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A recent study found that having lung disease may increase your risk of heart disease, regardless of other risk factors such as smoking or age.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham studied more than 220 patients with a rare genetic disorder called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), which causes a lung disease similar to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). An interesting discovery was made using this test. The results were published in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases.

AATD reduces the body’s production of proteins that protect the lungs. If affected, symptoms may include chronic cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

The study compared AATD patients with COPD patients and control participants without lung disease to assess risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including vascular stiffness. Blood vessel stiffness usually occurs with age and is closely associated with the progression of cardiovascular disease. Participants were followed for four years to see if they developed heart disease.

“Patients with AATD, a rare genetic disease, had the highest adjusted scores of all participants for vascular stiffness, but the lowest scores for standard risk factors associated with CVD, with almost half of patients (45%) had discordant scores, one was high and the other was low,” the researchers said in a university news release.

Despite having lower risk factors typically associated with developing cardiovascular disease, such as younger age and a higher proportion of never smokers, 12.7% of AATD participants developed cardiovascular disease during the follow-up period. I developed a disease.

Meanwhile, COPD patients and control participants had similar scores on direct and indirect measures of cardiovascular disease risk.

“This long-term study provides a unique look at the relationship between lung disease and heart disease by following a group of patients with this rare genetic disease. “The development of cardiovascular disease is more likely to progress, and even if we look only at traditional factors such as age and smoking, these two important systems in the body are at increased risk.” It doesn’t give us a complete picture of the relationships between,” said Robert Stockley, senior author of the study.

Blood tests conducted on AATD participants analyzed an enzyme associated with lung damage called proteinase 3. The study found a link between elevated proteinase 3 levels and blood vessel stiffness, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease. The research team believes that this enzyme directly influences the development of heart and lung diseases by destroying the fibers that support large arteries and lungs.

Based on this finding, researchers propose the use of proteinase-3 inhibitors as a new therapeutic strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease, especially in patients with AATD.

“The role of proteinase-3 serves as a powerful link between lung and heart disease. By blocking this enzyme’s ability to attack elastin fibers in the lungs and major arteries, “Our findings suggest that it may have a dual effect in slowing down both pulmonary and cardiovascular disease,” said Louise Crowley, corresponding author of the paper.

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