Ablation procedures restore a regular heartbeat in patients who have a dangerous, abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. But it doesn’t always work. Now, a new study suggests that certain molecules are associated with the recurrence of erratic
As we try to identify treatments that are tailored to an individual person, microRNA has the promise to help us determine who may be a better candidate for ablation versus other therapies.”
— T. Jared Bunch, MD, Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH , USA , April 17, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ablation procedures restore a regular heartbeat in patients who have a dangerous, abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. But it doesn’t always work. Now, a new study suggests that certain molecules are associated with the recurrence of erratic heartbeats in some patients after ablation therapy.
These molecules — known as circulating microRNA — have the promise of becoming screening tools to help determine which patients will benefit from various therapies, researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City have found.
Circulating microRNA refers to microRNA that has spilled out of the cell into the blood and can be measured. MicroRNA is the name given to small, very stable non-coding RNA molecules that are involved in gene regulation.
Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute used a series of blood markers to identify those patients whose ablations worked the first time. They compared 85 patients who had successful ablations with 55 patients whose atrial fibrillation recurred within a year.
The microRNA particles studied can impact inflammation, fibrosis, and the heart’s electrical activity. Because RNA molecules are so small and stable, they can be detected in circulating biological fluids like saliva and blood.
The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute researchers found low levels of three microRNA molecules — designated as 21, 150, and 328 — in patients whose atrial fibrillation came back after ablation. Those molecules have already been associated with ablation’s atrial scarring, called remodeling and adverse electrical healing.
Results of the study were recently presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Scientific Session in Washington, D.C.
“Our genetic makeup is important in how we respond and heal from procedures,” said T. Jared Bunch, MD, of the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute and the study’s senior investigator. “MicroRNA particles are a direct result of our genetic make-up. As we try to identify treatments that are tailored to an individual person, microRNA has the promise to help us determine who may be a better candidate for ablation versus other therapies.”
It’s estimated that between 2.7 and 6.1 million people in the United States suffer from atrial fibrillation.
Ablation cures atrial fibrillation in 60 to 70 percent of people, but for some, multiple procedures are required. Scarring and fibrosis outside of the veins that can involve both upper heart chambers often result in recurrences of atrial fibrillation after an ablation.
Researchers hope the study findings will help doctors determine which treatments are more likely to work for different patients with atrial fibrillation, including those who wouldn’t benefit from ablation, which is expensive and carries some risks.
Other researchers on the study include Madisyn Taylor; Johnny Trang; Stacey Knight, PhD; Michael J. Cutler, DO; Joseph B. Muhlestein, MD;John L. Carlquist, PhD; and Kirk Knowlton, MD.
Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship hospital for the Intermountain Healthcare system, based in Salt Lake City
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Surviving the 21st century is a powerful new book on solutions for humanity's bioggests threats.
NEW YORK, USA, April 16, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Global warming is edging perilously close to out-of-control, according to a growing number of scientific reports from round the planet, a leading science writer has warned.
“Time is running out if we want to preserve our world in a stable, healthy and productive state, capable of feeding and supporting us all,” says Julian Cribb, author of 'Surviving the 21st Century', a book on the ten greatest challenges facing humanity and what we can do about them.
“The great concern is the rapid rise, over the last three years, in methane levels in the atmosphere. Methane is a gas with 28 times the planet-heating power of carbon dioxide. Scientists estimate there may be as much as 5 trillion tonnes of it locked in permafrost and seabed deposits.
“There is mounting evidence that, as the planet warms due to human activity, these vast reserves of greenhouse gas are now starting to thaw and vent naturally. The Earth’s past history indicates this could unleash runaway global warming, driving up planetary temperatures by as much as 6-9 degrees Celsius.
“At the upper end of such temperatures, some scientists consider there is a high risk the planet would become uninhabitable to humans and large animals,” Mr Cribb says.
“Runaway heating and nuclear war are the two most likely triggers for human extinction – and it is time everyone took them both a lot more seriously.”
Reports of methane escaping into the atmosphere have been growing steadily, ever since a group of students demonstrated the risks by setting fire to venting Arctic gas in 2008. However, scientists report a sudden surge in global methane emissions in the last three years, 2014-16.
“So far the rise in methane has been attributed mainly to cattle raising, rice farming and gas extraction – but there is now disturbing evidence that more gas is emerging from Arctic soils as the permafrost melts, and from the seabed where methane has been trapped as ice for millions of years.
“Russian scientists have reported the discovery of thousands of potential ‘methane-bombs’ – frozen gas-filled mounds – across Siberia, primed to erupt as the ground thaws out. A one degree increase in global temperature is enough to thaw out an area of permafrost the size of India.
“Swedish scientists have observed the waters of the Arctic ocean ‘fizzing like soda water’ as the currents warm, causing frozen seabed methane to turn back into gas and erupt.”
Mr Cribb says that so far humans have released about 2 trillion tonnes of CO2, which has warmed the planet by one degree C. By 2040, we will release another trillion tonnes and push the planet’s temperature up by 2 degrees or more.
“This we can possibly control, by cutting back on our use of fossil fuels and by ceasing to burn coal,” he says. “However, there is no way to stop the methane venting naturally from the seabed and permafrost once it starts – and there are potentially 5 trillion tonnes of it.
“This phenomenon is known to scientists as the ‘clathrate gun’. If it fires, the fate of the entire human species is in question.”
Mr Cribb said that technical difficulty in measuring the Earth’s natural methane emissions and estimating the size of its reserves has until now led to the gas being discounted, or downplayed, in warnings about dangerous climate change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other agencies.
“That time is over. We are now witnessing early warning signs of major methane release. If it gets out of control, there will be nothing humans can do to prevent the planet overheating quite rapidly.”
Mr Cribb said it was more urgent than ever that governments and corporations of the world unite to combat climate change. “The recent Climate Turning Point report says the world has until 2020 – just two and a half years – to reverse global carbon emissions by cutting fossil fuel use. Time is running out – and the methane gun makes matters all the more urgent.
“This means that countries like America and Australia have to cease their dangerous do-nothing policies, countries like India and China need to stop building coal-fired power stations immediately – and every country and business needs to make a far greater effort to scale back its carbon emissions.
Surviving the 21st Century (Springer International 2017) is a powerful new book exploring the main risks facing humanity: ecological collapse, resource depletion, weapons of mass destruction, climate change, global poisoning, food crises, population and urban overexpansion, pandemic disease, dangerous new technologies and self-delusion – and what can and should be done to limit them.
More information:
Publisher: Dr Sher Saini, Springer International, New York,
email: Sherestha.Saini@springer.com
Author: Julian Cribb, +61 418639245 or Julian.cribb813@gmail.com
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319412696
Further reading:
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/120207/pdf
https://eos.org/editors-vox/could-subsea-methane-hydrates-be-a-warming-tipping-point
http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0415-danger-of-methane-explosions-on-yamal-peninsula-scientists-warn/
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/horrific-methane-eruptions-in-east-siberian-sea.html
https://newclimate.org/2017/04/10/2020-climate-turning-point/
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3262.html
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Chimani Perks Savings Club Makes Unforgettable National Park Experiences More Affordable
Savings Club for National Park Travelers, offering member discounts on lodging, tours, dining, and more!
PORTLAND, ME — April 19, 2017 – Chimani Inc., the developer of 59 travel apps for national parks, launches a new savings club for national park travelers called Chimani Perks. The membership program is being launched during National Park Week this week at a special introductory price, $29 per year. The membership offers discounts on lodging, dining, tours, activities, retail shops, and gear throughout the national park system. To enroll or learn more, go to: www.chimani.co/perks
Chimani’s mobile app travel guides are uniquely designed to replace heavy travel guidebooks and work without cell connectivity. National park visitors currently use the apps to plan trips and keep reliable park information at their fingertips. Within their apps is a Pokemon Go-like experience that guides people to different areas of the parks and is popular with all ages.
Using the National Parks by Chimani app, users browse a complete list of all the Perks businesses and the available discounts and then can purchase Chimani Perks directly within the app and unlock their membership card. “Savings are significant,” Said Kerry Gallivan, CEO, “A family-of-four can save $40 off a guided tour in Yosemite or $200 on a three-day stay at a ranch in Montana.”
The Perks partner businesses are located in or around the top ten most visited national parks. In addition to discounts on food and lodging there are discounts on:
National brands like Toad & Co, goTenna, Stabil, and FlowFold came on board to offer discounts for gear and clothing perfect for national park travels.
“And with this latest innovation,” said Gallivan, “we are helping travelers save money while discovering the unique and interesting businesses around the parks that create lasting memories.”
About Chimani, Inc.
Headquartered in Portland, Maine, the company creates mobile app travel guides for national parks which includes all 59 U.S. national parks, Lake District National Park in the U.K., and Banff National Park in Canada. The mobile app guides work completely offline and are written by local experts. For additional information, visit www.chimani.com. For media assets, visit: www.chimani.co/mediakit
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Kerry Gallivan / CEO & Founder, Chimani, Inc.
Direct: 207.494.5006 / Main: 207.221.0266
148 Middle Street, Suite 1D / Portland, ME 04101
chimani.com
Outside Magazine's "Pioneer" of National Parks
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Vietnam War Remembrance
Join us and Select Bank to remember the
veterans who fought the Vietnam War
Saturday, May 6th 2017,
Airborne & Special Operations Museum
11:00 a.m. located in the ASOM Parade Field.
Vietnam War Remembrance
The public is invited to
honor and remember
all those who served in
the Vietnam War,
from all Branches of service.
This year POWs and their
families will be highlgihted.
CSM Jimmie Spencer (Retired)
Guest speaker
Command Sergeant Major (R)
Jimmie W. Spencer Consultant
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration
Lapel pins will be given to all
Vietnam Veterans in attendance who have not previously been pinned.
NC Rolling Thunder Chapter 1
will be presenting a Missing Man table ceremony and providing the Color Guard.
ASOM Foundation Logo
Support the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation
The sole mission of the ASOM Foundation is to support the United States Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum located in historic downtown Fayetteville, NC.
Please consider donating to the foundation at Donate Now! on our website.
The ASOM Foundation is a 501-c-3 nonprofit and all donations/contributions are tax deductible within the limits of federal and state laws.
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May 2017
