New discoveries are changing how scientists understand heart failure, and the gut may be playing a bigger role than once believed.
Research is showing that the gut and heart are closely connected in what experts call the “gut-heart axis.” This means that the health of your gut can directly affect your heart—and vice versa.
In particular, problems with gut microbiota—the trillions of bacteria living in the digestive system—can worsen heart failure.
When healthy gut bacteria decrease and harmful bacteria increase, it can damage the gut lining.
This allows toxic substances, like lipopolysaccharides, to leak into the bloodstream. These toxins cause widespread inflammation in the body and may lead to changes in the heart’s structure, making heart failure worse.
Additionally, the gut produces important chemicals that influence the heart. One such compound is trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which has been linked to plaque buildup in arteries, stiffening of the heart muscle, and poor heart health.
Another group of gut-based chemicals, called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), are believed to be beneficial. SCFAs may help reduce inflammation and support the heart’s energy needs, helping to slow down the progression of heart failure.
Because of this gut-heart connection, researchers are exploring new ways to treat heart failure by targeting the gut. Some of these include using probiotics, changing diets, performing fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), or developing drugs that act specifically on the gut.
Probiotics may help reduce inflammation and balance the immune system, while FMT could reset the gut microbiota to a healthier state. Diet changes, especially eating more fiber and following a Mediterranean-style diet, have shown potential in encouraging the growth of good bacteria and improving heart health.
As scientists continue to explore the relationship between the gut and heart, personalized treatments that target the gut could become part of everyday heart care.
By using gut-based therapies, doctors may be able to offer new, more effective ways to manage or even prevent heart failure, giving patients a better chance at a longer, healthier life.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about why light-to-moderate drinking is linked to better heart health and reconsidering the long-term use of high blood pressure beta blockers after a heart attack.
For more about heart health, please read studies about heart disease hidden and essential vitamins for heart health: a guide to a healthy heart.
The study is published in Genes & Disease.
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