Researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said they are hoping to replicate in a drug the amazing regenerative ability of animals such as the zebrafish which can easily mend its damaged heart.
If successful, it could revolutionise the treatments administered to patients after an heart attack, the Daily Mail reported. Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at BHF, said: "Since the BHF's inception 50 years ago, we've made great strides in medical research to better diagnose and treat people with all kinds of heart problems.
"But the biggest issue that still eludes us is how to help people once their heart has been damaged by a heart attack. "Scientifically, mending human hearts is an achievable goal and we really could make recovering from a heart attack as simple as getting over a broken leg.
"It could revolutionise the quality of life people whose lives are ruined by their heart's incapacity." The research is being carried out by scientists at various universities including Imperial College and University College London. It is hoped that the first clinical trials will take place in the next decade.
The survival rate from a heart attack has increased by 50 per cent in the last half century but because the heart is unable to mend itself, it leaves many people unable to perform even the smallest tasks without getting out of breath.
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