Various Genes Involved in Congenital Heart Disease by Angela Mohan on December 15, 2020 at 3:01 PM
Understanding how a broad network of genes and proteins go awry in a subset of congenital heart diseases, could help prevent and treat heart defects. The insights have been provided by the team of researchers at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF). We now have a better understanding of what genes are improperly deployed in some cases of congenital heart disease, says Benoit Bruneau, PhD, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and a senior author of the new study. Eventually, this might help us get a handle on how to modulate genetic networks to prevent or treat the disease.
New Drug Candidate Holds Potential in Treating Heart Disease by Angela Mohan on December 11, 2020 at 10:29 AM
Science by scientists from Gladstone Institute.
Calcific aortic valve disease is not only the most common valve disease in the elderly, it s also the third leading cause of heart disease overall. For those affected, calcium starts to accumulate in their heart valves and vessels over time, until they harden like bone.
As a result, blood flow out of the heart s pumping chamber to the body gets obstructed, leading to heart failure. Yet no medical therapy currently exists. All patients can do is wait for the calcification (or hardening) to become bad enough that they need surgery to replace their valve.