Heart News Blog

February 26, 2008, 10:34 PM CT

Heart attack rates fall following national smoking bans

French scientists announced a striking 15% decrease in admissions of patients with myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect in restaurants, hotels and casinos in France last January. The announcement was made on 23 February by the National Sanitary Institute. Similar results were published in Italy on 12 February by the Environmental Health Authority: scientists in Rome found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events since the January 2005 smoking ban took effect in Italy.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) wishes to stress the positive impact of smoking bans in all European countries that have adopted laws banning tobacco use in public places.

There is a wealth of data linking smoking and cardiovascular disease (CVD), stated Prof David Thomas, of the European Society of Cardiology and a Senior Heart specialist in the Centre Hospitalier Piti- Salptrire in Paris. Eventhough further studies are needed all over France to confirm the strong decrease in smoking related deaths over time, these statistics show the same tendency professionals have already observed in Italy, Ireland and Scotland when these countries introduced their own bans on tobacco. To me, the most striking aspect in this study is the reduction of pollution inside cafs and restaurants by over 35%. Passive smoking has been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease and the recent smoking ban is obviously having a beneficial effect on both smokers and non-smokers......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

November 7, 2007, 4:57 AM CT

CPR guidelines Improve cardiac arrest outcome

A new seven-city study on the impact of new CPR techniques supports the widespread use of the American Heart Associations new 2005 CPR guidelines, as per the study authors in a presentation at the AHAs Scientific Sessions November 4 in Orlando. Lead author, Tom P. Aufderheide, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Director of the Resuscitation Research Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, presented the data showing a doubling of hospital discharge rates when the AHAs new CPR guidelines were consistently and effectively applied to 893 patients.

Resuscitation science can seem esoteric to the public until it hits home when a loved one, colleague or neighbor experiences cardiac arrest. Survival rates are only five percent for those who experience a sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital, a shockingly low national average.

The EMS departments submitting data in the study tracked individuals who experienced cardiac arrest outside of the hospital all the way through hospital discharge. When subjects were treated with new CPR techniques including the use of the ResQPOD, an Impedance Threshold Device (ITD), the hospital discharge rates went from 7.9 percent to 15.7 percent, or double the survival rate of the control group......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

November 5, 2007, 10:25 PM CT

Risk factor for heart attack patients

If you go to the hospital within one to two hours of the onset of symptoms of a heart attack, your chances of getting proper therapy are nearly 70 percent greater than those who wait 11 to 12 hours before seeking therapy, as per results presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla.

This research should emphasize to patients that getting help immediately, by calling 911, gives them the best chance of receiving therapys we know can help save their lives or lessen the damage to their hearts, says Henry Ting, M.D., lead Mayo Clinic cardiovascular researcher on the national study. If patients wait at home for hours with symptoms and come in later, unfortunately they arent getting the proper therapys.

The most serious type of heart attack is known as an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In a STEMI, critical arteries supplying the heart with blood are blocked. Prior studies have shown that the best therapy for STEMI patients is reperfusion treatment -- when a patients blocked artery is opened by inflating a balloon at the site of the blockage or by delivering clot-dissolving medication, thus restoring blood flow to heart muscle.

Significance of the Mayo Clinic Research

The study is the largest and most detailed review of multiple elements in patient records contained in a national heart attack database. These elements are: time delay from onset of symptoms to hospital arrival; therapy with reperfusion; and therapy outcome. After analyzing 440,398 heart attack incidents from 1995 to 2004 in the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction, the scientists identify for the first time a novel risk factor for heart attack deaths that appears to have a readily available solution: comply with the American Heart Association/American Cardiology Association guidelines now in place. The guidelines state that if a patient has symptoms consistent with a heart attack which are not relieved after five minutes, or after placing one nitroglycerin pill under the tongue, the patient should call 911......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

November 5, 2007, 9:20 PM CT

After heart attack most patients stop taking life-saving drugs

Recovery from heart attacks is best served by continuing to take prescribed medications. Yet more than half of patients who have had a heart attack stop taking these lifesaving medications within three years, as per results from a Mayo Clinic study presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla.

The Mayo data also show that in the short term, smokers are more likely to discontinue taking all of their prescribed heart medications, whereas in the long term, data show that patients enrolled in cardiac rehabilitation programs tend to continue their medications at a higher rate than patients who do not enroll. The scientists suggest their data support a two-pronged strategy for improving the publics heart health: 1) target heart patients who smoke for education on complying with physicians aftercare advice about continuing medications, and 2) encourage all heart patients to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program, possibly increasing their likelihood of continuing prescribed therapys.

