• Lakeview Regional Medical Center recently opened its Arrhythmia Institute, part of the Lakeview Regional Heart Center. This is a welcome addition to the nationally recognized hospital, as more than 850,000 people annually in the U.S. are hospitalized for arrhythmia. Lakeview Regional Chief Executive Officer Jason Cobb says they are “proud to offer the Arrhythmia Institute as another tool in the fight against heart disease.” The institute offers the very best in highly accurate diagnostics and specialized treatments: The shining star of this equipment is the GE Innova 3131, which offers the most advanced EP technology to diagnose and treat arrhythmia, while offering the lowest dose of radiation possible. The institute offers treatment options such as drug therapy, radiofrequency ablation, open-heart surgery and pacemaker and defibrillator implantation at the new Electrophysiology Laboratory.
• Last month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new inhaled antibiotic for cystic fibrosis, the first in more than a decade, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Louisiana was influential in its approval. Cayston (aztronam for inhalation solution) is the first drug to advance from start to finish through the CF Foundation’s Therapeutics Development Program. Additionally, the Louisiana-based foundation’s pharmacy will be just one of a small number of Cayston distributors across the country. A Cayston call center has also been implemented, and will assist people living with CF with insurance verification, co-pay assistance and claims support. For more information about the drug therapy and its local availability, visit www.cayston.com and www.cff.org.
• Adenosine triphosphate, commonly referred to as ATP, is second only in importance to DNA in terms of biological importance. Discovered 80 years ago, scientists didn’t have a clear picture until now of how this “fuel of life” broke down in cells to aid in the function of such vital actions as muscular contractions and building complex molecules. Now, researchers at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans have figured out how this energy currency molecule functions within cells. Sunyoung Kim, the associate professor who oversaw the research, says ATP is “the most important source of chemical and mechanical energy in living systems.” Researchers now know that ATP is a combination of three phosphate groups, and in order for its energy stores to be released and used in the body, a hydroxide must attack a third phosphate group: kinesins. Specifically, the research team asked the Eg5 kinesin to bind with ATP, with the surprising result that this action released a string of water molecules to harness the energy of this action.
