Heartbeat in Biological News

Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

... got only salt solution pumped approximately 200 microliters of blood per heartbeat and had an average heart rate of 358 beats per minute, while rats injected with cyclohexanone pumped only about 150 microliters of blood per heartbeat with an average heart rate of 287 beats per minute. In addition to ...

Rare disease provides clues about enzyme role in arrhythmias

... a new cellular model, could help with developing treatments for irregular heartbeat in people with this syndrome as well as in the general population. There ... way for calcium to enter heart cells. Calcium is needed to trigger each heartbeat and to help regulate cell survival, metabolism and gene transcription. In ...

Holding breath for several minutes elevates marker for brain damage

... to increase their lung capacity while learning crucial safety measures. Breath-hold diving often leads to hypoxia, elevated blood pressure, slowed heartbeat and other physiological changes. However, whether the sport causes any long-term damage to the brain has remained a point of contention. Studies have ...

Researchers examine developing hearts in chickens to find solutions for human heart abnormalities

... a University of Missouri researcher has identified certain proteins within the heart muscle that play an important regulatory role in embryonic heartbeat control. Understanding these components and how they interact will give researchers a better understanding of heart development and abnormalities in ...

UBC researcher reveals humpback whales' dining habits -- and costs

... mammals are known for their extraordinarily long dive times. Elephant seals, for example, can stay underwater for an hour at a time by lowering their heartbeat and storing large amounts of oxygen in their muscles. "Weighing up to 40 tons, humpback whales and their close relatives have relatively short ...

New cardiology research presented at CHEST 2008

... #7710 IRREGULAR heartbeat MAY DEVELOP AFTER LUNG TRANSPLANTATION (Tuesday, October 28, 10:30 AM EST) Patients receiving donated lungs may develop arrhythmias, including ...

World's biggest heart model simulated at Université de Montréal

... use the entire SGI Altix system and its1.2TB of shared memory to solve the largest, most detailed heart model ever. Two weeks to simulate full heartbeat The researchers simulated five milliseconds of activation in a tissue block that included some properties of a real heart, such as fibre running in ...

Slowing the racing heart

... -- beats faster or slower to induce a rhythmic heartbeat that varies to increase or decrease the blood ... control are common in heart diseases. When the heartbeat becomes non-rhythmic and chaotic, it can result ... unknown molecular mechanism for slowing the heartbeat may offer new avenues of diagnosis, drug design ...

Whole-genome study at Johns Hopkins reveals a new gene associated with abnormal heart rhythm

... that many factors, genetic and environmental, contribute to irregular heartbeat and other conditions that may lead to sudden cardiac death. Being able to ... the left ventricle of the human heart. And the "lub" part of the "lub-dub" heartbeat corresponds to ventricular contraction. So NOS1AP is active in the right ...

New defibrillator signals doctor of patient's irregular heartbeat or device malfunction

... reasons, such as a significant increase in the number of irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) episodes, as well as the preferred alert method, i.e., via ... back into a healthy rhythm if it detects an abnormal heartbeat. Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) is a major cause of death following heart attacks. Studies ...

A new study of living cells could revolutionize the way we test drugs

... added up to an electrical current of just 10 moving electrons. It has given the team confidence that equipment sensitive enough to measure a cell’s heartbeat can be developed. "We already have some ideas about how to improve the sensitivity of the detector in water and next time we will also use a ...

Fast test for low blood flow in dogs detects early heart trouble

... around a main artery, cutting in half the blood flow to the heart. After surgery, the dogs were injected with the drug adenosine to speed up their heartbeat and maximize circulation. The dose, they note, was the same as that typically used in humans for routine stress testing: 140 micrograms per kilogram ...

Survival of heart patients on beta-blockers varies greatly with genetic variation

... Beta-adrenergic receptors in the sympathetic nervous system respond to adrenaline, but beta-blocker drugs block this interaction, slowing the heartbeat and lowering blood pressure to relieve stress on the heart. They also block impulses that can cause rhythm disturbances. "Long-term therapy with ...

Implanted Devices Detect High-Risk Heart Failure Patients

... each year. Roughly one-half of patients die within five years of diagnosis. Although there is no cure, drugs can improve the strength of the heartbeat (digoxin), relax blood vessels (ACE inhibitors)or remove the excess buildup of fluid in the lungs (diuretics). Implantable devices are the latest ...