Researchers at Bradford University are looking to boost ways the body can fight off heart disease - without needing drugs.

Dr Khalid Naseem and his team will be researching into how the body can fight heart disease naturally.

They will be researching into how a thrombosis can be prevented through the production of one vital chemical, nitric oxide, found in the blood.

Dr Naseem, of the University's Department of Biomedical Studies, said: "Coronary heart disease is the greatest cause of death in industrialised nations and we are looking for a better understanding of the process that could lead to a cure."

The research - backed by the British Heart Foundation - will look at how nitric oxide is formed in the blood.

Nitric oxide is produced naturally and can help to prevent the activation of platelets in the blood - the process known as thrombosis.

Dr Naseem, a senior lecturer, said: "Rather than developing new drugs, this research will look at enhancing the body's own mechanism to fight heart disease.

"We are looking at how to protect against the final episode. Heart disease is a life-long condition which usually shows when a person is in their 50s, 60s or 70s.

"The body has a capacity to protect itself and has evolved over millions of years to do so.

"If we can work out how to boost production of nitric oxide then we could do that for patients at risk. That is the long-term and ultimate aim further down the line."

He has secured two grants totalling almost £150,000 from the British Heart Foundation to fund two research posts.

Regulation of blood platelet activity was "fundamentally important" to the development of coronary heart disease and was an area of "intense international research", he said.

The two BHF grants consist of £68,000 for a PhD studentship, which has already been taken up by Rocia Riba, and £80,000 to fund a post-Doctoral fellow.

Dr Naseem added: "The basics, a low-fat diet, a low in salt and sugars and exercise should be adhered to, that goes without saying. Thrombosis-associated complaints kill more people in this country than anything else."