Pulmonary hypertension is an illness that results in the right side of the heart having to work much harder than the left. It becomes progressively worse and is sometimes fatal, but a researcher has discovered what could be the first completely effective breakthrough in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension is abnormally high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries, the arteries which carry blood from the heart to the lungs. The condition makes it more difficult for blood to flow to the lungs, causing shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling of the feet and ankles. It can make everyday tasks almost impossible.

“We have discovered an early warning system in a protein called PIM-1,” Dr. Sébastien Bonnet was quoted as saying. Dr. Bonnet has determined that PIM-1 proteins can be used as markers of pulmonary hypertension.

This opens doors to using regular blood tests to look at PIM-1 levels. “If there is a slight increase in PIM-1, we will know that something is going on.” This is important since the condition is under-diagnosed and often not discovered until it is in a late stage. Without earlier treatment it has a very poor prognosis. The condition has traditionally been diagnosed by a six minute walking test.

The protein also allows researchers and doctors to move past only using it in diagnosis, but using it in treatment as well. By blocking the PIM-1 protein, researchers were able to reverse the condition.

Before this discovery there was no drug or treatment to reverse the disease. “Pulmonary hypertension is a rare but life-threatening condition,” Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson Dr. Beth Abramson was quoted as saying. “These are often very sick individuals. By the time a patient gets to a doctor, the disease is usually well established.” Individuals at increased risk of developing pulmonary hypertension include those with a family history and people with a history of blood clots in the lungs (Pulmonary embolism).

She recommends that patients pay particular attention to any symptoms like shortness of breath or extreme tiredness. “There are treatments that can help patients live longer, healthier lives.”

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SOURCE: the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society held in Montreal, Canada on October 23-27, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire)