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RESEARCH

Do Purkinje fibres have a role in stretch-induced heart rhythm problems?

University of Leeds | Professor Edward White

Researchers in the UK and France are testing a new theory that could change the treatment of irregular heart rhythms. Irregular heart rhythms – when the heart beat is too fast, too slow, ‘fluttering’, or chaotic – are called arrhythmias. T...

RESEARCH

Searching for new treatments to prevent repeat heart attacks or strokes

University of Sheffield | Professor Robert Storey

Supervised by Professor Robert Storey, a Clinical Research Training Fellow is studying how to prevent a further heart attack or stroke in people who have already had a heart attack. Platelets are small circulating cells within the blood t...

RESEARCH

Targeting mast cells to prevent deep vein thrombosis

University of Birmingham | Dr Alexander Brill

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot that develops within a deep vein in the body, usually in the leg. Large cells found close to blood vessels called mast cells (MCs) are known to be important in DVT, but it is not known what trigger...

RESEARCH

How do heart muscle fibres respond to their environment?

Queen Mary, University of London | Dr Thomas Iskratsch

How do cells know whether they should form heart muscle, a blood vessel or something else? Recent discoveries have shown that one factor influencing heart muscle development is that cells are affected by how rigid their environment is. But ...

RESEARCH

Does sodium valproate reduce the risk of stroke?

University of Cambridge | Professor Hugh Markus

When blood vessels feeding the brain become blocked because of furred up arteries (atherosclerosis) or a blood clot, a stroke occurs. In 2009, around 49,000 people in the UK died following a stroke. This research will find out if an epileps...

RESEARCH

Developing a new computer model to study atrial fibrillation

King's College London | Dr Oleg Aslanidi

Dr Oleg Aslanidi and his team are studying ways to improve the way we treat atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart rhythm disorder and a major cause of stroke. AF can severely affect quality of life, and often medical treatments don’t...

RESEARCH

Testing a new ablation method to treat atrial fibrillation

Imperial College London | Professor Prapa Kanagaratnam

Dr Prapa Kanagaratnam and his team at Imperial College London are working out if a new ablation protocol to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) can help people avoid the need to attend hospital. AF is the most common type of abnormal heart r...

RESEARCH

Understanding how heart cells die in heart failure

Kingston University London | Dr Andrew Snabaitis

Heart failure is a devastating condition that affects over half a million people in the UK, and there is currently no cure. It usually happens after a heart attack, when a section of heart tissue dies and no longer works properly. Scientist...