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Biotechnology for
Cardiovascular Diseases (2007)
<table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">The diseases</span><br> <span class="rteColumn">A thrombus is a blood clot in an artery or vein which forms a blockage in the blood vessel. In an artery, a thrombus causes myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke. In a vein, it causes phlebitis and its major complication, pulmonary embolism. In each case, the thrombus leads to damage to or death of tissue in the area that is no longer irrigated by blood, such as the heart, brain and lungs.</span> <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=1" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">How many people are affected ?</span><br> In the European Union, over three million new cases are treated every year for the consequences of thrombi : heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolisms. In addition, a further 20 million people take preventive measures against these diseases. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=2" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">How many people die from the disease?</span><br> More than 15 million people in the world die each year from these cardiovascular events, which together form the principal cause of mortality. In the European Union alone more than 700 000 people die each year from coronary heart disease and more than 500 000 from stroke. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=3" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">Living with the disease</span><br> These diseases are the primary cause of major disability and the primary cause of cognitive loss. Myocardial infarction can lead to heart failure, particularly in the case of recurrence, which can dramatically affect people’s lives. Stroke is the primary cause of non-traumatic impairment and neurological impairment, including mobility or loss of superior function, such as language or organisation of thought. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=4" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span class="diseaseSubTitle">Treatment <font color='#FFFFFF' size=-2>Témoignage patient de </font> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span class="diseaseText"><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="10"></span></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#B9E3FF"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle2">Traditional approach</span><br> Before biotechnology developed thrombolytic agents, cardiovascular events linked to thrombi were treated with anticoagulant drugs. Anticoagulants play a preventive role but have little, or no, ability to destroy a blood clot once it has formed. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=5" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> <td> </td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#B9E3FF"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle2">Biotech revolutions</span><br> Thrombolytic – or “clot-busting” – agents developed by biotech researchers during the 1980s dissolve a blood clot rapidly, and almost totally. When administered sufficiently quickly after a vascular accident, they reduce mortality rates in myocardial infarction by almost 30%, and reduce by 20% the neurological deficit resulting from ischaemic stroke. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=6" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="227" height="1"></td> <td><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td> <td><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="227" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#B9E3FF"> <td colspan="3"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle2">Drugs currently available</span><br> A number of protein-based drugs have been developed. Alteplase, tenecteplase and reteplase are proteins produced by genetic engineering. Streptokinase is extracted from bacteria and urokinase from urine. These proteins are then introduced into medical preparations sold by a number of different pharmaceutical companies. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=7" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3"><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="5"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">Number of patients treated</span><br> The main target is the 1.5 to 2 million cases of myocardial infarction per annum in the European Union, but there is an alternative to thrombolytic agents: coronary angioplasty. Ischaemic strokes are good candidates for thrombolysis, but only if treated in the first three hours. About 10% of ischaemic strokes – between 50 000 and 100 000 cases – fall into this category in the European Union every year. In the case of pulmonary embolism, thrombolysis is reserved only for very severe forms (10% to 15%). <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=8" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">Future</span><br> A number of pharmaceutical companies are working on improving these drugs, in particular to reduce the risk of haemorrhage connected with their administration. This should enable them to be used more widely, particularly in stroke. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=9" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="485" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <span class="diseaseSubTitle">Costs to society</span><br> The total cost of these diseases (excluding pulmonary embolisms), including healthcare and production losses, was estimated in 2003 at €78 billion in the European Union, €44.7 billion for coronary heart disease and €34.2 billion for stroke. <a href="more.php?diseaseid=1&bloc=10" class="lienBleu">More</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../images/pix.gif" width="1" height="15"></td> </tr> </table>
