<h2>Toilet Seat-Based Monitoring</h2>
A team of researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology <a href="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/1/e12419/">invented</a> a &#8220;toilet seat-based cardiovascular monitoring system&#8221; that could help hospitals monitor patients for risk of congestive heart failure — a toilet, in other words, that detects whether your heart is about to give out.
&#8220;This system will be uniquely positioned to capture trend data in the home that has been previously unattainable,&#8221; reads <a href="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/1/e12419/">the paper</a>, published in the journal JMIR Mhealth Uhealth.
<figure id="attachment_154993" style="width: 720px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="wp-image-154993 size-full" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2019/03/196141_web.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: A. Sue Weisler/RIT</figcaption></figure>
Integrated into the seat is a device that measures heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation levels. Algorithms will take in all that data and notify health practitioners if the patient&#8217;s condition deteriorates.
A trial involving 18 subjects over an eight week period seems to indicate that it&#8217;s pretty accurate: &#8220;Clinical grade accuracy was achieved for all of the seat measurements when compared to their respective gold standards.&#8221;
The goal is to lower the rate of readmission of patients with congestive heart failure. The team plans to bring the device to the Food and Drug Administration for clearance.
<h2>The Widowmaker</h2>
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_disease.htm">630,000 Americans</a> die from heart disease each year, accounting for one in every four deaths. Top risk factors include diabetes, obesity, poor diet, and a lack of physical activity.
&#8220;Typically, within 30 days of hospital discharge, 25 percent of patients with congestive heart failure are readmitted,&#8221; <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/riot-tst032019.php">said Nicholas Conn</a>, a postdoctoral fellow at RIT and researcher on the toilet seat project. &#8220;After 90 days of hospital discharge, 45 percent of patients are readmitted. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is penalizing hospitals for readmitting patients for heart failure.&#8221;
<h2>Toilet Seat Treatment</h2>
The researchers argue providing patients who have experienced heart failures with the toilet seat could significantly save hospital systems <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/riot-tst032019.php">hundreds of thousands of dollars</a> by lowering the readmission rate after a subsequent incident. After all, congestive heart failure is an issue with how your heart pumps blood, not a death sentence.
While there&#8217;s often no cure, heart failure can be treated with a number of strategies, <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-failure/treatment-options-for-heart-failure">according to the American Heart Association</a>, ranging from lifestyle changes and medications to ongoing care. And a toilet seat-based monitoring system could make those steps a whole lot easier, for patients and practitioners alike.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/riot-tst032019.php">Toilet seat that detects congestive heart failure getting ready to begin commercialization</a> [Rochester Institute of Technology] 

More on heart disease: <a href="https://futurism.com/heart-disease-gene-editing">Susceptible to Heart Disease? Gene Editing Could Change That</a>

A trial involving 18 subjects over an eight week period seems to indicate its pretty darn accurate.

This high-tech toilet seat can detect heart failure

Toilet Seat Treatment

A team of researchers invented a "toilet seat–based cardiovascular monitoring system" that could help hospitals monitor congestive heart failure patients.

This High-Tech Toilet Seat Can Detect Heart Failure

Heart disease accounts for one in every four deaths a year in the U.S. Maybe this toilet seat can help.

