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Targeted drug therapy for cardiac health soon

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Washington: Researchers have discovered that a new set of proteins called ion channels can help doctors develop new drugs for people suffering from cardiac arrhythmia or irrimagesegular heartbeat.

They found that ion channels generate the electrical signals of the heart differently than previously thought.

Proteins called ion channels generate the electrical signals of the heart by opening a gate or pore for charged ions to cross the cell membrane.

It is like if the ion channels are the musicians of an orchestra, the membrane voltage is the conductor.

That is, the membrane voltage signals to the channels the proper time to open and keeps them all in rhythm.

For one important channel in the heart, called KCNQ1, the membrane voltage not only causes the channel to open, but also determines the properties of the electrical signals – acting as both conductor and composer rather than only conductor as previously believed, the findings showed.

“This knowledge we are providing is to revise the model built in the 1950s,” said Jianmin Cui, professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

KCNQ1 is so important to the heart’s rhythm that there are more than 250 mutations of the channel that have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia, Cui added.

“The trouble was that without an accurate model of how the channel gating works, we were limited in our understanding of why these mutations lead to fatal arrhythmias and in our ability to design therapeutic interventions that can specifically fix the defect in the afflicted tissues,” he noted.

This discovery could lead to new  for the disorder, the researchers pointed out in a paper that appeared in the journal eLife.

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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