7 things we learnt at the UK's largest heart conference

Professor James Leiper, our Associate Medical Director, said: 

“This new injectable technology harnesses the natural properties of peptides to potentially solve one of the problems that has hindered this type of therapy for years. If the benefits are replicated in further research and then in patients, these gels could become a significant component of future treatments to repair the damage caused by heart attacks.” 

Older male athletes could be at higher risk of heart and circulatory diseases than female competitors of a similar age. 

Scientists funded by us performed MRI scans on over 300 ‘masters’ athletes – who were aged over 40, had taken part in over 10 endurance events and had exercised regularly for at least 10 years. They measured the stiffness of the aorta – the main artery which carries oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the body and the brain. Stiffness in the arteries is an estimate of arteries’ age and is also linked to increased risk of heart and circulatory diseases, such as heart attack and stroke. 

They found that for older male athletes, their aortas were stiffer and, on average, 9.6 years older than their chronological age. However, for female athletes, the vascular age of their aorta was around the same as their chronological age.

Although we still don’t know why this is the case, it suggests that long-term endurance exercise might impact men differently to women. 

For years we have known that obesity can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol that can go on to cause heart failure. But until now, the direct link between obesity and heart failure has been less understood.

Researchers funded by us looked at the health records of nearly half a million people from the UK Biobank, and followed them over 12 years. They found that obesity was linked to an increased risk of developing heart failure, independent of other risk factors.

They also discovered that the hearts of people living with obesity had developed structural changes. The heart muscle was thicker, had more signs of scarring and the main pumping chamber of the heart was weaker. 

Dr Liliana Szabo, post-doctoral researcher at Queen Mary University of London, who led the study said:

“This research highlights the importance of obesity as a public health issue, and how supporting people to bring their weight into a healthy range could lead to better heart health.”

Takotsubo syndrome is a sudden type of acute heart failure that causes the same symptoms as a heart attack. It’s not yet fully understood what causes Takotsubo syndrome, but it is usually brought on by emotional or physical stress such as the loss of a loved one, hence why it is sometimes called broken heart syndrome. 

It’s not yet fully understood what causes Takotsubo syndrome, but now scientists may be one step closer to understanding the link between having an emotional shock and what happens in the heart.

Researchers looked at MRI scans of 25 people who had suffered a Takotsubo incident in the previous five days and compared them to the scans of healthy people. They found decreased connections in the areas of the brain involved in regulating emotions, thinking, language, stress responses and controlling the heartbeat.

Researchers now hope to perform follow-up scans on the same patients to track the course of Takotsubo long-term and test the effect that different rehabilitation treatments have on the brain.

A regular glass of beetroot juice can reduce signs of inflammation in blood vessels that are known to be increased in people with coronary heart disease.

Beetroot juice naturally contains high levels of nitric oxide which is vital for our health. Nitric oxide regulates our blood pressure and has important anti-inflammatory effects.

Researchers funded by us studied 114 healthy volunteers whose level of inflammation was temporarily raised. They drank 140ml beetroot juice every morning for seven days – half of them drank juice that was high in nitrate and the other half drank juice with no nitrate.

The researchers found that the the volunteers who drank beetroot juice with nitrate were able to recover from inflammation faster. They think this could have benefits for people with coronary heart disease, a condition which affects one in 30 people in the UK.

Dr Asad Shabbir, Clinical Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London, was involved in this research. He said:

“Inflammation is vital to protect the body from injury and infection. However, in people with coronary heart disease persistent inflammation can exacerbate the furring of the arteries, making their condition worse and increasing their risk of a heart attack. Our research suggests that a daily glass of beetroot juice could be one way to get inorganic nitrate into our diet to help to interrupt harmful inflammation.”

On the first day of the conference Prof Marianna Fontana was presented with the BHF fellow of the year award. She won this award because of her outstanding piece of research into heart damage after severe covid infection.

Her team used MRI scans to look for heart damage in people who had been admitted to hospital with severe covid and whose blood had increased levels of troponin. Troponin is released into the blood when the heart muscle is injured. Raised levels can occur when an artery becomes blocked or there is inflammation of the heart. 

The MRI results showed damage to the hearts of 50 per cent of patients who had abnormal levels of troponin. This damage included inflammation of the heart muscle, scarring or death of heart tissue, restricted blood supply to the heart and combinations of all three.

On day two of the conference, Dr Thomas Treibel, our Intermediate Clinical Research Fellow was awarded the prestigious Michael Davies Early Career Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to cardiovascular science.

His research is about aortic stenosis, which is caused by narrowing of one of the main heart valves. When the narrowing becomes severe, replacing the valve is the only treatment to prevent death. Even after the valve is replaced, half of patients are left with permanent damage of the heart muscle and a quarter die within 3.5 years.

To improve understanding of why this damage happens, Dr Triebel used a heart scan (MRI) to detect the damage. After valve replacement, he monitored patients for three years with a paper clip sized monitor, which is injected underneath the skin. This monitor continuously checks the heartbeat and sends any abnormalities wirelessly to our hospital.

He hopes that once by knowing how and why the damage to the heart occurs, we can design medications and specialised treatments to protect them at risk from dying due to the damaged heart.

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