<h2>The Beat Goes On</h2>
The human body has an extraordinary capacity to heal itself: livers can regenerate when damaged, one kidney can learn to do the job of two, and our skin is constantly working to protect us from scratches and cuts that could expose us to harmful pathogens.
One of our most vital organs, however, can&#8217;t heal quite so well. When our hearts are damaged — by disease or injury — the tissue can&#8217;t regenerate very well, or very fast. After a major <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/Heart-Attack_UCM_001092_SubHomePage.jsp">heart attack</a>, for instance, billions of heart muscle cells may be lost forever. This loss weakens the heart and often ends up leading to conditions like congestive heart failure, or scar tissue build-up, which can be fatal.
Currently, the only option for a patient with a damaged or diseased heart is receiving a heart transplant. Donor hearts have to come from people who had healthy hearts before they died — which usually means patients who were fairly young and died in accidents, or from injuries or illnesses that didn&#8217;t affect their heart. Patients who are waiting for a donor match to receive a transplant can be waiting a very long time.
At the time of publication, there were nearly <a href="https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data">4,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a heart</a>, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Some of them will die on the waitlist before a match can be found.
<h2>Mend a Broken Heart</h2>
But a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge’s Stem Cell Institute in the U.K. is developing an <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180301-how-heart-patches-could-save-patients-from-cardiac-arrest">innovative way to repair heart tissue</a>. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26371342">team&#8217;s solution</a> doesn&#8217;t require a donor heart at all — instead, they&#8217;ve used stem cells to grow live patches of heart muscle in the lab. These patches are just 2.5 square centimeters (0.5 square inches) but could potentially be a powerful tool to treat patients with heart failure.
&#8220;We believe that these patches will stand a much greater chance of being naturally assimilated into a patient’s heart,&#8221; says  Sanjay Sinha, a cardiologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, &#8220;[&#8230;] we’re creating fully functional tissue which already beats and contracts through combining all these different cell types which communicate with each other.&#8221;
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While researchers have tried to inject stem cells directly into damaged heart tissue in the past, the technique didn&#8217;t prove particularly effective — mostly because the stem cells wind up getting lost in the bloodstream instead of staying in the heart muscle, where they&#8217;re needed.
These patches, on the other hand, are live, beating heart tissue that can be affixed to the organ like a scaffold. And, unlike a donor heart, a patient in need wouldn&#8217;t have to wait for a match to be found. Instead, the patches could be grown as-needed, and on-demand.
The scaffolding tissue will also be grown from the patient&#8217;s own cells — eliminating the need for a lifetime of immunosuppressants drugs and lowering the risk of organ rejection, two problems that transplant patients typically face.
Eventually, the University of Cambridge team hopes that the custom-made heart patch could be 3D-printed to perfectly fit the area of damaged muscle, then sewn onto the organ by a surgeon — while still an invasive procedure, one that much less involved than a total heart transplant. The biggest obstacle to that procedure will be ensuring that the electrical impulses that make the heart beat can be fully integrated with the patch.
Sinha&#8217;s team is close to getting their stem cell patches approved for animal trials. If the patches pass with flying colors, they could be ready for human clinical trials within five years.

Instead of waiting for years on a donor list, patients with heart failure could have their hearts patched right up.

A stem cell patch could heal hearts damaged by cardiac arrest

Health & Medicine

U.K. Researchers are using stem cells to develop a "patch" that could help mend diseased and damaged hearts, eliminating the need for a transplant.

A Stem Cell Patch Could Heal Hearts Damaged By Cardiac Arrest

Billions of cells die during a heart attack. Regenerative medicine could bring them back.

