What’s the link between Polar Bears and treating heart disease?

It seems polar bears are not just cute, snow animals, they may hold the key to helping us treat heart disease.

According to Irish scientists, understanding how the bears consist on a diet of fat and little water could help treat the disease caused by a number of factors including high fat diet and high cholesterol.

Dr. Mary O’Connell from UCD says: “If you think about having a diet which is entirely animal fat-based, you’d be pretty sick. Polar bears have mastered the art.”

She added: “They live on mostly ring seals, and eat the blubber. In many cases they only eat the blubber, their entire existence is based around fat. In terms of their body mass, up to 50pc can be fat.”

While their diet doesn’t sound particularly appealing  the “cool thing” about it is the way they metabolize the fat and turn it into water.

Dr. Mary said: “Polar bears don’t drink water. If you think about it, where would they get fresh water anyway? So they don’t drink.”