Significance of the Mayo Clinic Research

The study was designed to improve recovery and quality of life after heart attack by determining how well patients comply with physicians recommendations. It clearly documented that therapys exist that improve outcomes following heart attacks -- but patients need to comply with the therapy regimens for the goal of improved patient health to be realized, says Nilay Shah, Ph.D., the studys lead researcher......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

October 11, 2007, 10:35 PM CT

Breast cancer awareness andcardiovascular awareness

Women who overcome breast cancer have every reason to celebrate. But a heart filled with joy may also be a heart damaged by life-saving cancer therapies, a growing body of research shows.

Most breast cancer therapies today including new treatments still under development increase long-term risk of cardiovascular disease, said Lee W. Jones, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. We dont know exactly how large the added risk is, but we believe its substantial. Recent gains in breast-cancer-specific survival could be markedly diminished by an increase in the long-term risk of cardiovascular death.

In an article published in the October 9, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), Dr. Jones and his colleagues call for taking the long view in breast cancer therapyfocusing not just on the immediate cancer threat but also on long-term cardiovascular health.

There are millions of American women living with breast cancer, said Pamela S. Douglas, M.D., chief of cardiology at Duke and a co-author of the JACC paper. Its important that they dont squander their second lease on life.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among American women, accounting for more than 200,000 new cases each year. Thanks to new and better therapies, death rates from breast cancer are falling dramaticallyby nearly 24 percent between 1990 and 2000, for example. That means that more women than ever before will live for years with the cardiovascular effects of cancer therapy......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

September 27, 2007, 9:49 PM CT

Climate may increase heat-related deaths

While some uncertainty does exist in climate projections and future health vulnerability, overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s, as per a recent study by Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health and soon would be reported in the November 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. In metropolitan New York, scientists estimate a 47 percent to 95 percent increase in summer heat-related deaths when in comparison to the 1990s.

Recent reports strongly suggest that both emissions and warming trends will continue to affect the atmosphere into the 21st century, with annual average temperatures for the region in the 2050s projected to rise by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit to 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and summer temperature increasing 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit to 7.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

These new results indicate that climate change will put additional stress on the health of New York residents in the absence of concerted efforts to reduce vulnerability to heat waves, says Patrick Kinney ScD, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, who designed and directed the study. The research findings also indicate that urban counties will experience greater numbers of deaths than less-urbanized counties. Currently, counties experiencing the hottest summers are the highly urbanized counties in and around New York City, which also have the greatest population density. Millions of residents are already exposed to periodic summer heat stress, which can lead to increases in heat-related illness and premature deaths. Cities such as New York may be at particular risk from climate change because the urban heat island effect further increases regional temperatures, and some communities in densely populated urban centers are among those most vulnerable to heat......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

September 12, 2007, 8:12 PM CT

Tissue-engineered Heart Structures For Children

Infants and children receiving artificial heart-valve replacements face several repeat operations as they grow, since the replacements become too small and must be traded for bigger ones. Scientists at Children's Hospital Boston have now developed a solution: living, growing valves created in the lab from a patient's own cells.

In a special issue of Circulation published September 11, they describe making pulmonary valves through tissue engineering. These valves, which provide one-way blood flow from the heart's right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, are often malformed in congenital heart disease, putting an extra burden on the heart.

"The heart valve is a complex organ," says Virna Sales, MD, a researcher in Children's Department of Cardiac Surgery and the study's first author. "It must open and close synchronously, withstand pressure, and be pliable and elastic. We are one of the few labs in the U.S. that's attempting to make heart valves through tissue engineering. We hope these could just be implanted in a child just once, instead of the a number of heart operations most children have to go through as they get older."

The researchers, led by Sales and senior investigator John Mayer, MD, in Children's Department of Cardiac Surgery, first isolated endothelial progenitor cells (precursors of the cells that line blood vessel walls) from the blood of laboratory animals. They then "seeded" the cells onto tiny, valve-shaped biodegradable molds and pre-coated with proteins found in the natural "matrix" that surrounds and supports cells......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

September 10, 2007, 9:14 PM CT

Natural aorta grafts have few side effects

A vascular surgery technique pioneered at UT Southwestern Medical Center, in which veins are removed from the thigh to repair the aorta does not create blood-flow problems and painful side effects in a majority of patients, scientists report.

Vascular disease is a major contributor to life-threatening conditions such as aneurysms or blockages of the aorta. Inserting synthetic grafts to repair damaged aortas, the largest artery in the body, is typically the first line of therapy.