<h2>Heart Attack Risk</h2>
The flu vaccine could also double as a heart attack deterrent according to <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1702090?query=featured_home&amp;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent study</a> published to The New England Journal of Medicine.
According to the study, people are more susceptible to a heart attack, or <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/acute-myocardial-infarction#modal-close" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acute myocardial infarction</a>, when they&#8217;re suffering from the effects of the influenza virus. The researchers analyzed 20,000 cases in Ontario, Canada involving adults diagnosed with influenza between 2009 and 2014. Surprisingly, they discovered 332 patients had been hospitalized for a heart attack in the year before or after their influenza diagnosis.
<figure id="attachment_120313" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-120313 size-full" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/01/kwongfluheartattack-2.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="595" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">You&#8217;re 6.3 times more likely to have a heart attack in the three days following a flu diagnosis. Credit: <a href="https://www.ices.on.ca/">Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences</a>.</figcaption></figure>
&#8220;We found that you&#8217;re six times more likely to have a heart attack during the week after being diagnosed with influenza, compared to the year before or after the infection,&#8221; <a href="https://www.ices.on.ca/About-ICES/ICES-Scientists/K/Jeff-Kwong" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jeff Kwong</a>, lead author on the study and a scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/24/579997381/aw-seriously-the-flu-can-trigger-a-heart-attack-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told </a><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/24/579997381/aw-seriously-the-flu-can-trigger-a-heart-attack-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a>. Kwong elaborated that when someone has the flu: &#8220;There&#8217;s inflammation going on, and your body is under a lot of stress.&#8221; Dropping oxygen levels and bloods pressure increase the risk of clots forming in bloods vessels serving the heart.
According to the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-flu-heart-attacks-20180124-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LA Times</a>, Kwong and his team observed that the risk of a heart attack was 6.3 times greater during the first three days following a flu diagnosis, and 5.8 times greater during the four days after that.
<h2>Deadly Flu Season</h2>
While everyone is potentially at risk of having a heart attack when afflicted with the flu, Kwong told NPR that it&#8217;s very unlikely that it would happen to a younger person. The risk may be higher for adults 65 and older.
“People at risk of heart disease should take precautions to prevent respiratory infections, and especially influenza, through measures including vaccinations and handwashing,” <a href="https://www.ices.on.ca/Newsroom/News-Releases/2018/Researchers-confirm-link-between-flu-and-heart-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Kwong in a post on ICES</a>. The increased risk is also not specific to people with the flu, but rather anyone affected by a virus that impacts the respiratory system.
Further clarification on the link between influenza and heart attacks comes at an apt time, as the 2017-2018 flu season is the most widespread on record. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/19/this-deadly-flu-season-hasnt-peaked-yet-and-a-government-shutdown-will-make-things-worse/?utm_term=.33bddee318a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>, the virus has already spread across the entire continental U.S. and caused more child deaths than expected for this time of year.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Ch48o4og8E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;I think the simplest way to describe it is that flu is everywhere in the U.S. right now,&#8221; said Daniel Jernigan, director of the Influenza Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/t0112-widespread-flu-activity.html">in a press release</a>. Jernigan&#8217;s team has been keeping tabs on the flu for 13 years, and this is the first year they&#8217;ve observed widespread activity in all of the continental U.S.
The rapid spread of influenza this early in the year could see more doctors pushing the idea of community immunity. Community immunity, <a href="https://www.vox.com/cards/vaccines/herd-immunity">also called herd immunity</a>, suggests that when enough people are vaccinated against a disease, the harder it will be for the germs to spread. This protects the people who cannot, or will not, receive vaccinations from getting sick.
Eventually the disease could become rarer, or be wiped out entirely, according to the <a href="https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/work/protection/index.html">U.S. Department of Health &amp; Human Services</a>. Reaching the threshold for herd immunity against the flu could mitigate the severity of next year&#8217;s flu season.
But for now, doctors are continuing to recommend that everyone get a flu shot — not only for the collective good of achieving herd immunity, but for the personal benefit of decreasing one&#8217;s heart attack risk.

Having the flu increases your chance of having a heart attack

A new study suggests we are 6.3 times more likely to have a heart attack during the first three days after being diagnosed with the flu.

Having the Flu Increases Your Chance of Having a Heart Attack

Researchers may have finally pinpointed the link between seasonal flu and cardiovascular deaths.

