Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is a complex cardiac condition that has surged in prevalence over the past couple of years and is commonly referred to by cardiologists as HFpEF.
It is a type of heart failure in which the heart cannot adequately fill with blood but retains a normal pumping function. Now, this form of heart failure accounts for about 60 percent of all heart-failure cases.
Although it is widespread, it eludes effective treatments frustratingly for both doctors and patients.
In a wild turn of events, cannabidiol is now being slowly considered by scientists as one of the most unexpected potentials for fighting this condition.
More commonly known as CBD, it is a chemical compound from the cannabis plant, but unlike marijuana, it is bereft of psychoactive effects.
The Scientific Approach
Researchers embarked on this study with a clear hypothesis: cannabidiol’s known beneficial effects on the heart, including its ability to protect cardiac tissue, reduce inflammation, and prevent scarring, might prove beneficial in treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
To test this theory, they designed a comprehensive study using a mouse model of the condition.
In the study, a special diet known to cause heart failure with preserved ejection fraction was fed to some mice. This subset of mice was dosed with cannabidiol on a regular basis for eight weeks.
The design of a study such as this would be conducted to investigate whether cannabidiol would exert any influence on cardiac structure, molecular indicators of heart stress and remodeling, and markers of inflammation.
Key Findings, Observations
The findings of the study were interesting and brought forward some encouraging insights: Weight gain into mice that had received cannabidiol was much slower compared to untreated mice with heart failure, although still weighing more than healthy control mice.
This may mean that cannabidiol has a mild effect on the metabolic processes responsible for weight gain.
More importantly, there was a decline in trends to cardiac enlargement within the cannabidiol-treated group. An enlarged heart is often indicative of the organ working harder secondary to inefficiency, and this reduction could point out a protective effect of treatment.
The researchers also found lower levels of biomarkers linked with heart stress and inflammation in the cannabidiol-dosed mice.
The molecular changes defined here suggest that cannabidiol might be working to reduce the heart load and dampen deleterious inflammatory processes. Moreover, these mice had more ideal body fat distribution with reduced visceral to subcutaneous adipose tissue.
This is of specific interest because excess visceral fat is linked to increased risks of developing heart diseases and metabolic disorders.
Implications and Future Directions
While these results are undoubtedly promising, it is imperative to interpret them with due caution.
This mouse study represents just one of the very early stages of research in the process from laboratory bench to potential treatment for humans.
The findings suggest that cannabidiol may exert protective effects in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, probably through direct actions on the heart and indirect effects on other body systems.
Additional research would be required, however, to understand such effects and how they might apply to human patients.
This really does open up some of the very exciting new avenues for investigation in the area of cardiac health.
Scientists have already planned other studies, which will determine specific mechanisms of therapeutic effect exerted by cannabidiol.
Exactly how this compound interacts with cardiovascular systems and all body processes to produce the benefits observed is what they really want to know.
Future studies will then have to be conducted on optimal dosing strategies and on the possible long-term effects of cannabidiol treatment.
Such investigations may result in new therapeutic strategies to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction if these pilot findings are confirmed and augmented by future studies.
This would represent an enormous breakthrough, considering that this condition has proven especially recalcitrant to the best efforts of medical intervention so far employed.
It is a stark reminder that, at times, solutions to complex health issues may come from unconventional sources and how essential it is to explore unconventional treatment options in medical science.
