The History Of Heart Research
For about 500 years leading up to the early 1900s, individuals in the scientific and medical fields conducted numerous heart dissections; however, the findings on the inner workings and factors that contributed to heart health were inconclusive. A true understanding of its function and anatomy was still being explored.
The earliest knowledge of the cardiovascular system dates back to ancient Egypt. Egyptians were the first known civilization to embalm their dead. During this process, they cultivated an understanding of the heart's structure and were the first to attribute our emotions as one of the heart's primary functions. However, the Egyptians knew early on that the heart was an integral part of life. Diagrams of the heart from ancient papyrus have been discovered, and these renderings are similar to what we know about the heart's anatomy today[1].
Galen would later become an authority in medicine, and much of his work served as the basis of medical practice for many years. A student of Egyptian and Greek medicine, Galen became committed to disseminating medical knowledge and became a physician to an emperor. He conducted many dissections that became the basis of his knowledge. Galen expanded the body of knowledge about the heart by revealing that the arteries and vessels connected to the heart were filled with blood. This served as a conduit for blood to flow throughout the body[2].
William Harvey expanded on this work in the 1700s, explaining that the heart was responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. During the 1800s, René Théophile Hyacinthe Laennec created a wooden apparatus to listen to the heart[3]. This device would serve as a precursor to the modern stethoscope. By the mid-1900s, models of the muscular structure were being fleshed out by Francisco Torrent-Guasp, whose dissection showed muscular structure, looping arteries, and left and right chambers[4].
Much of our current knowledge about other health factors that contribute to our heart health or lack thereof is a byproduct of the Framingham Heart Study. The researchers posit that high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and obesity are the leading factors that contribute to heart disease[5]. This study was initiated in light of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death[6]. During his presidency, President Roosevelt experienced elevated cholesterol levels that his physicians dismissed as trivial and of little consequence[7]. However, as time went on and the president’s health declined, the medical community realized that a misdiagnosis had been made. More research was needed to better understand the comorbidities that led to the decline in heart health[8]. At the time, heart disease represented the cause of death of 50% of Americans. Thus, the Framingham Heart Study was born[9].
This heart study represents the most exhaustive body of longitudinal research focused on heart health and the many factors that contribute to its health or decline. This longitudinal study began in 1948, in Framingham, Massachusetts. The study was a byproduct of the National Heart Act, spearheaded by President Harry Truman in 1948. Congress provided $500,000 towards this research project[10].
One major limitation of this study is its focus on Caucasian participants in the Northeast. Therefore, the data gathered may not apply to populations of color or other socioeconomic groups. In addition, the data do not account for lifestyle differences across regions or for the dietary differences or lack of access to healthy food that different populations experience.
Comments: