Friday 30 September 2022 05:23 AM Intimacy hormone repairs cells after heart attack, find Michigan researchers trends now
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Falling in love really can heal a broken heart, a study suggests.
Oxytocin is produced by our bodies when we cuddle, have sex, and fall in love.
Now scientists in Michigan have discovered it also appears to have the ability to repair cells in an injured heart.
When someone suffers a heart attack their cardiomyocetes - which allow it to contract - die off in vast quantities.
They are highly specialized cells and cannot replenish themselves
But researchers found oxytocin stimulates stem cells in the heart's outer layer, which migrate to its middle layer and turn into cardiomyocytes.
The findings have so far only been in zebrafish and human cells in a lab. But it is hoped that one day the love hormone could be used to develop a treatment.
Oxytocin is produced by our bodies when we cuddle, have sex, and fall in love. Now scientists believe it can heal damaged heart cells (file image)
Thanks to oxytocin, zebrafish can regrow parts of their heart, and researchers found the cuddle hormone has a similar effect on human tissue.
Lead author of the study Dr Aitor Aguirre, an assistant professor in biology at Michigan State University, said: 'Here we show that oxytocin is capable of activating heart repair mechanisms in injured hearts in zebrafish
