Heart Watch Blog

August 31, 2010, 7:01 AM CT

During angioplasty operations

A landmark international study, coordinated by McMaster University, has observed that lower doses of a blood thinner called unfractionated heparin (UFH) during angioplasty did not reduce bleeding or vascular complications in comparison to standard dose UFH in patients initially treated with a blood thinner, fondaparinux.

In a previous study, the OASIS 5 trial, scientists from McMaster University showed that a blood thinner fondaparinux in comparison to another blood thinner, enoxaparin, reduced serious bleeding and prevented deaths in patients with heart attacks. A limitation of this new agent, fondaparinux, was its higher rates of clot formation in equipment during angioplasty. As a result, an additional blood thinner UFH had been recommended during angioplasty to prevent clotting in those who had received fondaparinux, but there was uncertainty about the optimal dose.

Even though UFH has been used during angioplasty since the procedure was first performed, little is known about the optimal dose of the agent.

An international group of scientists from 18 countries found patients undergoing angioplasty did not benefit from a lower dose of UFH in comparison to a standard dose in those on fondaparinux.

Importantly, the addition of either low or standard dose UFH to fondaparinux did not increase serious bleeding and prevented clot formation in equipment during angioplasty when in comparison to patients treated with fondaparinux alone in OASIS 5. As a result, adding standard dose UFH to fondaparinux maintains the major advantage of fondaparinux (lower bleeding) while preventing clotting during the angioplasty procedure......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

July 1, 2010, 6:56 AM CT

Higher testosterone may raise risk of heart disease

A large U.S. multicenter study shows that older men with higher testosterone levels are more likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular disease in the future. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

"The study finding contradicts smaller studies that have shown that testosterone levels are not linked to higher rates of cardiovascular disease," said presenting author Kristen Sueoka, MD, a resident doctor at the University of California, San Francisco.

"A number of in the general public are using testosterone supplements for various medical problems, including low sex drive and mood disorders, which are not life-threatening. These men may unknowingly be placing themselves at higher risk for cardiovascular disease," she said.

Study participants were age 65 or older and included 697 community-dwelling men who were participating in the National Institutes of Health-funded study, Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS). None of these men were receiving testosterone treatment, as per the study abstract.

All subjects had blood tests to determine their testosterone levels. The researchers then divided the men into quartiles, or four groups, of testosterone range to observe trends in rates of coronary heart disease events. This type of heart disease results from plaque-clogged or narrowed coronary arteries, also called atherosclerosis. A coronary heart disease event included a heart attack; unstable angina, which is chest pain commonly due to atherosclerosis and which doctors consider a prelude to a heart attack; or an angioplasty or bypass surgery to clear blocked arteries......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

June 28, 2010, 7:47 AM CT

Omega-3 in women with type 1 diabetes

Consuming higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids does not appear to lower heart disease risk for women with type 1 diabetes, as per a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study being presented at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

The study, abstract number 1757-P, included 601 men and women enrolled in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study, a long-term prospective examination of childhood onset type 1 diabetes that began in 1986. Participants were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1980.

Omega-3 fatty acids, primarily found in fish, promote heart health by preventing the buildup of cholesterol in the arteries. Little is known about the effect of consuming omega-3 in people with type 1 diabetes, who are at much greater risk for heart disease.

During the course of the study, 166 participants (27.6 percent) were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Generally, omega-3 intake among participants was low. The occurence rate of heart disease was lowest in men who consumed the highest quantities of omega-3 more than 0.2 grams per day. Women who consumed similar amounts of omega-3 did not have lower rates of heart disease.

"Eventhough omega-3 is typically linked to decreased risk for cardiovascular disease, this may not be the case for women who have type 1 diabetes," said Tina Costacou, Ph.D., main author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "Importantly, our study suggests we shouldn't assume men and women with type 1 diabetes are the same"......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

June 24, 2010, 9:50 PM CT

Flight-or-Fight Hormone Response to Combat Heart Failure

We've all experienced the strong heartbeat that accompanies emotions such as fear and rage. But can the body's natural response to these emotions be used to combat heart failure? Results of a study published online today in the journal Circulation Research present a strong case.

