A team of researchers have developed a 3D-printed, biodegradable heart patch that seals holes in heart tissue and supports tissue regeneration, showing promise as a safer alternative to current surgical materials.
Worldwide, the leading cause of death is heart attack. Those who survive a heart attack face an ongoing issue with the heart’s efficiency, caused by the death of heart cells and the scar tissue that subsequently forms. In severe cases, the heart wall can rupture, requiring emergency surgery.
Over the years, scientists have developed implantable patches to seal and support damaged heart tissue. In a new study led by ETH Zurich in Switzerland, researchers developed and tested a new type of cardiac patch that not only seals defective areas of the heart, but also heals them.
Plaque-hunting nanoparticles detect and disarm the driver of heart disease
By Bronwyn Thompson
August 26, 2025
A new generation of “theranostic” nanoparticles has been shown to both detect and reduce plaques in the arteries. Nanoparticles absorbed by immune cells in the arteries, where they work to lower inflammation and draw out harmful cholesterol, offer an entirely new way of not just diagnosing but fighting heart disease without drugs.
Researchers at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), working with scientists in Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, have engineered porphyrin-lipid nanoparticles, or Por-NPs, which measure just 20 nanometers in width – many times smaller than many viruses like influenza and COVID-19 – coated with a peptide called R4F. This peptide directs the nanoparticles to seek out macrophages, the immune cells that absorb cholesterol in artery walls. This is an important stage – as when these macrophages become overloaded trying to "clean up" too much cholesterol, they swell and turn into foam cells that contribute to plaque build-up and inflammation.
Breakthrough drug successfully treats hard-to-control high blood pressure
By Bronwyn Thompson
September 04, 2025
A new drug that significantly lowers "stubborn" blood pressure is on the horizon, following the results of its Phase III clinical trial. The treatment, called baxdrostat, has been hailed as the most promising advance in hypertension management in decades, demonstrating the ability to help patients whose blood pressure remains dangerously high despite standard therapy.
In the study, led by researchers from University College London (UCL), baxdrostat was administered to nearly 800 adults across 214 sites worldwide. All participants were already taking multiple blood pressure medications but were still struggling to shift the needle on their hypertension – a group often described as having resistant or hard-to-control hypertension. Over 12 weeks, patients given the drug in oral pill form once a day saw their systolic blood pressure fall by an additional 9 to 10 mmHg compared with placebo. And by the end of that period, 40% of participants had reached healthy blood pressure levels – which is meaningful, given trial length.
Heart disease kills 1 in 3 people worldwide, surprising no one
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
September 24, 2025
A report based on data compiled between 1990 to 2023 across 204 countries found that cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the most common cause of death among humans. Heart conditions are behind one in every three deaths on the planet.
The finding comes from the Global Burden of Disease study, which assesses the damage and risk factors to health from major diseases, and operates out of the University of Washington. It sees collaboration between thousands of researchers from around the world as they make sense of data on 376 diseases.
We've known about heart disease being the most lethal of the lot for a while now. What's troubling is that CVD deaths have risen globally in the last couple of decades, from 13.1 million in 1990 to 19.2 million in 2023.
CVDs also topped the roster for disability-adjusted life years (DALY) – years of healthy life lost to premature death and disability. Also, men had higher CVD-related mortality rates than women in most regions.
One of these four red flags is seen before 99.6% of heart attacks
By Bronwyn Thompson
October 04, 2025
In a massive international study, researchers identify four precise warning signs of a heart attack, stroke or heart failure, and understanding these measurable risk factors could help people understand their vulnerabilities long before a health event.
Researchers from Northwestern Medicine and Yonsei University pooled the health data of 9,341,100 South Korean adults, as well as 6,803 US adults, looking at four key risk factors: high blood pressure, cholesterol, blood-sugar levels and smoking. They found that – in both cohorts – more than 99% of people who suffered coronary heart disease (CHD) had problematic levels of at least one of the four risk factors. And the split was similar across the diverse cohorts (99.7% for the Korean data, 99.6% for the US), with 93% having two or more.
“We think the study shows very convincingly that exposure to one or more non-optimal risk factors before these cardiovascular outcomes is nearly 100%,” said senior author Dr. Philip Greenland, professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The goal now is to work harder on finding ways to control these modifiable risk factors rather than to get off track in pursuing other factors that are not easily treatable and not causal.”
Psychedelic DMT shows promise as breakthrough stroke treatment
By Paul McClure
October 05, 2025
A natural psychedelic may do more than alter perception. A new study found that at sub-hallucinogenic doses, DMT shielded the brain from stroke damage in animal models, reducing inflammation, preserving the blood-brain barrier, and speeding recovery.
The effects of an ischemic stroke, where blood supply to the brain is blocked, can vary depending on the area that’s affected, but commonly include physical impairments like one-sided weakness and balance issues, and cognitive challenges such as problems with speech and memory.
