Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a gene that could possibly reduce the risk of cardiac issues, like heart failure.
What’s weird… it’s the same gene, when mutated, that was previously discovered to link to narcolepsy.
According to Stanford Medicine News, it was after lead author Marco Perez, MD observed a discrepancy among patients with heart failure and how they respond to treatments, that he began to wonder if there was a genetic component to blame. Turns out, he was right to wonder.
Naturally, researchers are interested in using this knowledge to benefit future treatment options. Because heart failure is estimated to cost the United States approximately $40 billion a year, and few new treatments have come onto the market recently. The stumbling block? Finding new treatments isn’t so easy when your arsenal of genes associated with heart failure is lacking.
But in light of this recent discovery, researchers, like Perez, are excited to dive deeper and investigate the link between narcolepsy and heart failure, in hopes that, one day, treatment can evolve.