Some patients, however, are prone to infections in these grafts, which typically requires removal of the infected grafts, a surgery that leaves the patient with no blood flow to the legs. Searching for a solution to this dilemma, surgeons at UT Southwestern, led by Dr. Patrick Clagett, chairman of vascular surgery, developed a technique in the early part of 1990s that uses veins from a patients own leg to fix and repair infected grafts.

Dr. Clagett and colleagues recently evaluated the results of those grafts and observed that patients had few side effects and fared well in the long-term after receiving grafts from their own bodies. He reports his findings in the recent issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

Most patients with synthetic aortic grafts experience favorable outcomes, but for the small percentage of patients who develop chronic infections within the graft that do not respond to antibiotics, they are at risk of losing their legs or dying......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

September 6, 2007, 9:52 PM CT

Preventing 4 In 10 Premature Heart Attacks

Screening and treating middle-aged adults with a family history of coronary heart disease could prevent more than 4 in 10 premature heart attacks, as per an article in this weeks BMJ.

Scientists from the University of Glasgow looked at data from prior studies which show that immediate family members of patients with premature coronary heart disease (CHD) are at significantly increased risk of developing the disease.

Siblings are twice as likely to have a heart attack in comparison to the general population. Partners are also known to be at greater risk, due to shared risk factors in their lifestyle. The risk to family members increases further if more than one member of the immediate family has CHD.

Family history, the scientists say, can identify a large proportion of people at high overall risk of developing CHD. They point to one study which observed that the 14% of families with a positive family history accounted for 48% of all CHD events and 72% of all premature deaths.

Using data from prior studies they estimate that in England and Scotland alone 7,369 premature heart attacks occur each year in people with a family history of premature heart attacks. Of those 6,485 might be preventable.

Once the risk of having a family member with CHD was taken into account they calculated that screening and treating middle aged adults with a family history could have prevented 42% of premature heart attacks and 8% of all heart attacks......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

August 31, 2007, 4:58 AM CT

Triage Guidelines For Emergency Heart Patients

Two new studies led by scientists at the University of Iowa and the Department of Veterans Affairs Iowa City Health Care System provide reassuring findings for patients reviewed in the emergency room for possible acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the physicians who treat them.

ACS is a medical term for a group of potentially life-threatening heart conditions including unstable angina and heart attack. Chest pain, shortness of breath and nausea are symptoms of possible ACS, and almost five million Americans are seen each year in emergency rooms with these symptoms. In such cases, emergency room physicians must determine which patients should be admitted for more tests and observation and which patients can be discharged safely. Among those requiring hospitalization, physicians must also decide if the patient needs to be admitted to a specialty cardiology bed.

One study, reported in the July 19 online issue of Medical Decision Making, finds that patients who were triaged in accordance with standard guidelines for management of possible ACS tended to do better than those who were not.

These triage guidelines are based on the best available evidence and expert opinion and are used to varying degrees. However, treating physicians may choose to deviate from the guideline recommendations at their discretion......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

August 6, 2007, 5:38 PM CT

New heart attack guidelines

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have jointly released revised Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Unstable Angina (UA)/Non-ST- Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI). Major changes to the guidelines include: suggesting an initial non-invasive set of preliminary tests, such as a stress test, echocardiogram or radionuclide angiogram; recommending the use of anti-platelet treatment clopidogrel for at least one year after receiving a drug-eluting stent; highlighting the importance of more intense lipid and blood pressure control; and advising cessation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) use for all UA/NSTEMI patients during hospitalization.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, and UA and NSTEMI are acute manifestations of this condition. In 2004, the National Center for Health Statistics reported 669,000 hospitalizations for UA and 896,000 for myocardial infarction. Unstable angina, which causes chest pain and discomfort, occurs when a coronary artery is partially blocked. Myocardial infarction, or heart attack, occurs when a coronary artery is completely blocked, cutting off blood flow to the heart resulting in death of heart muscle.

The ability to detect and treat these conditions earlier has greatly improved over the last several years. New evidence from pivotal trials over the past five years has been gathered together in these guidelines to give physicians up-to-date and detailed information on which therapy options will provide the best possible outcomes for their patients, said Nanette K. Wenger, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A., a member of the guidelines writing committee and professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. This is a major educational document for health professionals, and I trust it will become part of the core teaching for medical students, residents and graduate physicians......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

August 3, 2007, 9:55 PM CT

Shorter heart health programs just as effective

Secondary prevention programs for coronary heart disease that contain less than 10 hours contact with health professionals and those provided by family doctors are just as effective in saving lives as more expensive, longer and more specialized hospital-based alternatives, as per cardiovascular scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Dr. Alexander Clark, an associate professor in the U of A Faculty of Nursing and Alberta Heritage Investigator, is lead author on an article reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.

