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Patient StoryCardiology Research Gives Patient Back Her Life
Alice Snook was having chest pains and her doctor told her there was nothing he could do. She was so tired that her daughter had to do all of her Christmas shopping and wrap all of her presents. "I didn't even have the strength to put my grandchildren in my lap and play with them," said Snook. "With each pain I thought 'This is it.'" Then, Snook was referred to the Hennepin Heart Center and MMRF researcher Tim Henry, M.D., who was one of the first researchers involved in a study on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is a genetically engineered protein that is thought to grow new small blood vessels, called collaterals, around a heart blockage, improving blood supply to the heart. Within two weeks of her first VEGF injection, Snook's pain was gone and she was doing more than ever before. "I didn't think I would be alive last Thanksgiving," said Snook. "I ended up having 24 people over for dinner. I got my life back."
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