<h2>Instant Answers</h2>
Researchers have developed a blood test that can rule out a heart attack in less than 20 minutes. The team from King&#8217;s College London says that the cMyC test ought to be used routinely, and expect that it may be rolled out in the UK&#8217;s National Health System (NHS) within five years. If so, it will save <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/new-heart-attack-blood-test-could-save-nhs-millions-11055423" target="_blank">millions of pounds</a> annually by sending well patients home faster and freeing up hospital beds.
Patients who are seen in the hospital with chest pain usually have not had heart attacks: <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j4502" target="_blank">about two-thirds</a> of patients who present with chest pain are not, in fact, having heart attacks. For those that are, diagnosis can be tricky: while major heart attacks show up easily on ECGs, it&#8217;s sometimes more difficult to detect smaller myocardial infarctions — which can still be life-threatening. The current protocol requires patients to undergo an ECG, have a troponin blood test twice (three hours apart) before a heart attack can be ruled out and the patient discharged home. It&#8217;s that second troponin blood test after the three-hour wait, that either eliminates the possibility of a mild heart attack — or confirms that one took place.
<figure style="width: 820px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-104122 size-large aligncenter hoverZoomLink" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/09/heart-1767552_1920-1-1200x675.jpg" alt="Image Credit: sbtlneet/Pixabay" width="820" height="461" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: sbtlneet/Pixabay</figcaption></figure>
The cMyC test, however, can provide results much more rapidly, as levels of cMyC (cardiac myosin-binding protein C) in the blood rise faster and to higher levels after a heart attack compared to troponin proteins. This will help doctors rule in (or out) the diagnosis of a potentially life-threatening heart attack much sooner.
<h2>Lower Costs, Better Care</h2>
Lead researcher <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41399159" target="_blank">Dr. Tom Kaier told the BBC</a>: “Our research shows that the new test has the potential to reassure many thousands more patients with a single test, improving their experience and freeing up valuable hospital beds in A&amp;E departments and wards across the country.”
According to Dr. Kaier, if the test were routinely used, it could produce reliable results within 15 to 30 minutes. If it was rolled out across the NHS, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/27/new-instant-heart-attack-test-could-see-thousands-sent-home/" target="_blank">more than 350,000 patients</a> annually could go home within 15 minutes. The savings to the NHS would likely be millions of pounds.
Professor Simon Ray of the British Cardiovascular Society told the BBC that before the troponin test could be replaced by the cMyC test, more research is needed, but emphasized the promise of the test. “Unlike currently available blood tests which need to be repeated at least three hours after pain it looks as though a single test is enough to make a confident decision on whether a patient has or has not suffered a heart attack. Not only can it be done earlier after the onset of symptoms but it also seems to be better at discriminating between heart attacks and other causes of chest pains. This is very important.”

blood cells flowing through a vein

Researchers have developed a blood test that can rule out a heart attack in less than 20 minutes. If rolled out across the NHS, more than 350,000 patients annually could go home within 15 minutes, and the savings would likely be millions of pounds.

A New Blood Test Lets Doctors Know Instantly If You’ve Had a Heart Attack

The test can rule out a heart attack in less than 20 minutes.

<h2>Life From Above</h2>
Drones are becoming a <a href="https://futurism.com/heres-how-drones-are-going-to-utterly-transform-our-world/">ubiquitous technology</a> with their increasing capabilities. Amazon is using them to <a href="https://futurism.com/get-your-first-look-at-amazons-new-delivery-drones/">deliver packages</a>, Japanese innovators have created <a href="https://futurism.com/japan-has-created-black-mirror-inspired-bee-drones/">pollinator drones</a>, and drones are even being used as <a href="https://futurism.com/lady-gagas-backup-dancers-were-actually-300-drones-from-intel/">backup dancers</a> for pop stars. There are even drones emerging that could help to save lives.
One such drone is being developed by <a href="http://www.flypulse.se/home/">Flypulse</a>, a Swedish startup working on an autonomous drone that can bring life-saving equipment to the scene of a medical emergency. Its has the ability to deliver Automated External Defibrillators (AED) at an incredible speed — four times faster than an ambulance.
<figure id="attachment_86772" style="width: 801px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-86772" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/06/flypulse-defibrillator-drone-designboom-06-14-2017-818-007.jpg" alt="Image credit: Flypulse" width="801" height="533" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Flypulse</figcaption></figure>
According to the <a href="http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/General/UCM_477263_Cardiac-Arrest-Statistics.jsp">American Heart Association</a> (AHA), each year more than 350,000 people suffer from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital in the United States. Only 12 percent of victims survive through hospital discharge. To help battle this, the <a href="http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/Programs/AEDImplementation/UCM_475254_AED-Programs-Q-A.jsp">AHA recommends</a> that the public has access to defibrillation. However, the AEDs are not cheap, so there could be a cost barrier to acquiring one.
<h2>Savior Bots</h2>
Devices like Flypulse&#8217;s LifeDrone-AED allow for first responders to get the technology to the victims long before they may be able to arrive themselves. Jacob Hollenberg, of the <a href="http://ki.se/en/startpage">Karolinska Institute</a> in Sweden, set up the test for the drone. Hollenberg and his team reported in the<a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2631520"> journal of the American Medical Association</a> that the drone&#8217;s average flight time was 5 minutes, 25 seconds, compared to the 22 minutes it took to dispatch an ambulance to the same locations.
<figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/benefitsofdrones/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2015/09/4.png" alt="The Top 12 Benefits of Drones: Emergency Response, Animal Protection, and More" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/benefitsofdrones/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
Hollenberg said in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2134473-defibrillator-drones-could-save-lives-before-ambulance-arrives/">an interview with the New Scientist</a>, &#8220;If we can decrease the time in cardiac arrest from collapse to defibrillation by a few minutes, hundreds of lives would be saved each year.&#8221;
The LifeDrone-AED is not the only potentially life-saving drone from Flypulse. The company is also developing the LifeDrone-WATER to aid in the location and assistance of drowning victims, as well as the LifeDrone-FIRE that will provide &#8220;fire and incident overview.&#8221; Such technology could make a significant difference in communities around the world. These drones are just one example of the many ways drone technology is not only enriching our lives, but also preserving them.