In the study, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center observed that two experimental drugs have the potential to restore pumping strength to failing hearts in part by harnessing the fight-or-flight response that makes hearts beat stronger.

At the center of this finding is the hormone adrenalin, which normally maintains the heart's pumping strength and makes the heart beat with greater force during crisis. The newly identified drugs ensure that adrenalin's ability to drive heartbeat strength is maintained, and not thwarted, as it typically is in heart failure patients. The two therapies, when tested in human-like mouse models of heart failure, were found to slow, and in some cases halt, the progression of the disease.

"Considering the limited efficacy of current drug therapies for heart failure, this discovery is both exciting and promising," said Burns C. Blaxall, Ph.D., associate professor within the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Medical Center, and senior author of the study. "We are now taking a closer look at how these compounds compare to standard heart failure therapies, such as beta blockers, to further determine their efficacy in treating the disease"......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

March 19, 2010, 7:36 AM CT

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator

A new treatment that reduces the risk of mortality and heart failure in patients with mild cardiac disease received a thumb's up this week from an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The panel recommended that the cardiac resynchronization treatment defibrillator (CRT-D), tested extensively nationwide under the leadership of heart specialist Arthur Moss, M.D., professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, be approved for use in patients with mild heart failure in the United States.

The device under review was developed by Boston Scientific and is already approved to treat patients with severe heart failure. With device approval by the FDA, nearly 4 million more Americans could be candidates for therapy with the CRT-D. The recommendations by its panels are often, but not always, followed by the FDA.

In the major study which tested the device - the MADIT-CRT trial - patients who had a cardiac resynchronization device combined with a defibrillator (CRT-D) implanted had a 34 percent reduction in their risk of death or heart failure in comparison to patients receiving only an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Heart failure alone was reduced by 41 percent in all patients, with a remarkable 63 percent reduction of heart failure in women. The study results were published last year in the New England Journal (NEJM)......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

March 14, 2010, 8:15 PM CT

Family history of obstructive coronary artery disease

In the largest study of its kind to date using cardiac computed tomography angiography, people with a family history of early signs of coronary artery disease are at higher risk of developing obstructive coronary artery disease and plaque in their arteries, Henry Ford Hospital scientists say.

Scientists analyzed the data from more than 8,200 patients who underwent cardiac computed tomography angiography and observed that those with a family history of coronary artery disease, or CAD, have a 28 percent chance of developing the disease themselves than those with no family history. Family history of CAD also was independently linked to an increased prevalence of plaque in the arteries.

The study is presented at the Sunday at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Atlanta.

"This is the first study to show that family history of premature coronary artery disease is a significant predictor of obstructive coronary artery disease using coronary computed tomography," says Mouaz Al-Mallah, M.D., director of Cardiac Imaging Research at Henry Ford and main author of the study.

While family history is a well-known risk factor for premature coronary artery disease, Henry Ford scientists examined whether family history was associated with obstructive coronary artery disease in patients who underwent cardiac computed tomography angiography, a diagnostic imaging tool that looks at the coronary arteries and evaluates the amount of blockage from plaque. For the study scientists analyzed data of patients using the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium, which is funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

March 12, 2010, 8:09 AM CT

Thyroid Hormone Analogue for Against High Cholesterol

An experimental thyroid drug reduces cholesterol without the troublesome side effects experienced by some people on statins, as per a research studypublished recently in The New England Journal (NEJM). An international team of researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the Karolinska University Hospital and Institute, and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research tested a substance called Eprotirome in patients with high cholesterol.

Following 189 people with high cholesterol over a three-month period, they found that it lowered cholesterol levels without the classic thyroid risks to the heart and bone, The study was supported by Karo Bio in Sweden, a company that is developing the drug for its cholesterol-lowering effects.

