Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
Read more health news
Tracer shows heart damage after attack
BALTIMORE, Sep 26, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A national team of researchers, led by a Baltimore nuclear medicine specialist has found a tracer that shows heart damage long after an attack.
The team at the University of Maryland Medical Center, demonstrated for the first time an experimental radioactive compound can show images of heart damage up to 30 hours after a brief interruption of blood flow and oxygen.
The scientists say their discovery may help physicians determine whether a patient's chest pain, which may have subsided hours earlier, is related to heart disease or something else, such as indigestion.
"We are excited about this agent because it extends the time window for identifying myocardial ischemia, a common cause of chest pain, long after the pain stops and blood flow to the heart returns to normal," said lead investigator Dr. Vasken Dilsizian, professor of medicine and diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the university and director of Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine at the medical center.
The results of the study appear in Circulation Online and will appear in the Oct. 4 print version of Circulation.
URL: www.upi.com