Eight million Brits take statins to lower cholesterol levels and prevent heart attacks and strokes, and nine million take drugs to lower blood pressure.

Could more drugs soon be made available to more people to further reduce risk?

This was the suggestion made last week at the American College of Cardiology’s meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Over the past decade, heart researchers have focused on tackling a type of cholesterol called LDL (low-density lipoprotein), which is most closely associated with heart disease. Statins were the first and most successful treatment to address this fatty substance in the blood. And in recent years, many other drugs have been developed that have the same effect.

But now there is a new cause for concern. It’s another type of fat found in the blood called triglycerides.

Our triglyceride levels are reflected in any cholesterol test. However, until recently, triglycerides were largely ignored, as they were primarily believed to be harmless, if not beneficial, as they are used by the body for energy.

Another type of fat present in the blood, known as triglycerides, is now worrying heart researchers. It’s featured in every cholesterol test, but until recently it was largely ignored.

However, more recent research shows that excessive amounts in the blood can block arteries and cause life-threatening complications such as heart attacks and strokes. Elevated triglycerides can also lead to pancreatitis, a life-threatening complication in which the pancreas, a gland in the abdomen, becomes inflamed.

Alarmingly, around a fifth of UK adults have worryingly high triglyceride levels. This problem is most common in people over the age of 60, but many people are unaware that they are at risk.

In most cases, elevated levels are caused by obesity, lack of exercise, and even other health conditions such as diabetes or kidney disease. These patients also tend to have higher LDL levels.

However, around a tenth of adults have a genetic abnormality that means they have elevated triglycerides, despite a relatively healthy lifestyle and low LDL levels.

And there are two new drugs announced last week aimed at tackling this problem.

One, an injectable drug called Prozasilan, was able to reduce triglyceride levels in patients with very high levels by three-quarters over six months. The treatment is given as an injection once every three months, and lead researcher Professor Daniel Gaudet, a cardiologist at the University of Montreal, described the findings as “extraordinary.”

Another drug, olearsen, was given to patients with moderately elevated triglycerides. After taking monthly injections for nearly a year, her triglyceride levels decreased by about half and returned to safe levels.

Both treatments block the body from producing a protein called apoC3, which helps the liver convert carbohydrates into triglycerides.

Experts say more research is needed to conclude how many deaths and hospitalizations prozasilan and olearsen can prevent, but they expect it to make a big difference.

“We’ve known for many years that high triglycerides are associated with cardiovascular disease, but in the past there was no specific treatment,” said Dr. Mikal, consultant cardiologist at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. Professor Derek Connolly says:

Statins have a limited effect on blood triglyceride levels, according to Professor Derek Connolly

“Statins and fish oil have some effect, but not much. These new drugs could be very useful, especially in protecting patients from pancreatitis, which can be a serious condition.”

The good news didn’t end there, with other announcements at the conference aimed at improving the heart health of patients across the UK. Read on to find out more…

A keyhole is the safest way to replace a bulb.

NHS chiefs were last night urged to offer keyhole surgery to thousands of patients with worn out heart valves. Research has shown that keyhole surgery is more effective than open-heart surgery.

More than 300,000 people in the UK suffer from aortic stenosis. Aortic stenosis is a condition in which one of the important valves narrows, reducing blood flow, causing chest pain and fatigue, and increasing the risk of heart failure. The majority of patients must undergo open heart surgery to replace the valve. Although often effective, it is a major procedure with a long recovery time.

There is now a less invasive alternative called transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). This is a surgery in which an artificial valve is inserted into the heart via a catheter inserted into a vein in the groin.

TAVI is faster than open heart surgery, but each procedure costs around £10,000, so it has been rationed only to patients who need it most. But experts hope the new study results will change that.

A German clinical trial involving about 1,400 patients found they were significantly less likely to die or develop serious illness than those who had open-heart surgery. Currently, only around 7,000 of his TAVIs are carried out a year in the NHS, reserved for older patients deemed unlikely to survive surgery. Last year, the NHS pledged to increase this number by 1,500, but doctors say an even bigger expansion is needed.

Dr Daniel Blackman, a cardiologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, says: “There is no question that TAVI is a much less invasive procedure and causes less injury.” “But these are truly amazing results that drive home the benefits. Patients, whatever their age, any day of the week, want to get TAVI, and the NHS wants to encourage more patients to get TAVI. ”

Angina implants that slow blood flow

Patients with severe angina chest pain could soon be offered a pioneering British-developed implant that could relieve their pain and improve their quality of life.

Around two million people in the UK suffer from the condition, which is caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle.