Over three decades, Irwin Klein, MD, an endocrinologist at the Feinstein Institute, has been at the forefront of researching the correlation between thyroid and heart health. It seemed that people with underactive thyroid glands also had high cholesterol levels. These high cholesterol levels were dramatically reduced with thyroid hormone replacement. But the problem in using thyroid hormone for cholesterol lowering is the side effects of an overactive thyroid gland: people can become anxious and have heart palpitations, muscle weakness and bone thinning......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

March 12, 2010, 8:03 AM CT

A New Beat in Heart Research

Sudden Cardiac Arrest syndrome (SCA) is poorly understood, but it's a real danger for the otherwise young and healthy. For no apparent reason, the heart suddenly stops beating, and without therapy death may follow within minutes. It's why some athletes drop dead on the track and why a young man, without any warning, suddenly dies while sitting at his desk. SCA accounts for approximately 300,000 deaths per year in the U.S.

Dr. Joel Hirsch of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biochemistry has teamed up with Prof. Bernard Attali of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine Department of Physiology and Pharmacology to investigate the cause and effects of the fatal syndrome. Not the same as a heart attack - in which heart muscles continue to pump, however erratically - SCA normally occurs with no warning.

This team is hot on the trail of understanding how a multi-gene syndrome, one of the causes for SCA, operates inside the body. Once they figure out how the disorder operates and describe its molecular system in detail, they hope to develop a drug or treatment to stop this condition before it strikes.

Solving the mystery of sudden death

"SCA is not as uncommon as most people think," Dr. Hirsch says. "It may explain a lot of mysterious occurrences in which people, even very young people, drop dead for no apparent reason. Doctors have started screening athletes for this condition, which can be exaggerated under physical exertion. Our research into the biological mechanisms of SCA can add to the toolbox of diagnostic possibilities - and we hope that it will help science find a new drug to treat it......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

February 10, 2010, 8:21 AM CT

Early life stress and heart disease

Early life stress could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, scientists report.

"We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," said Dr. Jennifer Pollock, biochemist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author on the study published online in Hypertension.

The studies in a proven model of chronic behavioral stress separating rat pups from their mother three hours daily for two weeks showed no long-term impact on key indicators of cardiovascular disease such as increased blood pressure, heart rate or inflammation in blood vessel walls.

But when the rats reached adulthood, an infusion of the hormone angiotensin II resulted in rapid and dramatic increases in all key indicators in animals that experienced early life stress. Stress activates the renin-angiotensin system which produces angiotensin II and is a major regulator of blood vessel growth and inflammation both heavily implicated in heart disease. "They cannot adapt to stress as well as a normal animal does," Dr. Pollock said. Within a few days, for example, blood pressure was nearly twice as high in the early-stress animals......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

February 8, 2010, 7:54 AM CT

Women with gout an risk of heart attack

Women with gout are at greater risk of a heart attack than men with the disease, indicates research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Gout is known to boost the risk of a heart attack in men. But to date, little has been known about the impact of gout on women's cardiovascular health.

Gout is common and caused by inflammation in the joints as a result of excess uric acid deposits. Uric acid is a by-product of purines, which are abundant in a Western diet.

Obesity, weight gain, high alcohol intake, high blood pressure, poorly functioning kidneys and certain drugs can all precipitate its development.

The authors base their findings on a population study of more than 9500 gout patients and 48, 000 people without the disease, aged 65 and older.

All participants were drawn from the Canadian British Columbia Linked Health Database, which covers the entire province of British Columbia (population 4.5 million) and contains long term information on healthcare use.

The cardiovascular health of all the participants was tracked for an average of seven years, during which time 3268 fatal and non-fatal heart attacks occurred. Of these, just under a third (996) were in women.

Compared with women who did not have gout, those who did were 39% more likely to have a heart attack of any kind and 41% more likely to have a non-fatal heart attack......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

February 4, 2010, 8:07 AM CT

Tiny Constraints In Heart Blood Flow

Heart specialists and heart imaging specialists at 15 medical centers in eight countries, and led by scientists at Johns Hopkins, have enrolled the first dozen patients in a year-long investigation to learn whether the subtle squeezing of blood flow through the inner layers of the heart is better than traditional SPECT nuclear imaging tests and other diagnostic radiology procedures for accurately tracking the earliest signs of coronary artery clogs.

Each year, nearly 800,000 American men and women with coronary artery disease suffer a heart attack, resulting in more than 150,000 deaths.

