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A regularly prescribed class of heart medications might be capable of treating one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy, a new study in mice suggests. Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is caused by abnormal RNA that affects the function of calcium channel receptors, which help convert impulses from nerve cells into chemical signals that guide muscle movement, the researchers explained. Given that, a type of heart drug called a calcium channel blocker might be able to eliminate the "noise" caused by this abnormal RNA, they reasoned. These drugs successfully eased DM1 symptoms in lab mice bred to have...

Benefits of the blood pressure medication verapamil include delayed disease progression, lowered insulin requirements, and preservation of some beta cell function. Use of the drug verapamil to treat Type 1 diabetes continues to show benefits lasting at least two years, researchers report in the journal Nature Communications. Patients taking the oral blood pressure medication not only required less daily insulin two years after first diagnosis of the disease, but also showed evidence of surprising immunomodulatory benefits. Continuing medication was necessary. In the two-year study, subjects who stopped daily doses of verapamil at one year saw their disease at two years...