Heart disease
What is heart disease?
The heart is responsible for pumping blood to and from our organs through a network of veins and arteries. The blood carries oxygen and food around the body and takes away carbon dioxide and other waste. A tremendously hard-working organ, the heart is vital for life but there are a lot of things that can go wrong with it. Coronary heart disease and other types of heart failure are together the biggest killer in the UK. According to the British Heart Foundation, almost 240,000 people died of cardiovascular disease in 2005.
To work properly the heart needs a constant supply of blood. If the blood supply carrying oxygen to the heart becomes blocked by a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries, coronary heart disease occurs. If the arteries are partially blocked they can cause a condition known as angina, with associated chest pains. If they become completely blocked, this can trigger a heart attack. Coronary heart disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease, responsible for around half of all UK deaths from heart disease.
Other heart conditions include congenital heart disease (heart defects that people are born with), endocarditis (inflammation of the inside lining of the heart chambers, usually through bacterial infection), heart valve disease, and arrhythmia (slow, rapid or irregular heartbeat).
A snapshot of MRC research into heart disease
The MRC currently funds a number of studies into heart disease. Examples of these include:
- At the University of Sheffield, Professor David Crossman is carrying out a clinical trial testing a protein called IL-1ra that binds to a molecule linked to inflammation in heart disease. They hope that IL-1ra might reduce heart inflammation in patients with ‘acute coronary syndromes’ - an umbrella term for impaired blood supply to the heart.
- Mr David Taggart and team at the University of Oxford are comparing two methods of ‘coronary artery bypass graft’ surgery to treat coronary heart disease – one of the most commonly performed operations in the developed world. This research is co-funded by the British Heart Foundation.
- Professor Ludwig Neyses of the University of Manchester is comparing the physiology of the ‘plasma membrane calcium pump isoform 4’ (PCMA4) in healthy and diseased hearts. His team has previously shown that PCMA4 plays a key role in regulating the activity of the heart.
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a devastating heart condition that predominantly affects women of child-bearing age. Dr Nick Morrell at the University of Cambridge is testing the safety and effectiveness of a drug called imatinib for treating this condition. Meanwhile, Professor Martin Wilkins is carrying out a clinical trial to test a statin drug called simvastatin in patients with the illness.
- Professor Stefan Neubauer is working on developing very sophisticated methods for cardiovascular magnetic resonance, which allows visualisation of the heart, and trying to find ways to apply these to clinical research.