Researchers have found a promising new use for an existing drug that could significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks by preventing blood clots from forming in the first place.
This breakthrough, which was presented in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, could lead to better prevention of heart attacks and strokes, potentially saving countless lives.
Most current treatments focus on breaking down blood clots after they’ve formed, but these treatments can have serious side effects, such as excessive bleeding.
However, this new approach uses a drug called N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), which is already widely available and affordable, to stop clots before they even start forming.
The best part? NAC does this without increasing the risk of bleeding, a common problem with other clot-preventing drugs.
NAC is typically used to treat acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose, but researchers found that it can also target a protein called von Willebrand factor (VWF), which plays a crucial role in the formation of blood clots. VWF is a long protein found in the blood that helps clots form quickly. Under normal conditions, VWF stays coiled up and harmless.
But when it unravels, it becomes sticky and starts grabbing platelets, the cells that help blood clot. This creates a chain reaction that leads to rapid clot formation.
By breaking down VWF proteins, NAC prevents this chain reaction from starting. Researchers tested NAC by running blood through a small channel that mimics a narrowed artery, like one that could cause a heart attack or stroke.
NAC completely stopped the formation of clots under these conditions.
They then tested NAC in mice and found similar results. Remarkably, NAC continued to protect against clots for six hours after it left the bloodstream, keeping arteries clear for longer.
This discovery is especially exciting because NAC is already approved for other uses, which means it could start helping patients much sooner than a completely new drug would.
The researchers believe NAC could be used to prevent second heart attacks in high-risk patients or even as a daily pill to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in the first place.
The next step for the researchers is to conduct clinical trials and seek FDA approval to use NAC for this new purpose.
If successful, this drug could become a powerful tool in the fight against heart disease, potentially preventing not just heart attacks and strokes, but other serious conditions like embolisms and blockages as well.
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