Gel that repairs heart attack damage could improve health of millions

British researchers have developed a gel to repair damage caused by a heart attack, a breakthrough that could improve the health of millions of survivors around the world.

One in five minutes in the UK is caused by a heart attack. The number of Britons who survive a heart attack has risen to over one million. Even though hearts have a limited ability to regenerate, survivors are at risk of heart failure and other health problems.

Researchers at the University of Manchester have created a gel that can be injected directly into the beating heart in order to help it repair itself.

Only 1% of the cells that have been injected into the heart have stayed in place. They can be held in place by the gel.

The potential of this new technology to help repair failing hearts after a heart attack is huge. The gel will be an effective option for future cell-based therapies to help the damaged heart to regenerate.

The gel can support growth of normal heart muscle tissue. When they added human cells to the gel, they were able to grow in a dish for three weeks and the cells started to beat.

The safety of the gel was confirmed by the use ofechocardiography and electrocardiograms on mice. Researchers will test the gel on mice after they have a heart attack to see if they develop new muscles.

The study is being presented in Manchester.

Prof James Leiper, an associate medical director at the BHF, said: "We've come so far in our ability to treat heart attacks and now more people than ever survive." More people are surviving with damaged hearts due to this.

One of the problems that has hindered this type of therapy for years is the inability to harness the natural properties of peptides. The gels could become a part of future treatments to repair the damage caused by heart attacks if the benefits are replicated in further research.

Obesity can cause hearts to fail and weaken their structure, according to separate research presented at the same conference.

People with a higher body mass index and waist-to- hip ratio were found to have a 30% increased risk of heart failure. The risk of heart failure was the same regardless of other risks.

Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, from Queen Mary University of London, supervised the study. We now know that obese people are more likely to have heart problems.