The study presents the results of a systematic review of 46 randomized trials all the published trials of secondary prevention programs in the English language. The programs collectively improve life expectancy and reduce hospitalizations. However, those that have fewer than 10 hours of contact time, are based in family care settings and use non-specialist family doctors and nurses, show an equal mortality benefit to longer, specialist-led programs.

The findings have a great impact on health care policy and funding, Clark said. As the shorter and more generalist programs are as effective at saving patients lives, these offer an attractive and highly efficient alternative to longer, more costly, and often less accessible hospital programs. As most programs have poor access, contain more than 50 hours contact with professionals, and heart disease affects more people in the world than any other disease, the implications of these findings for patients and health care costs are major......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 23, 2007, 6:36 PM CT

Initiative to improve heart failure care

A national initiative designed to improve heart-failure patient care in hospitals proved effective at increasing hospital adherence to key quality-of-care performance measures and reducing the length of hospital stays for patients.

It also resulted in favorable trends for in-hospital and post-discharge mortality rates, as per a UCLA study reported in the July 23 edition of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

The initiative, called the Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure (OPTIMIZEHF), is the largest of its kind undertaken for heart failure in the country, with 259 hospitals participating, and is the only one designed to capture patient outcomes data 60 to 90 days after discharge.

Despite compelling scientific evidence and national guidelines for use of key life-prolonging agents and changes in lifestyle, gaps exist in heart failure therapy, said principal investigator Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, UCLAs Eliot Corday Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine and Science, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. We hope more hospitals will adopt this validated model for enhancing heart-failure patient care.

Heart failure affects 5 million Americans, and nearly 3.6 million hospitalizations each year are attributed to the condition, which occurs when the hearts left ventricle cant pump enough blood to the bodys other organs......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 23, 2007, 5:39 PM CT

Diet and regular soft drinks increase risk for heart disease

Drinking more than one soft drink daily whether its regular or diet may be linked to an increase in the risk factors for heart disease, Framingham scientists reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

We were struck by the fact that it didnt matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present, said Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., senior author of the Framingham Heart Study and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL good cholesterol) and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a persons risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Previous studies linked soft drink consumption to multiple risk factors for heart disease. However, this study showed that association not only included drinking regular calorie-laden soft drinks, but artificially sweetened diet sodas as well, scientists said......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 18, 2007, 9:40 PM CT

Exercise, exercise, rest, repeat

Taking a break in the middle of your workout may metabolize more fat than exercising without stopping, according to a recent study in Japan. Researchers conducted the first known study to compare these two exercise methodsexercising continually in one long bout versus breaking up the same workout with a rest period. The findings could change the way we approach exercise. Who wouldnt want to take a breather for that".

Many people believe prolonged exercise will be optimal in order to reduce body fat, but our study has shown that repetitions of shorter exercise may cause enhancements of fat mobilization and utilization during and after the exercise. These findings will be informative about the design of [future] exercise regimens, said lead researcher Kazushige Goto, Ph.D. Most people are reluctant to perform a single bout of prolonged exercise. The repeated exercise with shorter bouts of exercise will be a great help [in keeping up with fitness].

This finding is part of a study entitled Enhancement of fat metabolism by repeated bouts of moderate endurance exercise, found in the June 2007 edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, which is published by the American Physiological Society. It was conducted by Kazushige Goto, of both the Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo, Japan and the Institute of Sports Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Naokata Ishii, of the Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo, Japan; and Ayuko Mizuno and Kaoru Takamatsu, both of the Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 17, 2007, 10:43 PM CT

SMS your ECG to ER

A Bluetooth heart monitor could text your local hospital if you are about to have a heart attack, as per research published recently in Inderscience's International Journal of Electronic Healthcare. The device measures electrical signals from the heart, analyses them to produce an electrocardiogram (ECG) and sends an alert together with the ECG by cell phone text message.

Cardiovascular disease is kills almost 20 million people each year, with around 22 million people who are at risk of sudden heart failure at any one time around the world. Lives can often be saved if acute care and cardiac surgery are carried out within the so-called golden hour. And, survival rates are on the increase as therapys improve. However, this means there are more and more patients whose cardiac health has to be monitored so that follow-up therapy can be given if problems arise. Available methods of heart monitoring commonly restrict the mobility of patients to a hospital or a single room.

Thulasi Bai and S.K. Srivatsa of the Sathyabama University in Tamil Nadu, have developed a wearable cardiac telemedicine system that allows post-cardiac patients renewed mobility.

