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Alcohol May Limit Heart Attack Damage
A University of Missouri-Columbia researcher says moderate alcohol consumption could reduce damage to affected tissue following a heart attack, according to a news release from the school.
In a test on laboratory animals, study author Ron Korthuis, distinguished professor and chair of medical pharmacology and physiology, found that when alcohol was introduced to the system at a rate of one drink every 48 hours, the alcohol would trigger a chemical reaction in the body that would make the artery walls slick and stop white blood cells from attaching to the damaged tissue.
White blood cells stick to the walls of the arteries and release toxic chemicals into the damaged tissues, causing additional cell death. However, in subjects given alcohol, the tissue affected by the low blood flow was much healthier and stronger.
"Every time you take a drink of alcohol, you're killing brain cells," Korthuis said. "We're trying to identify these chemical reactions so that we can develop a drug that would start this chain reaction, but not have the side effects of alcohol. We've also found other natural compounds have similar effects such as capsaicin, a compound in Tabasco sauce that creates that hot sensation."
The study's findings will be published this fall in the journal Microcirculation.
Facts
Fentanyl (such as Actiq®), benzodiazepines (such as Valium®, diazepam and clonazepam), and codeine were also identified as being among the most commonly abused and diverted pharmaceuticals in California. In Northern California, OxyContin, Vicodin, benzodiazepines and carisoprodol are most commonly abused. Mexico black tar heroin is seized throughout the state of California and Mexican brown tar heroin to a lesser extent. Methamphetamine is the primary drug threat in California. Due to the discrepancy in national laws between the U.S. and Mexico, the "border pharmacies" within walking distance across the border in Tijuana and other Mexican border towns continue to be a major source of controlled substances in the San Diego, California metropolitan area. The Internet continues to be a major source of controlled substances as well, which has greatly facilitated the smuggling of illicit pharmaceuticals into the U.S. through Tijuana-based distributors. Current investigations indicate that diversion of hydrocodone products such as Vicodin®, and oxycodone products such as OxyContin®, continues to be a problem in California. |
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