1997-98
NEW MEXICO
HIGH SCHOOL
SUPERCOMPUTING CHALLENGE
TEAM ABSTRACT
100
Shiprock High School
Health and Medicine
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the myocardium, the outer walls of the ventricles in the heart, becomes dysfunctional. This dysfunction causes the heart to weaken and pump blood less efficiently. If this condition persists for a longer period of time, eventually the lungs, liver, and the circulatory system will become dysfunctional. As a result, more complications will accumulate along with the cardiac condition. We intend to create a program that will put to use the information we have compiled in a way that will possibly assist doctors to provide a more efficient treatment. Also we intend to see if we can clarify the causes and development of cardiomyopathies in general being that these things are not fully understood. The plan of action we would like to pursue is to find a medical specialist who specializes in cardiac ailments, or a cardiologist, who will help us in our research to achieve a more indepth insight on what we are doing. In our research so far, we have found that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy may be caused in most cases due to an unusual genetic mutation. This interesting bit of information has lead us to believe that it is hereditary. Our main goals have come to this: a treatment that is more efficient to developing a possible cure and to find out if this genetic mutation can be reversed in some way most likely through DNA manipulation if that procedure exists.