Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are infusing sodium nitrite into volunteers in hopes it can prove a cheap, but potent treatment for sickle cell anemia, heart attacks, brain aneurysms, even an illness that suffocates babies.

Those ailments have something in common: They hinge on problems with low oxygen, problems the government's research suggests nitrite can ease

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are infusing sodium nitrite into volunteers in hopes that it can prove a cheap but potent treatment for sickle cell anemia, heart attacks, brain aneurysms, even an illness that suffocates babies.

Those ailments have something in common: They hinge on problems with low oxygen, problems the government's research suggests nitrite can ease, The Associated Press reports

A trial published in this week's issue of the Lancet

The study, called the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial, shows the technique, known as coiling, is more likely to result in survival without disability for one year, when compared to neurosurgical clipping, which involves a craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm to prevent further bleeding

A trial published in this week's issue of the Lancet

The study, called the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial, shows the technique, known as coiling, is more likely to result in survival without disability for one year, when compared to neurosurgical clipping, which involves a craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm to prevent further bleeding

The Food and Drug Administration approves the first drug to treat children who suffer from a condition what stunts growth.

Dr. Philippe Backeljauw of Cincinnati Children's Hospital says that the drug called Increlex will treat children whose growth failure is related to unusually low levels of a hormone called IGF-1