Scientists in Kaunas, Lithuania, have made an exciting discovery that could change the way we treat lung and heart conditions.
They’ve found a new, non-invasive method to lower blood pressure and speed up the exchange of gases in the lungs.
This method uses a special kind of ultrasound, and the results are promising: in just 7 minutes, it significantly improved lung oxygen levels and reduced blood pressure and heart rate in their test subjects.
This research is especially timely as the world deals with respiratory infections like COVID-19, which can lead to serious lung issues like pulmonary hypertension (PH).
Pulmonary hypertension is when the blood pressure in the lungs becomes dangerously high, making it hard for patients to breathe and putting a strain on the heart.
The need for quick, effective treatments is greater than ever, and the team from the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) may have found a solution.
The secret to their success is a low-frequency ultrasonic device they’ve developed.
Unlike traditional ultrasound tools that use high-frequency sound waves and can only affect the surface of the body, this new device works at a lower frequency that can reach deeper into the body without causing harm. This means it can treat organs like the lungs more effectively.
Professors Vytautas Ostaševičius and Vytautas Jūrėnas, who are leading the project, explain that their device is different because it vibrates in a radial mode instead of just back and forth.
This allows the ultrasound waves to penetrate deeper into the body, reaching the internal organs and having a therapeutic effect.
Their device was tested on sheep at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and the results were impressive.
The ultrasound waves made by this new device could travel four times deeper into the body than those from existing devices. This deep penetration led to a rapid improvement in lung oxygen saturation and a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate.
But how exactly does this ultrasound treatment work? According to the researchers, the low-frequency sound waves break up clusters of red blood cells, allowing each cell to carry more oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide more efficiently.
This not only improves lung function but also lowers blood pressure by reducing the thickness of the blood.
This discovery has the potential to help patients with pulmonary hypertension live better, healthier lives without relying so much on medication.
It could also have other medical applications, such as delivering drugs directly to cells in a safe and efficient way, or even breaking up blood clots.
The KTU team is excited about the future and is already planning to work with doctors to test their device further.
Their research is a promising step forward in the treatment of lung and heart conditions, offering hope for a simpler, safer way to help patients breathe easier.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about How to eat your way to healthy blood pressure and results showing that Modified traditional Chinese cuisine can lower blood pressure.
The research findings can be found in Respiratory Research.
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