Researchers are carrying out a study which could ultimately lead to a dramatic drop in the number of heart attacks.

A £161,500 project, taking place at Glenfield Hospital and funded by the British Heart Foundation, aims to find out how the heart might be able to protect itself during very brief interruptions of blood flow.

If researchers are successful, their findings could herald the start of work to develop a new generation of medicines, as well as the start of clinical trials on heart surgery – possibly in Leicester.

The race is on to make the discoveries before colleagues in Europe and America.

Dr Glenn Rodrigo, a scientist at the University of Leicester, is heading the project. He has devised a way of studying how the heart might be able to protect itself during brief interruptions of blood flow, such as during a heart attack.

During an attack, a blood clot in the artery starves the heart of vital oxygen. As a result, cells in the heart die and it cannot then work normally.

Researchers have discovered that if the blood supply is cut for very short, sharp periods, the heart seems better able to cope.

Dr Rodrigo and his team are now aiming to better understand how this works.

He said: "When a person has a heart attack, the blood supply stops, the calcium levels go through the roof and very quickly cells in the heart die and the tissue is damaged.

"It seems if the blood supply is stopped for a very short time, several times, the cells seem better able to control the calcium levels and there is less damage."

He said: "If we can understand how this works we may be able to find ways of pre-conditioning the heart. This will help people undergoing heart surgery and procedures like angioplasty.

"In turn, it could lead to finding better ways of preserving tissue, which could help in the field of transplantation."

Professor Nilesh Samani, from the University of Leicester and a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's hospitals, said: "This might lead to developing a medication which could mimic this effect in high-risk patients.

"We believe it could have the effect of cutting the number of heart attacks by more than 60 per cent."

He added researchers were "delighted" by the grant from the British Heart Foundation.

Barry Houghton, of North Kilworth, welcomed the research. He was just 55 when he had a heart attack six years ago.

He said: "I never thought of being at risk. I was fairly fit, had a healthy diet and was about the proper weight. If there is a way of finding new treatments, it has to be a good thing."