The latest international study of so-called CT perfusion imaging will involve the participation of some 400 men and women identified as being at higher risk of coronary artery disease because they have had symptoms of the illness, such as shortness of breath, chest pain or fatigue. All qualify for a more detailed inspection of their heart's blood vessels by cardiac catheterization, an invasive procedure in which a thin plastic tube is directly inserted into the heart's blood vessels to detect blockages and help widen each artery as needed.

"Our study goal is to figure out how well various imaging tests measure the degree of blockage or narrowing in any particular artery and therefore which is more useful in predicting patients who need catheterization or angioplasty, or bypass surgery," says heart specialist and senior study investigator João Lima, M.D. "Some patients would do just as well or better with drug treatment to maintain a healthy blood flow to the heart, but we need to better sort out who they are with more accuracy"......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

February 3, 2010, 8:05 AM CT

Lifestyle changes for teens critical

Pamphlets detailing the warning signs linked to heart disease may soon end up in an unexpected location: your child's pediatrician's office. As per new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five American teens has at least one risk factor for developing heart disease in adulthood.

With heart health front-and-center this month in honor of American Heart Month, most media coverage will focus on at-risk adults. But that's a mistake as per Sarah Wally, a dietitian with the National Association for Margarine Manufacturers.

"Eventhough heart disease is typically diagnosed in adulthood, its roots often begin in childhood," says Wally. "Heart disease is the result of a lifelong process and intervention strategies to reduce risk should begin as early as possible."

The new CDC report, released earlier this year, highlights the need to intervene early. The report reveals that twenty percent of children and teens in the U.S. have an abnormal lipid profile a sign of high triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol or high levels of bad cholesterol and a strong marker for future heart disease risk.

Small changes in daily habits are the key to helping young Americans modify their risk of heart disease, as per Wally. "Incremental changes in diet and exercise habits are much more effective and successful over the long term," she says. "Something as simple as swapping from butter to a soft spread margarine can have a lasting impact in improving the nutritional quality of your diet"......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

January 19, 2010, 8:30 AM CT

Nanoparticles that can cling to artery walls

Scientists at MIT and Harvard Medical School have built targeted nanoparticles that can cling to artery walls and slowly release medicine, an advance that potentially provides an alternative to drug-releasing stents in some patients with cardiovascular disease.

The particles, dubbed "nanoburrs" because they are coated with tiny protein fragments that allow them to stick to target proteins, can be designed to release their drug payload over several days. They are one of the first such particles that can precisely home in on damaged vascular tissue, says Omid Farokhzad, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an author of a paper describing the nanoparticles in the Jan. 18 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Farokhzad and MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer, also an author of the paper, have previously developed nanoparticles that seek out and destroy tumors.

The nanoburrs are targeted to a specific structure, known as the basement membrane, which lines the arterial walls and is only exposed when those walls are damaged. Therefore, the nanoburrs could be used to deliver drugs to treat atherosclerosis and other inflammatory cardiovascular diseases. In the current study, the team used paclitaxel, a drug that inhibits cell division and helps prevent the growth of scar tissue that can clog arteries......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

January 14, 2010, 8:14 AM CT

Gender-biased heart damage

A man's male hormones may ward off heart damage by helping vessels around the heart regenerate, suggest Australian scientists in a report posted January 13 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org).

While studies have shown that estrogen helps blood vessels regenerate, both in the uterus after menstruation and around the heart after wear and tear, little is known about whether or not men make up for a lack of the female hormone. Some scientists have theorized that this disparity accounts for why men tend to suffer worse heart attacks more often and earlier in life than women. However, Sieveking and his colleagues find that this trend appears to be due to a drop in androgens, a collective term for male hormones, as men age.

Cells derived from the umbilical cord of a human male fetus responded to androgens by moving and multiplyingactivities linked to new vessel growth. Furthermore, castrated mice, which produced fewer androgens, fared poorly after the scientists inflicted vessel damage intended to resemble injuries that occur during a heart attack or a stroke. And treating the castrated mice with androgens hastened their recovery.

