Alcohol, as it turns out, may be an effective and safe alternative to dangerous and complicated surgical procedures for patients suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is an excessive thickening of the heart muscle, which blocks the flow of blood out of the heart and to the rest of the body. It is thought to be a major cause of sudden heart failure deaths among athletes and young people. The alcohol treatment, developed and put into practice at the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem, involves the injection of alcohol (97%) directly into the blood vessels supplying the engorged area of...