Predicting a heart attack or a stroke is an inexact science. Even with all of the technological advances that have been made over the last several years, our best efforts at predicting who will have a heart attack or when they will have it are flawed. We can look at risk by looking at things like body mass, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and whether or not someone smokes, but these are all just guesses and leave us with imprecise information at the end of the day. Researchers have been working on trying to improve this and have recently come across a new level of success.
By looking at macrophages, researchers believe that they can predict someone’s risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke with greater accuracy than ever before. Macrophages have a bad reputation in the world of heart health. These cells are sometimes referred to as foamy cells. They go through blood vessels and eat up lipids. After doing this, they become foamy, taking on the appearance of a clump of bubbles within the blood vessel. This can cause arterial clogging, leading to blood vessel complications, which can lead to a cardiac event or a stroke.
Doctors have been looking at these cells and have found that they have different behaviors and not all of these are bad. The foaming behavior isn’t always negative. It is the negative foaming behavior that can lead to a cardiovascular issue. Being able to detect this would potentially help doctors to detect if someone was going to be at a higher risk of a heart attack with greater accuracy than ever before. Researchers have been looking at what it is that makes macrophages, and they believe that they are starting to make progress in identifying just how to do so. Obviously, more research is needed here, but they are headed in the right direction.
A heart attack is a traumatic event. People survive heart attacks with greater frequency today than at earlier points in history thanks to greater awareness, better treatment, and better preventive measures. But even with all of that, there’s still a lot that needs to be done if we are going to continue to save more lives.
This research was conducted by a team from the University of Connecticut. They recently published their results in the journal, Circulation. Because heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, this is an important step forward and will hopefully lead to even more successful research in the future.
If you’re looking for help with a loved one that needs help because of disability related to heart disease or something else, we’re here to help. Let us know. One of our trained caregivers would be happy to help you and your family get pointed in the right direction when it comes to your care needs. There are a lot of great resources out there when it comes to helping your older loved ones. Finding the right care is important to keep your loved ones healthy and happy, and accounting for their unique needs is a big part of this.
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