{"id":33442,"date":"2018-01-17T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=33442"},"modified":"2020-09-25T14:30:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T18:30:25","slug":"discovery-lead-new-treatments-heart-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/discovery-lead-new-treatments-heart-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery could lead to new treatments for heart failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Lynn Megeney\u2019s research team found that the protein cardiotrophin could repair heart damage and improve blood flow in animal models of heart failure.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sharon MacDonald\u2019s parents taught her to finish what she started. But living with heart failure has taught her a different philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPace yourself,\u201d said the 68-year-old Ottawa resident. \u201cIf you can\u2019t finish what you start, don\u2019t worry about it. Take a rest first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many patients with heart failure, MacDonald\u2019s heart is weakened and cannot keep up with her body\u2019s demands. She experiences fatigue and shortness of breath, especially when walking up hills.<\/p>\n

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Sharon MacDonald lives at a different pace because of her heart failure. The discovery that a protein can trick the heart into growing in a healthy way could one day provide new treatments for patients like her.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMy heart function is very low,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I slow myself down. If there\u2019s somewhere to sit, like the bench at a bus stop, I sit down and rest for five to 10 minutes before continuing on.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is currently no cure for heart failure like MacDonald\u2019s. She manages her condition with medication, a pacemaker and a healthy lifestyle, as well as support from her siblings.<\/p>\n

But Ottawa researchers have discovered that a protein called cardiotrophin 1 (CT1) may be a potential treatment for heart failure.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe found that CT1 causes heart muscles to grow in a healthy way and it also stimulates blood vessel growth in the heart,\u201d said Dr. Lynn Megeney<\/a>, senior author of the study published in Cell Research<\/em><\/a> and a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. \u201cThis actually increases the heart\u2019s ability to pump blood, just like what you would see with exercise and pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research team found that the protein could repair heart damage and improve blood flow in animal models of heart failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experimental therapy is very exciting, particularly because it shows promise in treating both left and right heart failure,\u201d said Dr. Duncan Stewart<\/a>, a cardiologist, senior scientist and Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and a professor at the University of Ottawa. \u201cCurrently, the only treatment for right heart failure is a transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drs. Megeney and Stewart are hoping to begin human testing of this protein, although it will take a number of years before it could reach patients as a standard therapy.<\/p>\n

Until then, MacDonald will continue to live at her heart\u2019s pace. \u201cEverything is done in my time, and when my body says I can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Sharon MacDonald lives at a different pace because of her heart failure. The discovery that a protein can trick the heart into growing in a healthy way could one day provide new treatments for patients like her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":33469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[430,92],"class_list":["post-33442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-heart-failure-2","tag-research"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}