A spoonful of sugar to curb cardiac failure?

Washington: A spoonful of sugar is all you need to keep your heart healthy, according to scientists who claim to have come up with a new type of the sweetener which can prevent cardiac failure.

An international team has, in fact, developed the new type of sugar — combination of sugar and seleno —that works by preventing reactive acids from damaging the heart, the ‘Chemical Communications’ journal reported.

“Our seleno-sugar compounds work by scavenging hypohalous acids, a group of highly reactive chemicals that can damage tissues when produced in the wrong place, at the wrong time or at excessive levels. One predictor of future heart disease in patients is the raised level of the enzyme that produces these hypohalous acids,” Professor Carl Schiesser at University of Melbourne, who led the team.

The team discovered their seleno-sugar compounds are able to prevent hypohalous acids from damaging the important amino acids in human plasma, a key step in stopping the development of disease.

The scientists are now working to optimise their compounds for future pharmaceutical use. “We are hoping that in the future our new chemicals will keep matters of the heart sweet. Well, at least health-wise!” Dr Corin Storkey, a team member, said.

PTI