Both grants are awarded to enable him to do fundamental studies on muscle energetics. With national AHA support, Dr. Alfred Farah examines the influence of sulfahydryl compounds as diuretics. The next year, Dr. William Schwartz, also receiving national funding, finds sulfanilamide can act as a diuretic.
Diuretics are useful in treating congestive heart failure and high blood pressure.
TOP 1950's 1956 Dr. Ancel Keys, supported by funds from the Minnesota Affiliate, first links dietary fat with cholesterol. This discovery spurs the AHA to assume a leading role in urging Americans to change their eating habits. Dr. Paul Zoll, aided by the Massachusetts Affiliate, publishes the first report of the successful ending of ventricular fibrillation in humans by externally applied countershock. Dr. William Wierich, assisted by support from the Minnesota Affiliate and joined by Drs. Vincent Gott and Walter Lillehei, implants the first externally powered pacemaker in a patient with a surgical heart blockage.