The majority of patients are given drugs to combat debilitating symptoms, and each year around 35,000 people with the most severe symptoms receive stents, which open arteries to allow more blood to flow to the heart. He underwent surgery to install a small mesh-like tube to hold it in place. However, research shows that for as many as 4 out of 10 patients, this surgery is ineffective.

Now, researchers have devised an alternative procedure that, counterintuitively, involves blocking small veins within the heart. A 1-inch implant called a coronary sinus reducer slows blood flow.

This increases the amount of oxygen your heart muscle can absorb and reduces angina symptoms.

The heart requires a constant supply of oxygen, which is absorbed through the blood. When this decreases, the organs become starved of oxygen, causing angina. The pain usually occurs over a short period of time and is often caused by exercise or stress.

This is a serious condition that causes blood vessels to narrow, putting patients at higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

People who are overweight, smoke, or consume excessive alcohol are more likely to develop angina.

It is usually treated with drugs such as calcium channel blockers and beta blockers, but their effectiveness may be limited. Many patients eventually develop unstable angina, with attacks becoming more frequent and occurring randomly.

More than 150,000 people are hospitalized in unstable conditions in the UK each year.

The new study involved 51 patients with severe angina who had not responded to conventional treatments, and half were given coronary sinus-reducing drugs.

The mesh, hourglass-shaped device is attached to the coronary sinus, where blood pumped around the heart accumulates.

They are designed to make your veins smaller, reducing the amount of blood that can pass through them. This pressure forces blood back toward the heart, giving your muscles more time to absorb oxygen.

Participants were asked to complete a daily survey reporting how often they experienced angina episodes, and those who received coronary sinus shrinking drugs experienced a 40% reduction in their experience of attacks.

Dr Rasha Al Lamy, consultant cardiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “We were absolutely shocked at how well the device worked.”

“After 10 weeks, patients noticed a big difference and their quality of life really improved. These are people who suffer from up to 10 angina attacks a day, so this is a big problem for them.” We hope that our findings will mean that patients who have not responded to other options will soon be able to receive the device on the NHS.

NHS vindicated for introducing heart pumps

It was also good news for patients left severely unwell after a heart attack, after a study found that a controversial heart pump already available on the NHS was saving lives.

This device is a thin tube attached to the inside of the organ and contains a motor that helps pump blood from one side to the other.

It is designed to help patients who develop cardiogenic shock, a complication of a heart attack. This complication occurs when an organ becomes too weak to pump enough blood to meet needs.

This condition occurs in approximately 1 in 10 heart attacks.

In 2016, the NHS decided to approve the introduction of the £15,000 Impella, which is surgically implanted after a heart attack, before studies showed it was effective. Since then, the disease has been linked to 49 deaths in the United States, and last month the country’s Food and Drug Administration warned that it could cause holes in the walls of the heart.

However, a new study published last week in Atlanta found that Impella patients were 13 percent less likely to die within six months of a heart attack than those who did not have a heart attack.

However, Danish researchers say the trial, which included 360 participants from the UK, Denmark and Germany, did find that Impella patients were more likely to experience complications such as internal bleeding. Says.

None of the study participants had undergone cardiac puncture.

“This is the first time in a very long time that we have positive research on the management of cardiogenic shock,” said study author Professor Jacob Moller, a cardiologist at Denmark’s Odense University Hospital.

“I think this will become a routine device used for patients with these hopeless diseases.”

Questions about beta blockers

A groundbreaking study has raised serious questions about the use of beta-blockers to treat many common heart conditions.

Last week, the Mail first reported research showing that common treatments do not benefit half of patients recovering from a heart attack.

The pill slows the pulse and lowers blood pressure and has been given to the majority of patients recovering from heart attacks since the 1960s. However, there are side effects such as fatigue, nausea, and erectile dysfunction. And data shows that for about 50 percent of patients, taking beta blockers does not reduce the risk of another attack.

Experts now say doctors should reconsider prescribing beta-blockers to patients with other commonly prescribed heart conditions, such as angina chest pain or atrial fibrillation, which is a problem with the heart’s rhythm. argues that it should.

In recent years, a number of new, more effective drugs have been introduced on the NHS, including drugs called calcium channel blockers, which lower blood pressure.

Patients who have not had a heart attack and are taking beta blockers as a way to control high blood pressure alone should continue taking them.

But Professor Tim Chico, a consultant cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, said: “When doctors first started offering these drugs, they were one of the only drugs available to heart patients.” Ta. However, great progress has been made. ”

Experts say patients should talk to their doctors if they don’t want to continue taking beta-blockers.