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Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. CHD is caused by a narrowing of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, and often results in a heart attack.

Each year, about 1.1 million Americans suffer a heart attack. About 460,000 of those heart attacks are fatal. About half of those deaths occur within 1 hour of the start of symptoms and before the person reaches the hospital.

Fortunately, everyone can take steps to protect their heartand their life or that of someone else. The key is seeking medical care as soon as possible.

A heart attack is a frightening event, and you probably don't want to think about it. But, if you learn the signs of a heart attack and what steps to take, you can save a lifemaybe your own.

What are the signs of a heart attack? A number of people think a heart attack is sudden and intense, like a "movie" heart attack, where a person clutches his or her chest and falls over.

The truth is that a number of heart attacks start slowly, as a mild pain or discomfort. If you feel such a symptom, you may not be sure what's wrong. Your symptoms may even come and go. Even those who have had a heart attack may not recognize their symptoms, because the next attack can have entirely different ones.

How new heart cells are created?

Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease have identified for the first time key genetic factors that drive the process of generating new heart cells. The discovery, published in the current issue of the journal Nature, provides important new directions on how stem cells appears to be used to repair damaged hearts. For decades, researchers were unable to identify a single factor that could turn nonmuscle cells into........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 4/27/2009 5:25:29 AM)

Why that patient is in heart failure

A failing heart makes a lot of a hormone needed to eliminate the excess salt and water bloating the body but not enough of the enzyme needed to activate it, scientists say. Using novel assays they developed, Medical College of Georgia scientists found people in heart failure have less of the enzyme corin needed to activate pro-ANP, or pro-atrial natriuretic peptide, a hormone made by heart muscle cells that, when active, helps reduce extra........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 3/31/2009 3:40:33 PM)

Gene associated with early heart attack

The largest study ever completed of genetic factors linked to heart attacks has identified nine genetic regions three not previously described that appear to increase the risk for early-onset myocardial infarction. The report from the Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, based on information from a total of 26,000 inviduals in 10 countries, will appear in Nature Genetics and is receiving early online release. "For several decades,........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 2/9/2009 6:21:18 AM)

New risk assessment tools need to predict Coronary Heart Disease

The Framingham and National Cholesterol Education Program tools, NCEP, do not accurately predict coronary heart disease, according to a study performed at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. The study included 1,653 patients who had no history of coronary heart disease; although 738 patients were taking statins (cholesterol lowering drugs like Lipitor) because of increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. All........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 1/6/2009 7:01:25 PM)

Sex differences narrow in death after heart attack

In recent years, women, especially younger women, experienced larger improvements in hospital mortality after myocardial infarction than men, as per a new study. Over the last decade some studies showed that younger women, but not older ones, are more likely to die in the hospital after MI than age-matched men. A team of scientists led by Emory University examined whether such mortality differences have declined in recent years. "We........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/12/2008 10:39:48 PM)

Damage inflicted during cardiac attacks more widespread

Cholesterol crystals released in the bloodstream during a cardiac attack or stroke can damage artery linings much further away from the site of the attack, leaving survivors at greater risk than previously thought. George Abela, a doctor in Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine and chief of the Department of Medicine's cardiology section, is leading innovative research into the role that the crystallization and expansion of........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/11/2008 9:43:42 PM)

New risk factor for cardiovascular disease

This release is available in French. Montreal, November 9th 2008 - A team of international scientists including researchers from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University have discovered that having high levels of particular protein puts patients at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The results of the study were so conclusive that the clinical trial had to be stopped before its scheduled completion........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/9/2008 10:00:05 PM)

Factors that influence carotid-surgery success

Advanced age and race are among the factors that can affect whether a patient dies or suffers a stroke after carotid-artery surgery, a UT Southwestern doctor involved in a multicenter study has observed. "This study identified 11 readily available, clinical risk factors that can help referring physicians, neurologists, surgeons and anesthesiologists better weigh the risks and benefits of carotid surgery for an individual patient," said Dr.........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/6/2008 6:23:03 PM)

Elderly with coronary artery disease

A new study from Duke University Medical Center finds that patients treated solely with medications after suffering from chest pain, heart attack or coronary artery disease are more likely to die during the first year following their initial hospitalization. "Patients managed medically without stenting or bypass surgery tend to be elderly and frail, and in some sense we feel they have been overlooked," says Matthew Roe, a heart specialist at........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/19/2008 9:56:43 AM)

Young adults with prehypertension and atherosclerosis

Prehigh blood pressure during young adulthood is common and is linked to subsequent coronary atherosclerosis, as per a research studypublished in today's issue of Annals of Internal Medicine Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed blood pressure measurements of 3,560 adults aged 18 to 30 from seven examinations over the course of 20 years. Nearly 20 percent (635) of the study participants developed prehigh blood........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/14/2008 9:52:44 PM)

What caused the massive decline in coronary death in Iceland?

