Plasminogen Protein Triggers Heart Attack, Stroke Early Morning: Study

It has been observed that a heart attack or a stroke mostly occurs at 6.30 am and now scientists have found out the reason behind this. Researchers discovered that there is a type of protein in people’s blood that slows down the breakdown of clots and the level of this protein increases at 6.30 am.

The team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, and Oregon Health and Science University analysed the changes in protein Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), which slows the breakdown of clots in blood. They found out that this protein was responsible for heart attacks and strokes.

Study author Dr Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Programme at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said, “Our findings suggest that the circadian system or the internal body clock contributes to the increased risk for cardiovascular events in the morning.”

Through a two-week test conducted on healthy volunteers, the research team wanted to find out whether the problem that occurred mostly in morning was due to body clock rhythms or whether it depended on posture and physical activity in the morning.

Researchers said more study was needed to find out whether the internal body clock was different for high-risk groups such as obese or diabetics or those suffering from cardiovascular disease.

Source-Medindia