Salt And Cardiovascular Disease: Does Acute Salt-Sensitivity Convey Greater Cardiovascular Risk?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$597,578.00
Summary
Salt intake of Australian adults is 10X more than required. Further, salt intake in very young children is alarmingly high secondary to high consumption of salty snacks and processed food. High dietary salt intake has been associated with increased cardiovascular disease and death. We will examine the cardiovascular risks for adults and children on a high salt diet and examine whether switching to a low salt diet ameliorates the high blood pressure and heart disease caused by high salt diets
Salt (sodium) is an essential electrolyte. Our convincing and complementary findings provide compelling evidence for a link between evolutionarily ancient “instincts” and substance abuse. This proposal is translational, including studies in opiate dependent humans. Our studies will establish how and where in the brain endogenous opioids are implicated in the gratification of salt appetite, how salt appetite is altered in opiate dependency and if salt appetite recovers following opiate withdrawal
Mechanisms Underlying Generation Of Febrile Seizures In Mouse Models Of Human Familial Epilepsy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$304,559.00
Summary
Febrile Seizures (FS) affect 3% of children aged 0.5 - 6 yrs and have been proposed as an indicator of severe forms of adult generalized epilepsy. Mechanisms underlying FS generation are unknown although studies of Australian families suffering from epilepsy have linked 2 genes to FS. We have generated mice expressing these 2 genes. Aims and Outcomes: to investigate events triggering FS which will provide important insights into why FS occurs in children. (NB: CIA 2 yr career interruption)