• Question: my grandad got a heart op, and the doctors told him that the closer a scare is to the heart, the faster it heals. is this true? and if it is, why?

    Asked by anonymous to Pete, Rebecca, SallyB, Sally, Sian on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sally Barber

      Sally Barber answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I don’t know the answer to this but i suspect that it is true. The blood carries all sorts of chemical and cells which help wounds to heal (like platelets and growth factors) so if a wound is closer to the heart the blood will pass though the wounded area before going to any other part of the body so have a greater concentration of the healing cells and chemicals in it.

    • Photo: Sally Fenton

      Sally Fenton answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      My dad hust had a heart operation aswell….I hope your grandad is ok :). I am not sure about that…but if the doctors say it then it is probably true as they would not make something up..they arn’t allowed to do that. I think it may be because if the scar is closer to the heart it will have more blood supplied to it..and it is things carried in the blood that help things to heal.

    • Photo: Sian Lawson

      Sian Lawson answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Do you mean a scar? It is possible that scars would heal faster if they were closer to the heart, due to the improved blood supply.

    • Photo: Rebecca Randell

      Rebecca Randell answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I’m not 100% sure this is the right reason but i think this would be true and there is a lot of blood flowing past through and past the heart and the blood is carrying things that will help scars heal. I think the doctor would know about this more than me. I hope your grandad gets better soon

    • Photo: Peter Styring

      Peter Styring answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I’m not sure. It’s could be becasue the stresses on the tissue are smaller close to the heart and also that it has the nighest concentration of oxygen in the blood when it leaves the heart.

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