Thulasi Bai's prototype Bluetooth heart monitor records periodically an electrocardiogram (ECG) and transmits the information via radio frequency signals to the patient's cell phone. The modified phone has an added analyzer circuit that checks the ECG signal for signs of imminent cardiac failure. If errant signals are detect, such as any arrhythmia, the cell phone alerts the patient and transmits a sample of the ECG signal to the nearest medical care centre, via the SMS text service, together with patient details......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 8, 2007, 10:20 PM CT

Cholesterol drug hits diabetes with one-two punch

Patients with type 2 diabetes may soon be able to control their glucose and their cholesterol levels with a single drug, as per a research studyled by Vivian A. Fonseca, professor of medicine and pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine and chief of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center Diabetes Program.

Results from the clinical trial demonstrated that the compound colesevelam HCl, in combination with Sulfonylurea-based treatment in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, achieved significantly reduced glucose levels versus those in the study taking a placebo. The study was recently presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 16th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress.

People with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol face many challenges in keeping their glucose levels and cholesterol in check. This study demonstrated the potential to improve two important metabolic parameters with one drug, says Fonseca.

Patients who received colesevelam HCl were shown in the study to have significant reductions in blood sugar levels, and participants lipid profiles in the colesevelam HCl group also showed substantial improvement over placebo. An application for the commercial production and sale of the drug is currently being assessed by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

July 2, 2007, 9:15 AM CT

Reduced lung capacity linked to cardiovascular disease

People who have a reduced lung capacity may have a greater risk of heart attack and stroke because they show evidence of inflammation, reveals a study published online ahead of print in Thorax.

This association is not correlation to smoking, respiratory diseases or obesity.

The New Zealand scientists took measurements of lung capacity and inflammation in 1,000 adults aged between 26 and 32 years. To measure inflammation, they looked at the amount of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, circulating in the blood. Higher levels of CRP were found in the blood of those with smaller lung capacities.

Eventhough increased levels of markers for inflammation have previously been found in the blood of older people with reduced lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the authors say: To our knowledge, this is the first report of an inverse association between lung function and CRP in young adults.

The results showed that this association was not correlation to smoking or lung disease, because the relationship existed even in people who had never smoked and had no respiratory disease. It was also not explained by obesity, which is often linked to raised inflammatory markers.

It has been suggested that an increased risk of cardiovascular disease may exist in elderly adults with COPD because inflammation is a risk factor for hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

June 25, 2007, 8:29 PM CT

Women's mortality rates for cardiovascular disease

Women treated for cardiovascular disease at the nation's best- performing hospitals have a 39 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate when compared with women at the nation's poorest-performing hospitals, as per the fourth annual HealthGrades Womens Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals study, released recently.

The study also observed that, for women, the largest quality gaps between the best-performing and poorest-performing hospitals were in heart failure and interventional cardiology procedures. In comparison to poorly performing hospitals, the best-performing hospitals had a 46 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality for heart failure and a 44 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality for interventional cardiology procedures.

Overall, risk-adjusted mortality for cardiovascular disease for women improved an average of 8.7 percent from 2003 through 2005.

"Cardiovascular disease is the nation's number one killer of women in the U.S., so while we are gratified to see an overall improvement in mortality rates, we are concerned that there still exists such a wide gap in hospitals' therapy of CVD when comparing the top performers and others," said Samantha Collier, MD, HealthGrades chief medical officer. "We know we can do better, particularly for women hospitalized for stroke or a heart attack, which make up 60 percent of the potentially preventable deaths in the study"......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source

June 25, 2007, 8:28 PM CT

Methamphetamine Abuse And Cardiovascular Disease

The study is being published the week of June 25 in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In recent years, the spread of methamphetamine abuse across the United States has been as rapid as it has been alarming. Until about six years ago, methamphetamine use was seen mostly in the western and rural United States. Today, methamphetamine abuse has expanded rapidly throughout the rest of the country and across different ethnic groups. As per the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an estimated 10.4 million Americans ages 12 or older have used methamphetamine at least once in their lifetimes for non-medical reasons.

The study showed that long-term methamphetamine use changes endogenous proteins in drug users, causing aberrant immune responses. As a result, increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines-proteins involved in immune response-may be a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism for the development of cardiovascular disorders such as vasculitus, an inflammation of the blood vessels.

Our prior studies showed that methamphetamine can glycate or add sugars to proteins, said Scripps Research Professor Kim Janda, who conducted this study in collaboration with Scripps Research Assistant Professor Tobin Dickerson and other colleagues. In this study, we observed that the immune system responds dramatically to this methamphetamine-induced glycation, which may lead to vascular inflammation and deterioration if left untreated. These problems are the direct result of long-term methamphetamine abuse......... Posted by: Sandra      Read more         Source