomach, in addition to facial redness and swelling.

“We knew that because of our natural circadian rhythm, or ‘body clock,’ cortisol levels peak in the morning,” D’Souza said. We also know that ventricular arrhythmias are more common in the morning. Now we know that the two are related. “It is striking that when we used a drug to block the effect of cortisol on heart cells in mice, they were no longer susceptible to irregular heartbeats in the morning.”

Professor James Leeper, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said the findings were “interesting” and “could allow us to explore new treatment options that could reduce arrhythmia in people most at risk.”

Source: Daily Mail