Cure for heart attacks may become a reality using COVID vaccine technology: Report

In a massive breakthrough, scientists have discovered that the same genetic tracking technology which has been used to develop COVID-19 vaccines can be utilised to help heal hearts that have been damaged by cardiac arrests. Scientists at King's College London, UK, have studied and tracked mRNAs, which are genetic codes that generate proteins to create healthy cardiac cells. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines were developed using similar technologies. According to a report by  The New York Times, this groundbreaking discovery might lead to the world's first cure for heart-attack. 

Professor Mauro Giacca, the lead researcher of the study was  quoted by Daily Mail as saying, “We are all born with a set number of muscle cells in our heart and they are exactly the same ones we will die with.”

He explained that after a cardiac attack, the heart has no ability to mend itself. Thus, their objective “has been to find a treatment that can convince surviving cells to proliferate.”.  

Cure for heart attacks

Further, Giacca added that until recently, regenerating a damaged human heart was a pipe dream, but it is now a possibility, Daily Mail reported. Describing how mRNA technology works, he said, “We are using exactly the same technology as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to inject micro RNAs to the heart, reaching surviving heart cells and pushing their proliferation.” The new cells would replace the dead cells, and the victim would have fresh muscle tissue instead of a scar, he claimed.  

Giacca's research team which is located at King's College London's British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence is also working on a medication to prevent cells from dying after a heart attack, in addition to helping hearts regenerate. 

In addition to this, every year, about 100,000 people in the United Kingdom are admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack caused by a restricted blood flow to the heart. Cardiac arrests wreak havoc on the heart muscles, killing up to 100 billion cells. Because the human heart is unable to repair itself, many cardiac arrest sufferers are left with debilitating scars that can lead to subsequent issues. 

The innovative RNA (ribonucleic acid) treatment, according to scientists, has the potential to revolutionise cardiovascular care by preventing millions of heart attacks from advancing to heart failure. 

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