Robots & Machines

Swedish startup Flypulse has developed an automated drone that can deliver life-saving equipment four times faster than an ambulance.

Life-Saving Drones Can Beat Ambulances to Heart Attack Victims

These flying automatons are 4x faster than an ambulance.

Defibrillators of the future will use beams of light, not electric shocks.

Hard Science

A Beam of Light Could Save Your Life

<h2>Revisiting an old solution</h2>
Having a heart attack or a stroke might seem like an inevitable part of life, but medical researchers haven&#8217;t given up on trying to prevent these tragic events. One cardiologist, Harry Selker is focused on improving and getting to market <a href="https://beatingheartcenter.com/glucose-insulin-and-potassium-gik-can-potentially-a-heart-attack/">a drug that could mean a lower mortality rate</a> from cardiac arrest: GIK.
GIK is really not a new drug. The cocktail of glucose, insulin, and potassium (K) was discovered around 50 years ago. When it was tested in baboons and rabbits, it seemed to be preventing heart attacks. The concoction had protected heart muscles against damage. Selker says: &#8220;So it was very encouraging.&#8221;
But when applied to humans, the results were less promising. GIK did nothing to prevent or treat the heart attack, so the idea was shelved.
<figure id="attachment_54946" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-54946 size-large" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/10/selker1_custom-95da54f81d52901dbbc4ce040894cbe58af88b59-s1500-c85-1200x810.jpg" alt="selker1_custom-95da54f81d52901dbbc4ce040894cbe58af88b59-s1500-c85" width="1200" height="810" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Dr. Harry Selker. M. Scott Brauer for NPR</figcaption></figure>
Selker wanted to better understand why the human trials had failed. He tried to marry the GIK research with his own study on immediate treatment for heart attacks. He theorized that if GIK was administered immediately, even before bringing the patient to the hospital, it could be more effective.
<a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1151528">His 2012 study </a>delivered huge results: a 50% reduction in mortality if GIK was administered immediately. A 40% reduction over the succeeding month. In fact, in ST-elevation heart attacks, there was a 60% reduction in deaths.
<h2>Affordable but not Available</h2>
From here, Selker thought it seemed pretty clear-cut. Continue the research, and hopefully save lives using a simple therapy that&#8217;s affordable.
<blockquote>&#8220;I thought, pretty much, my work was done and people call me up and say you know, &#8216;when would we get this GIK stuff?&#8217; And I realized nobody&#8217;s making it, nobody&#8217;s selling it. And so I started talking to the pharmaceutical companies saying, &#8216;You know, would you make this stuff?&#8217; And they basically weren&#8217;t interested.&#8221;</blockquote>
Why? It may have something to do with the fact that GIK <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120328/GIK-can-reduce-cardiac-arrest-or-death-in-patients-with-acute-coronary-syndrome.aspx">costs just $50.</a> It&#8217;s not going to make anyone a huge profit. But Selker remains determined. He is in contact with the FDA to conduct further studies on the effectiveness of GIK in acute coronary emergencies.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re going to try to improve things, you have to work on all angles, you have to work in all disciplines,&#8221; <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/23/495027377/this-doctor-is-trying-to-stop-heart-attacks-in-their-tracks">says Selker</a>.

