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Heart Surgery |
In just about 2-3 years, the world’s first vaccine to prevent heart disease will be developed. This pharmaceutical is being worked on by American and Swedish scientists from a crude vaccine that has shown to reduce the risk of heart disease in mice by 70%.
“The simple cardiovascular disease vaccine has been successfully developed and has proven effective in animals… It will be upgraded in quality and safety for human use“, said Professor Jan Nilsson from the Lund University Cardiovascular Research Center in Sweden.
The idea of a vaccine to prevent heart disease emerged only about a decade ago, after Nilsson and American researcher Prediman K. Shah from the University of California understood the role of LDLs (which stands for low-density lipoproteins or “bad” cholesterol) – the main culprit behind most heart diseases and strokes. Excessive LDLs lead to oxidation in blood vessels, resulting in the formation of plaques on vessel walls and causing blockages.
“The human body produces antibodies when this phenomenon occurs, which were initially thought to worsen the disease“, Nilsson explained, “but it turns out these antibodies work to eliminate dangerous factors.” After isolating a “key” active ingredient in these antibodies, Nilsson and Shah developed a vaccine that reduces the risk of heart disease by up to 70% in animal trials. Essentially, “this vaccine enhances the body’s inherent defenses“.
The research team hopes that the heart disease vaccine – the number one killer worldwide – will be available within the next 2-3 years. They also hope it will significantly improve the effectiveness of medications that reduce LDL levels.
Mỹ Linh (according to Reuters)