A new study by researchers in Hungary has investigated whether DMT, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound, could protect brain cells from damage caused by stroke in animal models. The results hold great promise for the development of a human treatment.
Produced by various plants and animals, the hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is known for its rapid, intense, and relatively short-lived effects among those who take it for its psychedelic effects or use it in religious rituals. In the present study, the researchers used a mix of lab-grown cell models and animal models that mimic the effects of ischemic stroke.
First oral GLP-1 cuts cardiovascular risk by 14% – and it's now FDA-approved
By Bronwyn Thompson
October 19, 2025
The age of the GLP-1 drug has reached yet another milestone, with the US Food and Drug Administration green-lighting Novo Nordisk's once-daily oral semaglutide pill to treat people at high risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke.
Rybelsus (semaglutide) has now been approved it for use by adults with type 2 diabetes who have high risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) such as cardiovascular (CV) death, heart attack or stroke. The pill first entered the market in 2019 to improve glycemic control for diabetic adults. An oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, Rybelsus will be available in 7-mg and 14-mg doses.
"As the only FDA-approved GLP-1 therapy in a pill, now recognized for its proven cardiovascular benefits, a new benchmark has been set for future oral innovations," said Dave Moore, Executive Vice President, US Operations of Novo Nordisk. "The semaglutide molecule has consistently demonstrated robust outcomes across multiple, large-scale trials, further reinforcing the already established cardiovascular profile it delivers for patients."
The approval comes on the back of the SOUL Phase 3b trial, which evaluated the effects of the 14-mg dose in reducing the risk of MACE in high-risk diabetic adults. Ultimately, the 14-mg oral semaglutide showed a statistically significant 14% relative reduction in risk of MACE at four years compared with a placebo. These results built on earlier positive results that saw the drug hit its Phase 3 benchmarks, which was enough for Novo Nordisk to seek FDA approval.
Simple saliva test catches heart failure before you know you have it
By Bronwyn Thompson
November 03, 2025
https://newatlas.com/heart-disease/simp ... t-failure/
In a breakthrough for diagnostics, scientists have created an easy and effective test that identifies a heart failure biomarker in saliva, opening the door to more rapid and accessible life-saving medical interventions for the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 6.7 million US adults have heart failure, and in 2023 the condition resulted in 14.6% of all deaths for the year. This rate of heart failure is mirrored in other countries including the UK and Australia. While there's no cure, early intervention with changes to lifestyle and diet, plus medications, can mean the difference between maintaining quality of life and becoming a statistic. This makes diagnosis critical.
MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue.
The new patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule. In a study of rats, the researchers showed that this treatment reduced the amount of damaged heart tissue by 50% and significantly improved cardiac function.
If approved for use in humans, this type of patch could help heart attack victims recover more of their cardiac function than is now possible, the researchers say.
Trials of a new cholesterol-lowering pill have shown promising results for people with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), a genetic disorder that leads to high levels of LDL cholesterol.
HeFH is a common condition affecting about 1 in 250 people, caused by a mutation in a gene that impairs the body's ability to remove low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from the bloodstream. This inherited condition increases the risk for premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)—a buildup of fatty deposits in arteries, leading to narrowed vessels that can restrict blood flow to vital organs.
The drug, called Enlicitide and developed by Merck, is a new type of PCSK9 inhibitor. It works by binding to PCSK9, a blood protein that typically degrades the liver receptors that clear LDL cholesterol. By blocking PCSK9, Enlicitide protects these receptors and boosts the liver's ability to clear LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream, lowering the risk of heart disease.
A blood biomarker yet to be used in cardiac arrest care can give a clearer picture of the extent of brain damage after a cardiac arrest. This has been shown in a large international multicenter study led by researchers at Lund University that has been published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Worldwide, around four million people each year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest.
A simple blood test that can very accurately predict the chance of survival with good recovery will be of great significance for patients in intensive care after a cardiac arrest.
Comparing biomarkers for brain damage
This assertion comes from the researchers behind a large multicenter study in which four brain damage biomarkers in the blood were compared to ascertain how reliably they could estimate the extent of brain damage among unconscious patients after cardiac arrest.
Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have identified a way to suppress the daily fluctuations in the activity of key immune cells known as neutrophils.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that inhibiting these fluctuations could prevent neutrophils from causing excessive tissue damage during daylight hours, a phenomenon that may underlie the fact that heart attacks in the early morning are more damaging than heart attacks suffered at night.
How neutrophil activity affects heart attacks
Neutrophils provide the first line of defense against microbial infections and tissue injury. However, their efforts to promote inflammation and kill injured or infected cells can result in the death of nearby healthy cells. In fact, neutrophils have an internal clock that makes them more active and prone to cause tissue damage during the daytime.