NHLBI at 50: Reflections on a Half-Century of Research on the Heart, Lungs, and Blood

Article Abstract:

The editors of JAMA interview Claude Lenfant, the current director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Congress created the NHLBI in 1948 as the National Heart Institute. The impetus was the rising death rate from heart disease. The institute began research on lung and blood diseases and adopted its current name in 1976. Some studies funded by NHLBI include the National Cholesterol Education Program, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, the Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Trial, the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, the Beta Blocker Heart Attack Trial, the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction study, and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial.

History, Interview, United States. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Lenfant, Claude

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Spinal Cord Injury Research Shows Promise

Article Abstract:

The president of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis discussed research in spinal cord injury at the 1999 meeting of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. Animal studies have shown that a type of nerve cell called a Schwann cell can promote nerve regeneration when implanted into rats with spinal cord injury. Corticosteroids are often given to patients to reduce inflammation but have not been found to be effective. Lowering body temperature a few degrees is more effective in reducing inflammation than many other treatments. Functional electric stimulation (FES) used with an assisted-walking device can allow paralyzed patients to exercise using FES to stimulate muscle contraction.

Care and treatment, Spinal cord injuries

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