At that time, the heart is less protected.
Heart crises, or “myocardial infarction”, occur when the blood flow towards the heart is blocked. The muscle then begins to suffer for lack of oxygen. This event has physical and psychological consequences: anxiety, depression, vulnerability … which can go as far as death. Previous studies have shown that heart attacks do not have all the same gravity according to the hour at which they occur. According to American researchers, this could be linked to our internal biological clock, also called “circadian rhythm”.
The circadian rhythm regulates many biological functions over 24 hours, such as sleep, body temperature and blood pressure. “Cardiac lesions after a myocardial infarction have a pronounced circadian rhythm, with gravity and clinical results varying depending on the time of appearance” Share researchers in the journal “Nature”. During a study, these scientists caused myocardial infarction in mice at different times of the day. Three molecules contained in the cells of the heart were analyzed: BMAL1, HIF2A and Areg. The goal was to identify a biological signal depending on the time of day.
According to their results, BMAL1 and HIFA proteins are able to associate to form a complex that regulates the heart response to stress. Clearly, these proteins protect the heart but this protection varies according to the moment of the day. According to scientists, protection is larger at 3 p.m. and at the lowest at 3 a.m. The heart attacks of mice occurred at this schedule caused higher heart damage. “If you have a heart attack in the morning, you are more likely to suffer from deadly arrhythmias, heart failure and to die” commented Professor Holger Eltzschig, principal author.
Researchers are delighted with the prospects that this discovery could lead to the management of heart attacks. “Our results underline the potential for the use of drugs targeting these proteins to reduce the severity of heart attacks when administered at specific times of the day” explained Professor Eltzschig. Future clinical trials should assess whether the alignment of treatments with the internal body clock can improve patient results. Whatever the time of day, persistent chest pain more than 15 minutes should make one think of a infarction. You must immediately call on the 15th.