In the 25 years between 1981 and 2006 mortality rates from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Iceland decreased by a remarkable 80% in men and women aged between 25 and 74 years. How could such a huge decline be explained? Were the health services of Iceland so much better, or were its citizens reducing their risks?1. To find out Dr Thor Aspelund and his colleagues from the Icelandic Heart Association and the University of Iceland applied a........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 5/8/2009 5:25:56 AM)

Exercise for patients with chronic heart failure

Regular exercise is safe for heart failure patients and may slightly lower their risk of death or hospitalization, as per results from the largest and most comprehensive clinical trial to examine the effects of exercise in chronic heart failure patients. Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, the study also observed that heart failure patients who add regular, moderate physical........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 4/8/2009 5:04:08 AM)

Reduce depression after heart surgery

Two non-pharmacological interventionscognitive behavior treatment and supportive stress managementappear more effective than usual care for treating depression after coronary artery bypass surgery, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. About one in every five patients experiences a major depressive episode following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and at least........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 4/7/2009 5:20:58 AM)

Genes associated with sudden cardiac death

You're sitting at your desk and suddenly your heart is beating in overdrive or worse, lurching along like a car on fumes. It is a shocking, uncomfortable and frightening sensation. Irregular heart rhythms are a common cause of sudden cardiac death or SCD, a condition that accounts for 450,000 deaths annually in the United States. Researchers are now closer to understanding what causes SCD and who it may strike, said Gonalo Abecasis,........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 3/22/2009 9:39:33 PM)

A little wine boosts omega-3 in the body

Results from the European study IMMIDIET show that moderate wine intake is associated with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids considered as protective against coronary heart disease. Moderate alcohol intake is associated with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells. This is the major finding of the European study IMMIDIET that would be published in the recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 12/6/2008 4:34:26 PM)

Gasping helps cardiac arrest victims survive

People who witness an individual collapse suddenly and unexpectedly should perform uninterrupted chest compressions even if the patient gasps or breathes in a funny way, research from the Resuscitation Research Group at The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center shows. The study is set to publish in the Nov. 24 online issue of Circulation, the official journal of the American Heart Association, http://circ.ahajournals.org. When an........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/24/2008 9:32:04 PM)

New theory that may lead to effective heart failure treatments

Do the biological underpinnings of heart failure share more in common with malignant tumors than other cardiovascular diseases? Research presented at American Heart Association meeting may show why heart failure therapys fail. A team of Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) scientists and heart specialists are presenting many studies at the American Heart Association conference that point toward new therapys for heart failure........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/12/2008 10:35:22 PM)

Vitamins E and C supplements andcardiovascular disease

Neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplements reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events in a large, long-term study of male physicians, as per a research studyin the November 12 issue of JAMA The article is being released early online November 9 to coincide with the scientific presentation of the study findings at the American Heart Association meeting. Most adults in the United States have taken vitamin supplements in the past year, as........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 11/9/2008 10:23:52 PM)

Cardiovascular effects of diabetes medications

The diabetes medicine metformin may be linked to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, as per a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the October 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. No associations were found between other diabetes medications and beneficial or harmful cardiovascular effects, in part because of insufficient data, the authors note. "A wide variety of oral........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/27/2008 10:34:24 PM)

Bleeding gums linked to heart disease

Bleeding gums and poor dental hygiene can end up causing heart disease, scientists heard today (Thursday 11 September2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. People with poor dental hygiene and those who don't brush their teeth regularly end up with bleeding gums, which provide an entry to the bloodstream for up to 700 different types of bacteria found in our mouths. This........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/10/2008 10:15:50 PM)

Alaskan Eskimos' high rates of artery plaque

Alaskan Eskimos' significantly higher rates of fatty artery plaque than the general U.S. population may be due to unhealthy lifestyle habits, scientists report in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. Scientists observed that more than half of Alaskan Eskimo adults smoke, their level of physical activity has decreased from traditional levels, and their intake of saturated and trans fats, rather than heart-healthy omega 3 fatty........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/10/2008 9:37:10 PM)

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