!!shock!!

Whatever the cause—a heart attack,
a car accident, a serious bacterial infection—the glassy-eyed
catatonia of a person in shock often portends death. Every year
in the U.S. alone, about 500,000 people go into sudden shock, and
half die from it. For millions more, it is the final stage of terminal
illness. Doctors know a good deal about what causes the condition:
very low blood pressure that results in dangerously reduced
delivery of blood to tissues. And they know that it kills when the
lack of oxygen irreparably damages the brain and other vital organs.
They also have a few tools for reversing shock before it goes
too far, at least in some people. But all too often treatment is ineffective,
especially when a runaway infection is the trigger.
Because shock is so devastating, many investigators are aggressively
trying to develop better treatments. Yet despite their
initial promise, several seemingly helpful drug candidates have
failed in recent years. To our great satisfaction, though, a chance
discovery we made not long ago has led to a successful therapy.
This agent does not cure the conditions that caused the shock, but
it is already helping to treat thousands of shock victims. In addition,
during the course of our research into this compound, we
learned new information about the underlying mechanisms of
shock. With luck, our insights and those of others may lead to
further advances in treatment