Scientists will rewrite DNA with the goal of finding the world’s first treatment for genetic heart diseases, in what could be described as a “decisive moment” in cardiovascular medicine.
For the first time, researchers are set to use precise genetic techniques, known as basic modification, in the heart to design and test the first treatment for inherited heart muscle diseases, with the aim of disrupting the defective genes.
Inherited heart disease is a term that includes all heart diseases that are passed from parents to their children, ie when one or both parents have a defective or mutated gene, there is a 50/50 chance of passing it on to the children.
Some inherited heart diseases include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypercholesterolemia.
Some people with genetic heart disease may not have many symptoms, and the condition is not diagnosed until after a sudden heart attack, fainting, or sudden death.
Statistics indicate that about 0.8 to 1.2% of newborns worldwide are affected by genetic heart disease.
#time #history #treatment #genetic #heart #diseases