Microparticles may Reduce Damages after Heart Attack

Microparticles may Reduce Damages after Heart AttackSubmitted by Pallavi Sharma on Thu, 01/16/2014 - 13:12 

A new way has been developed by Australian scientists to reduce the damage caused by a heart attack. The new method is based on microparticles that are negatively charged and are of certain size and characteristics to serve the purpose.
Scientists have said that injecting microparticles within 24 hours of inducing a heart attack leads the inflammatory cells in the blood to uptake microparticles. They are then detoured so that they do not increase damage to the heart by entering heart muscles. Instead, they detour themselves to the spleen where they die.
Northwestern medicine researchers Stephen Miller and Rachael Terry said that microparticles created by them are so small that thousands can be contained in vials.
"We reduced the tissue damage by 40 to 50 percent by administering these particles for four consecutive days starting 24 hours after the induced heart attack", said Miller.

Their work has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. It was, however, revealed that the microparticles can only prevent the damage to the tissue after the heart attack. And their study has not showed anything that proves that the tissue damage during the heart attack can be treated with microparticles.
But nevertheless, it can significantly improve the heart functioning and could lead patients to lead a better quality life.