Reported January 2010

WHAT CAUSES HEART ATTACKS: Heart attack is the leading cause of death in North and South America, and in Europe. It is usually the result of prolonged hardening and narrowing of the 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 the buildup of fatty deposits on vessel walls, blood can be cut off, killing heart muscle cells. This is called coronary heart disease, and it can lead to 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: Nanotechnology is science at the size of individual atoms and molecules: objects and devices measuring mere billionths of a meter, smaller than a red blood cell. At that size scale, materials have different chemical and physical properties than those of the same materials in bulk, because quantum mechanics is more important.

The Materials Research Society, AVS, the Science and Technology Society, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report. This report has also been produced thanks to a generous grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

If you would like more information, please contact:

John McDevitt, PhD
Rice University
Houston, TX 77005
(512) 471-0046
mcdevitt@rice.edu

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
Joseph Catapano
Communication Specialist
(703) 248-4772
http://www.aapspharmaceutica.com
catapanoj@aaps.org

Materials Research Society
Warrendale, PA 15086-7573
(724) 779-3003
http://www.mrs.org
webmaster@mrs.org

AVS, The Science and Technology Society
Della Miller
(530) 896-0477
http://www.avs.org
della@avs.org

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