Two studies collided on Wednesday revealing a very important medical breakthrough. The studies discovered a genetic mutation in our genes that protect us against heart attacks by keeping levels of triglycerides, a kind of fat in the blood, very low.
Researchers have discovered that people with higher triglyceride levels had more heart attacks than those with genetically lower triglyceride levels. These findings are likely to spawn off medicines that will try to mimic these genetic mutations in lowering triglyceride levels, which in turn will offer a new class of drugs that would combat heart disease.
Don’t get too excited yet! Although this is great news in the medical world, it will take a few years before these findings are made into a tangible pill sold in stores. Drug development must go through extensive testing, and may not work in the way we’d hope.
Heart attacks and heart disease are the leading cause of death in the United States and Canada.
