RESEARCHERS in Southampton are taking part in a £1.6m British Heart Foundation project to discover if over-the-counter remedies for common complaints are causing abnormal heart rhythms in healthy adults.
The five-year project will investigate around 500 cases of the potentially fatal condition arrhythmia caused by drugs such as those used to combat symptoms of hayfever and indigestion.
A team from the city's Drug Safety Research Unit (DRSU) is joining forces with scientists at St George's Hospital Medical School in London for the study.
GPs and consultant physicians across the country are being asked to help out by identifying patients who have developed abnormal heart rhythms after taking medicines known to have this effect. The study aims to improve understanding of this type of sudden death as a public health issue.
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