X-Message-Number: 26042
From: "Basie" <>
Subject: Sodium nitrite
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 19:04:48 -0400

      Preservative could preserve hearts
      Last updated: Friday, April 15, 2005
      Sodium nitrite, a chemical best known as a meat preservative, could 
preserve cardiac muscle after a heart attack, researchers report.
      The chemical's only medical use now is to treat cyanide poisoning. But 
animal studies show the body has a small store of sodium nitrite that in 
times of emergency is converted to nitric oxide, which is known to increase 
blood flow by widening blood vessels, according to Dr Mark Gladwin, head of 
the vascular therapeutics section of the cardiovascular branch at the 
American National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He is co-author of a 
report on the studies in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical 
Investigation.

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