DIAGNOSING HEART ATTACKS BEFORE THEY STRIKE

DIAGNOSING HEART ATTACKS BEFORE THEY STRIKE    

Every year millions of peoples will go to the hospitals with chest pain,but not all of them having heart attack. When it is the real thing, quick intervention can mean the difference between life and death. But blood tests to conform a diagnosis take precious time.

WHAT CAUSE HEART ATTACKS

Heart attack is leading cause of death in world wide..It is usually the result of prolonged hardening & narrowing of arteries that direct blood into the heart. When blood vessels are healthy, oxygen-rich blood flows easily to all the muscles and organs of the body; but if they become clogged by build up of fatty deposits on vessel walls, blood can be cut off killing heart muscle cells.This is called coronary heart attacks or strokes

SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK  

Symptoms of a heart attack include the following

·         Pressure,tightness,or,burning,chest pain,that may extend into the jaw,shoulders,back or arms

·         Nausea or vomiting

·         Sweating

·         Shortness of breath

·         Dizziness

ABOUT NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nano technology is science at the size of individual atoms & molecules. Objects & devices measuring mere billions of meter, smaller than a red blood cell. At that size scale, materials have different chemical & physical properties than those of the same materials in bulk, because quantum mechanics is more important.

Now researchers are testing a new kind of diagnostic tool. It could conform you are having a heart attack before you even get to the hospital.

ABOUT THE DETECTION

Chemists and bioengineers devised a diagnostic test for heart attacks using nano -bio-chip sensor devices & a sample of patient’s saliva the chip uses biochemically programmed micro electronic components to detect the 32 proteins in the saliva sample that are indicative of a heart attack. A lab card which is about the same size as the credit card, holds the chip and is coated with patient’s saliva. The card is loaded into an analyser, which evaluates the patient’ cardiac status at that moment. The test can indicate if the person is having a heart attack at the time or at high risk for a future heart attack

This card is programmed to quickly identify the difference between a heart attack and a false alarm without a single blood test. It’s a nanobiochip, designed by rice university bioengineer and chemist. John Mc Devitt,Ph.d to detect the specific biological chemicals that signal a cardiac event. The chip is meant to be programmable and to basically change the way medical tests are done now.A swab of saliva taken from the patient in the ambulance or ER goes on to this chip,then into the box. Inside a small microscope analyses the sample and records result in 15 minutes or less. Once inside a small chip,there are a series of proteins that are collected at strategic spots in the nanochip and if you are having a heart attack,then these little beads light up. This particular individual is having a heart attack.

It’s a new kind of medical test that could speed up diagnosing a heart attack when every minute counts.In preliminary clinical trial, the biochip diagnosed heart attacks with the same accuracy as a standard blood  test. Researchers believe the same technology could be used for diagnosis and even risk screening for other diseases like cancer 

Two years ago,quick response, diagnosis and surgery saved Darnell price’s heart and her life…let’s hope that more lives can be saved ……………

SHAMNA SHERIFF,PHARM D SECOND YEAR