For the longest time, clinicians have treated cardiovascular disease by focusing on diabetes and blood pressure control, reducing cholesterol using medications like aspirin and statins.
New research suggests an immune protein may be a major causal factor in cardiovascular disease, and the discovery points to a range of new kinds of treatments targeting this condition that affects almost every human as they get older.
A study led by Michigan Medicine has uncovered that suPAR, a protein, causes atherosclerosis, linking cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. The research shows potential for suPAR to be a treatment target for both conditions.
Clinicians have traditionally treated cardiovascular disease by focusing on diabetes and blood pressure control, as well as lowering cholesterol with drugs such as aspirin and statins.