Therefore, the authors suggest that androgen replacement treatment might one day be used to treat men at risk for heart disease. The treatment currently receives attention for possibly inducing other rejuvenating benefits, such as increased energy and muscle mass. However, it's been approached with caution as androgens have been shown to assist in tumor growth in prostate cancerperhaps by stimulating tumor-promoting vessel growth......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

January 12, 2010, 8:54 AM CT

Growth factor also protects heart

A growth factor that is a common target of cancer drugs also plays an important role in the heart's response to stress, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report online this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation

In a number of cancers, the body makes too much platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), a type of protein that controls cell growth, allowing cancer cells to increase uncontrollably. Several chemotherapy agents, including Sutent(r) (sunitinib), Nexavar(r) (sorafenib) and Gleevec(r) (imatinib), work by targeting and inhibiting PDGFR. This slows the growth of cancer - as well as angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels.

"Recently, some of these targeted anti-cancer drugs have been linked to heart failure," said Aarif Khakoo, M.D., assistant professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Cardiology and corresponding author on the study, said. "But the role of PDGFR signaling in the heart has been largely unexplored until now."

In this study, Khakoo and colleagues showed that, while PDGFR-inhibiting agents may slow the growth of cancer cells, they also may impair the heart's ability to respond to stress. Since these agents also often cause elevated blood pressure, this causes a double bind of added stress to the heart and lessened capacity to deal with this stress......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

October 29, 2009, 5:44 PM CT

Finding the Right Insurancespecialists

If you are looking for an auto insurance coverage, it is very important for you to research on various insurance specialists available on the internet. You could also compare the policies and their features in the available insurancespecialists websites. You will actually become an expert of some sort if you are willing to put in a bit of time and efforts.

Many people do not have complete information on the coverage types and they end up making the wrong decisions. It becomes even more difficult if they associate themselves with the insurance agents who are looking to make quick money.

Primarily, you will need to plan carefully so that you do not get end up paying more than what is really needed.

Some vital information that you will need to know before talking to anyone in the insurance business includes:.

Complete coverage:.

This is an added extra which can be added on top of your existing insurance coverage. It is going to cost you more but it will give you coverage for those unexpected events like natural calamities, fire, objects falling, and burglary.

Various insurances will have different comprehensive levels of coverage and therefore it is very important for you to consult the right insurancespecialists before buying any policies......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

May 8, 2009, 5:25 AM CT

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 validated CHD analysis model (the IMPACT mortality model) to official Icelandic death statistics, national quality registers, published trials and meta-analyses, clinical audits and a series of national population surveys.2.

Results of the study are presented at EuroPRevent 2009 and show that approximately three-quarters of the mortality decrease in Iceland was attributable to reductions in risk factors throughout the general population. These were principally (36%) in the reduction of cholesterol levels, smoking (20%) and systolic blood pressure (26%) and in the greater uptake of physical activity (5%).

In addition, approximately one quarter of the decrease in CHD deaths in Iceland was attributable to therapy in individuals - 7% to secondary prevention (ie, medical therapy or surgery following a heart attack or other CHD event), 6% to therapys for heart failure, 5% to initial therapys of acute coronary syndrome, and 1% to treating hypertension......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source

April 27, 2009, 5:25 AM CT

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 beating heart cells. Using a clever approach, the research team led by Benoit Bruneau, Ph.D., observed that a combination of three genes could do the trick. This is the first time any combination of factors has been found to activate cardiac differentiation in mammalian cells or tissues.

"The heart has very little regenerative capacity after it has been damaged," said Dr. Bruneau. "With heart disease the leading cause of death in the Western world, this is a significant first step in understanding how we might create new cells to repair a damaged heart".

Two of the three genes encode proteins called transcription factors, which are master regulators that bind to DNA and determine which genes get activated or shut off. The two transcription factors, GATA4 and TBX5, cause human heart disease when mutated and also cooperate with each other to control other genes. When Dr. Bruneau and postdoctoral fellow Jun K. Takeuchi added different combinations of transcription factors to mouse cells, these two seemed important for pushing cells into heart cellsbut they were not enough......... Posted by: April      Read more         Source