For a long time, doctors believed that once the heart was damaged, it could never fully heal.
But now, a new study led by a researcher at the University of Arizona is offering fresh hope. The team discovered that some people who use artificial hearts, also called left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), are actually able to grow new heart muscle cells.
This could lead to new ways to treat—and maybe even cure—heart failure.
Heart failure affects nearly 7 million adults in the U.S. and causes about 14% of all deaths each year. Right now, there is no cure. Medicines can slow the disease, but they can’t reverse it. For people with severe heart failure, the only treatment options are a heart transplant or using a machine like an LVAD to help the heart pump blood.
Dr. Hesham Sadek, director of the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona, led an international team of researchers to explore whether the heart can regenerate. Their work was supported by a special grant from the Leducq Foundation, which funds teams from Europe and the U.S. working together to solve major health problems.
To carry out the study, Sadek worked with doctors at the University of Utah, who provided heart tissue samples from patients using artificial hearts.
Scientists from Sweden and Germany then used a special carbon dating technique to see if these heart tissues contained new cells. This technique is similar to how archaeologists date ancient bones, but here it was used to track new heart cell growth.
What they found was remarkable. In some patients, the heart muscle was regenerating at a rate more than six times faster than in healthy hearts. This is the strongest evidence yet that human heart muscle cells can grow back under the right conditions.
Dr. Sadek believes that the reason some heart cells can grow back is because the mechanical pump gives the heart a chance to “rest.” When the heart doesn’t have to work as hard, it may be able to focus on healing. This is similar to how a torn muscle from a soccer injury can heal if the person gets enough rest.
In earlier research, Sadek showed that heart cells stop dividing soon after birth, because they must work nonstop to keep blood flowing through the body.
In a 2011 study, he found that heart cells divide actively before birth, but stop shortly after. By 2014, he saw hints that heart muscle might grow again in people with artificial hearts—but now, he finally has solid proof.
This discovery is a big step forward, but it also raises new questions. Only about 25% of people with artificial hearts seem to regrow heart muscle. Sadek wants to know why. If scientists can figure out how to make more patients respond this way, it could completely change how we treat heart failure.
He also says this isn’t some far-off dream. Artificial hearts are already in use and have been helping patients for years. If the heart can be triggered to rest and heal, we might one day be able to cure heart failure using devices that already exist.
The findings give hope that the heart may not be as limited as once believed. With more research, doctors may be able to help more patients regenerate their heart muscle and recover from heart failure—something that was once thought to be impossible.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer, and results showing strawberries could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
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