Scientist Clears Hurdles for Muscular Dystrophy Therapy
October 29, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Approximately 250,000 people in the United States have some form of muscular dystrophy. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common type of the disease, predominantly affecting males. Boys with DMD will lose the ability to walk by their teens and typically die before the age of 30. For years, scientists have studied the use of gene therapy as a possible way to correct the muscle deterioration, but hurdles such as the need to treat all muscles in the body, including both skeletal and heart muscle, have challenged researchers looking for an effective therapy until now.
New therapy for heart failure
October 15, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
During heart failure the body reacts to the production of the hormone aldosterone. Too much aldosterone can stiffen and damage the muscles of the heart. Dutch researcher Luc Roumen has optimised compounds that inhibit the production of this hormone and looked at their optimum dosage. The compounds were manufactured by the companies Schering-Plough and SyMO-Chem BV and a drug patent has been applied for.
