The number one killer in developed countries is cardiac death, generally sparked by an event that leads to arrhythmia. Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a gene therapy that, within a week, quells abnormal rhythms in pig hearts, the animal hearts most similar to human. A report of the research appears in the December issue of the journal Nature Medicine .
Arrhythmias arise from two sources, the researchers say.
One is a basic structural abnormality in the heart s pacemakers. The other develops after a heart attack or other insult to the heart. The number one killer in developed countries is cardiac death, generally sparked by an event that leads to arrhythmia. Approximately one in every hundred people in this country suffers from arrythmias of one sort or another, according to the American Heart Association. While some heart rhythm disturbances are relatively benign, others, by disrupting the heart s coordinated pumping, are an immediate cause of collapse and death.