University research on body’s way of beating heart attacks

Researchers at the University of Bradford are looking for a better understanding of how the body can fight-off heart disease – without needing drugs.

Senior lecturer Dr Khalid Naseem in the University’s Department of Biomedical Studies has secured two grants totalling almost £150,000 from the British Heart Foundation to fund two research posts.

Dr Naseem said: “Coronary heart disease is the greatest cause of death in industrialised nations and we are looking for a better understanding of the process that could lead to a cure.”

The research will look at how nitric oxide is formed in the blood. Nitric oxide is produced naturally and can help to prevent the activation of platelets in the blood – the process known as thrombosis.

Dr Naseem continued: “Rather than developing new drugs, this research will look at enhancing the body’s own mechanism to fight heart disease.”

He explained that the regulation of blood platelet activity was “fundamentally important” to the development of coronary heart disease and was an area of “intense international research”.

“We are looking at how nitric oxide is made in the blood so that we can harness it as a therapeutic agent,” added Dr Naseem.

The two BHF grants consist of £68,000 for a PhD studentship, which has already been taken up by Rocia Riba, and £80,000 to fund a post-Doctoral fellow.