http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/heart-watch-blog.html Heart watch blog From Heart watch blog Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT en-us http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/images/blogs/heart-watch-blog-76230.jpg http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/heart-watch-blog.html 100 65 http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/early-life-stress-and-heart-disease.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/early-life-stress-and-heart-disease.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/women-with-gout-an-risk-of-heart-attack.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/women-with-gout-an-risk-of-heart-attack.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/tiny-constraints-in-heart-blood-flow.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/tiny-constraints-in-heart-blood-flow.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/lifestyle-changes-for-teens-critical.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/lifestyle-changes-for-teens-critical.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/nanoparticles-that-can-cling-to-artery-walls.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/nanoparticles-that-can-cling-to-artery-walls.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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....... ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/gender-biased-heart-damage.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/gender-biased-heart-damage.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/growth-factor-also-protects-heart.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/growth-factor-also-protects-heart.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/finding-the-right-insurancespecialists.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/finding-the-right-insurancespecialists.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2009/massive-decline-in-coronary-death-in-iceland.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2009/massive-decline-in-coronary-death-in-iceland.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/how-new-heart-cells-are-created.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/how-new-heart-cells-are-created.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/exercise-for-patients-with-chronic-heart-failure.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/exercise-for-patients-with-chronic-heart-failure.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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 activity to standard medical treatment report a higher quality of life in comparison to similar patients who receive medical treatment only........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/reduce-depression-after-heart-surgery.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2009/reduce-depression-after-heart-surgery.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2009/why-that-patient-is-in-heart-failure.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2009/why-that-patient-is-in-heart-failure.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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 sodium and fluid that tax the cardiovascular system........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2009/genes-associated-with-sudden-cardiac-death.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2009/genes-associated-with-sudden-cardiac-death.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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, associate professor of biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2009/gene-associated-with-early-heart-attack.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2009/gene-associated-with-early-heart-attack.html Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:21:44 GMT 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........ ]]>