Word: clotting
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Braunwald's work is just one example of the fascinating new technology being developed at Harvard for the prevention and treatment of heart attack. Braunwald, along with doctors around the country, is studying the effectiveness of a new drug which acts to dissolve blood clots inside the body. Since many heart attacks are caused by a clot which blocks the coronary artery and deprives the heart of its blood supply, the drug could potentially save thousands of lives...
...substance, called tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), is normally produced by the body in small amounts to prevent excessive clotting and to break down old clots that no longer serve any purpose. The Harvard researchers have used genetic engineering techniques to manufacture large quantities of t-PA, with the hope of bolstering the heart patient's anti-clotting mechanisms. According to Braunwald, "The aim is to use the body's own system to eliminate the clot before it can do too much damage to the heart...
...while the ability to destroy lethal blood clots may increase the chances of survival in some patients, it may have little or no effect in others. In many instances of heart attack, the coronary artery is not obstructed by a blood clot but by a fatty deposit known as a plaque. Since plaques are not susceptible to drugs like t-PA, other methods must be used to unblock the artery...
...clot of listeners would form around Underwood as he talked, and every once in a while someone would offer encouragement in a most exuberant dialect. "At dogud tree!" What the man said was, "That dog could tree," meaning Troop had an unerring nose for raccoons...
...complex biochemical reasons for this effect. Fish, specifically such cold-water species as cod, salmon, sardines and mackerel, contain certain polyunsaturated oils that are found in no other foods and have profound effects on body chemistry. A diet rich in these fats reduces the tendency of blood to clot, much the way that aspirin does; it also helps lower the level of cholesterol in the blood. Both effects could help explain the low rate of heart disease in Eskimos...