Heart disease is still the number one cause of death around the world. One of the main reasons is a condition called atherosclerosis.
This happens when fatty substances, known as plaques, build up inside your arteries. These plaques can block the flow of blood or suddenly burst, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.
A big cause of atherosclerosis is having too many unhealthy fats in your blood, especially something called “bad cholesterol.” This problem, called dyslipidemia, affects about half of all adults. Doctors often treat it with medicine that lowers blood fat levels. These drugs help stop the plaques from getting worse, but they don’t remove the plaques completely.
Now, two new studies suggest something surprising—a common mineral called manganese might help not just lower blood fat, but also remove the dangerous plaque buildup in arteries.
Manganese is a mineral that our bodies need only in tiny amounts. It usually helps enzymes work properly. But these new studies show that manganese might have a much more important role. It may help clean fat from the blood and even get rid of the plaques that block arteries.
Scientists tested this in mice. They found that when the mice ate food with more manganese, their blood fat levels dropped. Even more exciting, the plaques in their arteries started to disappear. This could be a major step forward in treating heart disease.
To understand how this works, it helps to know how fat moves through the body. Fats like cholesterol can’t float in the blood on their own. The body packs them into bundles called lipoproteins. These are like small vehicles that carry fats through your bloodstream.
The way these fat bundles are made depends on a system in the body called the COPII complex. You can think of this system like a shipping center. It wraps the fats up and sends them out into the blood.
Manganese appears to change how this system works. It binds to the COPII complex and increases its activity in a special way. But this effect isn’t unlimited. The researchers found that too little or too much manganese doesn’t work well. There is an ideal amount that gives the best results for lowering blood fats.
By changing how fats are packaged and sent into the bloodstream, manganese helps reduce how much fat builds up in the arteries. It may even help clear out the plaques that are already there.
One of the lead researchers, Dr. Xiao Wang, said the results were exciting. He thinks manganese might be used in new treatments to help prevent or even reverse heart disease. But he also warned that more research is needed. Scientists need to study how to use manganese safely and effectively in humans.
Right now, most heart disease treatments focus on lowering cholesterol, blood sugar, or blood pressure. But manganese might offer something new—it could help actually clean out the arteries. This could mean fewer heart attacks and strokes in the future.
Still, this research is just beginning. The studies were done in mice, not people. And things that help animals don’t always work the same way in humans. Plus, while manganese is important in small amounts, too much of it can be harmful—especially to the brain.
The next step is to test this in human cells and then in people. Scientists need to find the right doses and safe ways to use manganese without side effects.
In short, this discovery gives scientists a new idea for fighting heart disease. If future studies confirm these results in people, we might see new treatments that not only lower blood fat but also fix damage already done to the arteries.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that Manganese can help clear arterial plaques and treat heart disease and Aspirin use linked to heart failure.
For more care about heart health, please read studies about the blood thinner drug that can prevent strokes in people with hidden heart issues and new guidelines on daily aspirin for heart attack and stroke prevention.
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