D-Ribose is a simple five-carbon sugar that has been shown to delay the progression of congestive heart failure in many people who have had a heart attack at some point in the past. Congestive heart failure is a condition that can occur as a result of any structural or functional cardiac disorder which impairs the ability of the heart to fill with and pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. Since not all patients experience volume overload at the initial evaluation, this disease is most commonly referred to as heart failure, rather than congestive heart failure. This disease is often under-diagnosed because of a universally agreed upon definition does not exist and there are difficulties with diagnosis, especially in those with a mild condition. Even with the best care and therapy, heart failure has an associated mortality rate of ten percent and is the leading cause of hospitalization in people above the age of sixty-five.



Many studies have been done and presented at the Second Annual Academic Surgical Congress, which is sponsored by the Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University Surgeons. Heart attacks often lead to the progressive onset of congestive heart failure. After a heart attack, the portion of the heart that hasn't been damaged must work harder to compensate for the functional loss of the tissue that is damaged. The heart will eventually begin to fail, causing the chambers of the heart to enlarge and waken, which in turn causes the heart to lose its ability to pump blood effectively.

A study, which was conducted by the University of Minnesota, led by Dr. John Foker and his team, determined that administering D-Ribose will significantly improve heart function after a heart attack. The study also showed that the progression of heart failure after a heart attack begins with the fall of energy levels. D-Ribose is very unique, it serves as a foundation for many important compounds such as DNA, RNA, and ATP (the energy of cells). ATP is very important to health and for maintaining normal energy-dependent body functions. Hearts that are stressed, muscles, and other tissue lack the metabolic machinery that is needed to quickly make D-Ribose and overcome progressive energy depletion. D-Ribose has been shown to significantly increase energy formation in those tissues that are stressed. The energy level of the heart tissue that is not damaged by the heart attack is in control of the beginning events of heart failure. When ATP starts to decrease, function will worsen, which sets the progression of chronic cardiac failure in motion. Supplementing with D-Ribose is known to increase energy in stressed hearts, which slows the progression of heart failure and in some cases even prevents it altogether. Although the study is in its early stages of investigation, Dr. Foker is positive about the results. By treating hearts with D-Ribose, ATP concentration of the heart can be improved and loss of energy can be prevented, which is known to be the major contributor to this disease's progression.