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researchers have identified a common diabetes medication, metformin, as a possible treatment for atrial fibrillation. The study built on ongoing research to support metformin as a drug repurposing candidate. Researchers used advanced computation and genetic sequencing to determine that metformin's targets overlap significantly with genes dysregulated in atrial fibrillation. "Finding drugs or procedures to treat atrial fibrillation is difficult because of potential serious side effects," said Mina Chung, M.D. "There is a significant need for new treatments for atrial fibrillation as there have been no new drugs approved in more than a decade." "It's not that we've found a new...

Illinois Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat, announced Friday that his daughter's death in June was from a cardiac arrhythmia. "This past June, our daughter, Gwen Casten, died of a sudden cardiac arrythmia. In layman’s terms, she was fine, and then her heart stopped," the Casten family wrote in a statement. Gwen Casten, 17, died peacefully in her sleep in June after eating dinner with her parents and then going out with friends for a few hours. -snip- The family said Gwen was a healthy teenager who ate well, exercised, received regular medical check-ups, did not suffer from any behavioral issues...

Viagra, used to treat sexual impotence, can strongly suppress abnormal heart rhythms known as arrythmias in sheep according to scientists. In female sheep, the drug—also known as sildenafil—was able to suppress an arrythmia called Torsades de Pointes within 90 seconds by reducing the frequency of irregular heart rhythms caused by abnormal handling of calcium. It also reduced the probability of Torsades de Pointes, which can lead to sudden cardiac death. However, the team believe the drug could treat other arrythmias as well. Cardiac arrythmias often follow a heart attack, or result from heart disease. Though often benign , they can...

It has still not been confirmed with certainty that the inflammation was developed as a side-effect to the vaccination A 19-year-old was hospitalized with myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, five days after receiving his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, TEREM emergency medical clinics reported Monday. According to the clinic, it has still not been confirmed that the inflammation was developed as a side effect of the vaccination. However, a number of COVID-19-related myocarditis cases have been reported, according to the US National Institutes of Health. “The fact that the symptoms started immediately after the vaccination raises the suspicion...

As it turns out, you really can overdose on candy—or, more precisely, black licorice. Days before the biggest candy eating holiday of the year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encourages moderation if you enjoy snacking on the old fashioned favorite. So, if you’re getting your stash ready for Halloween, here’s some advice from FDA: If you’re 40 or older, eating 2 ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks could land you in the hospital with an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia. FDA experts say black licorice contains the compound glycyrrhizin, which is the sweetening compound...

Ingredient of some plastics and food packaging can interfere with cardiac rhythm Bisphenol A toys with the female heart, a new study finds. And under the right conditions, its authors worry, this near-ubiquitous pollutant might even prove deadly. BPA is a building block of clear hard plastics, dental sealants and the resins lining food cans. Studies have shown that throughout the industrial world, nearly everyone regularly encounters the compound, albeit at trace concentrations. That’s small consolation, says Laura Vandenberg of Tufts University in Medford, Mass.: In the new BPA study, “the most effective dose was very close to — if...

Enlarge ImageDouble trouble. Brain neurons (green) with a faulty potassium channel. An EEG and an ECG show that epileptic seizures (top) often coincide with heart arrhythmias (bottom) in mice. Credit: A. Goldman et al., Science Translational Medicine Two medical problems caused by misfiring electrical signals, epilepsy and heart arrhythmia, probably have a common molecular cause, scientists report. The research points to treatments that could lower the chances of young people dying of seizures. The scientists, at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, were studying mice that had a mutation in the KCNQ gene, which builds potassium ion channels...

WHAT'S NEXT THE familiar electrocardiograms of yearly medical checkups are the routine way to record electrical activity of the heart and detect disorders in its rhythms. But the test is relatively insensitive at pinpointing small areas where there may be problems, since a standard EKG machine samples electrical potential only at a handful of points on the body's surface. But a new computer-based method developed by a researcher seeks to deliver far more detailed information about the electrical activity of the heart. Instead of a dozen or so electrodes, the technique uses 224 of them, all woven into a chain...