GIK is a cocktail of drugs that, when administered early, could result in lower mortality rate from cardiac arrest.
In early studies, GIK resulted in a 50% reduction in mortality if it was administered immediately, and a 40% reduction over the next month.

A New Medical Advancement Could Stop a Heart Attack in Its Tracks

Others discounted this drug. But one cardiologist didn't. 

<h2>Sleeping Menace</h2>
Dormant bacteria in human blood may be causing inflammation, excessive clotting, and deformed protein sheets. Previously believed to be free from microbes, recent DNA sequencing has revealed that there may be around 1000 bacterial cells in each milliliter of blood. These bacteria may be triggering reactions that lead to symptoms commonly associated with stroke, heart attack, diabetes, arthritis, and even Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. 
It is unclear how these symptoms are linked.
Researchers Douglas Kell, at the University of Manchester, and Resia Pretorius, from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, believe that when high levels of iron are introduced in blood, these dormant bacteria awaken. They then release molecules called lipopolysaccharides (LPS). LPS stays on the bacteria&#8217;s cell wall, and rendering them recognizable by the immune system. This triggers inflammation, which is one of the immune system&#8217;s defense mechanisms.
<figure style="width: 895px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/F1.large_-1.jpg" alt="Image Credit: Pretorius, et al./Journal of the Royal Society Interface" width="895" height="542" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Pretorius, et al./Journal of the Royal Society Interface</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Series of Symptoms</h2>
LPS affects blood clotting, too. The researchers conducted a test where they mixed LPS with E. coli bacteria and fibrinogen, a protein in blood that forms the fibrin structures in clots. The results showed that fibrinogen reacts with LPS, triggering the formation of abnormal clots similar to those in heart attacks, strokes, and thrombosis. Apparently, LPS changed the fibrin structure, making it unusually thicker, bending the fibrinogen out of shape. The abnormal proteins spread, causing excessive blood clotting.
LPS triggers inflammation and creates aberrant fibrinogen that spreads abnormally, creating conditions that make the body more susceptible to heart attack and stroke. These conditions are also seen in rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer&#8217;s, two diseases that involve high levels of iron, which wakes the bacteria in blood, in the first place.
The conditions are inextricably linked, it seems. Further research is needed to figure out a way to deal with this bacteria.
The research was published in the <a href="http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/13/122/20160539">Journal of the Royal Society Interface</a>.

Bacteria in human blood may be causing conditions that trigger symptoms related to several diseases. New research has shown that there is a link between inflammation and excessive clotting, both of which are known symptoms of several serious diseases.

“Dormant” Bacteria in Blood Was Just Linked to Several Diseases

Disease is one bloody business. Possibly, even more than we think. 

This drone can deliver a defibrillator to individuals in need in under a minute.

/Heart Attack

Toilet Seat Treatment

This High-Tech Toilet Seat Can Detect Heart Failure

Health & Medicine

A Stem Cell Patch Could Heal Hearts Damaged By Cardiac Arrest

Health & Medicine

Having the Flu Increases Your Chance of Having a Heart Attack

Health & Medicine

A New Blood Test Lets Doctors Know Instantly If You’ve Had a Heart Attack

Robots & Machines

Life-Saving Drones Can Beat Ambulances to Heart Attack Victims

Hard Science

A Beam of Light Could Save Your Life

Hard Science

A New Medical Advancement Could Stop a Heart Attack in Its Tracks

Hard Science

“Dormant” Bacteria in Blood Was Just Linked to Several Diseases

Artificial Intelligence

This Ambulance Drone Could Save Your Life During a Heart Attack

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