http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/ New Article Alert From From Heart watch blog Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT en-us http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/images/blogs/heart-news-new-alert-62780.jpg http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/ 100 74 http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/macadamia-nuts-for-healthy-heart.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/macadamia-nuts-for-healthy-heart.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Macadamia nuts included in a heart healthy diet reduced low-density cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and should be included among nuts with qualified health claims, as per researchers. "We looked at macadamia nuts because they are not currently included in the health claim for tree nuts, while other tree nuts are currently recommended as part of a heart healthy diet," says Dr. Amy E. Griel, a recent Penn State Ph.D. recipient in nutrition and now senior nutrition scientist at The Hershey Company. "Macadamia nuts have higher levels of monosaturated fats, like those found in olive oil compared with other tree nuts"........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/neuroprotective-effect-of-lovastatin.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/neuroprotective-effect-of-lovastatin.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease including stroke. Therefore, a number of cholesterol lowering drugs have been developed by pharmaceutical companies in recent years. One class of these drugs, statins, has been found to reduce the occurence rate of stroke and progression of Alzheimers disease when prophylactically administered........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/mutations-protect-against-hypertension.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/mutations-protect-against-hypertension.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists have observed that rare mutations in three genes contribute to blood pressure variation in the general population. Typically the researchers had previously shown that mutations in the three salt handling genes cause several rare diseases that are characterized by low blood pressure. By sequencing DNA samples obtained from 3,125 people who are participating in the Framingham Heart Study, the scientists identified new functional mutations in these three genes that are likely to be carried by an estimated 100 million people worldwide........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/normal-weight-obesity-an-emerging-risk-factor.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/normal-weight-obesity-an-emerging-risk-factor.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT More than half of American adults considered to have normal body weight in America have high body fat percentages -- greater than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women -- as well as heart and metabolic disturbances, new Mayo Clinic research shows. The finding conflicts with the widely held belief that maintaining a normal weight automatically guards against disorders such as high levels of circulating blood fats and a tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, which often leads to type 2 diabetes........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/ecg-standards-should-be-revised-for-elderly.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/ecg-standards-should-be-revised-for-elderly.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Scientists at Mayo Clinic suggest that the established normal ranges for evaluating electrocardiograms for persons over 80 years old should be revisited. The recommendation comes as per a research findings published recently in the American Journal of Geriatric Cardiology. After analyzing readings from more than 700 patients 80 or older, the scientists discovered that the average cutoffs (beginning and end points) for measuring all three ECG intervals -- PR, QRS and QT -- were greater than the current established norms. The findings also showed that the intervals, while greater in general, were significantly higher in men. The intervals refer to the times between recorded peaks of the specific motions in a heartbeat as represented on an electrocardiogram........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/cannabis-based-medicines-may-help-smokers-to-quit.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/cannabis-based-medicines-may-help-smokers-to-quit.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, according to research from The University of Nottingham. Teams of pharmacologists, studying the cannabis-like compounds which exist naturally in our bodies (endocannabinoids), are exploring the potential for medical treatment. This includes treating conditions as diverse as obesity, diabetes, depression and addiction to substances like nicotine........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/frequency-of-drinking-influence-mortality-risk.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/frequency-of-drinking-influence-mortality-risk.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT How much and how often people drink not just the average amount of alcohol they consume over time independently influence the risk of death from several causes, as per a new study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "Taken together, our results reinforce the importance of drinking in moderation. In drinkers who are not alcohol dependent, the majority of U.S. drinkers, alcohol quantity and frequency might be thought of as modifiable risk factors for mortality, the scientists conclude........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/depression-and-heart-attack-patients.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/depression-and-heart-attack-patients.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Depressed heart attack patients have a higher risk for sudden death in the months following a heart attack. Now a team led by scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has observed that the risk continues for a number of years. "There's a two- to four-fold increase in a person's risk of dying following a heart attack if they also happen to be depressed," says Robert. M. Carney, Ph.D., lead author of the new study and professor of psychiatry at Washington University. "Previously we thought the impact of depression was strongest for the first three to six months following a heart attack and then gradually dropped off within a couple of years. Instead, we observed that the effect lasts for at least five years."....... ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/low-fat-diets-to-reduce-risk-of-heart-disease.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/low-fat-diets-to-reduce-risk-of-heart-disease.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Low-fat diets are more effective in preserving and promoting a healthy cardiovascular system than low-carbohydrate, Atkins-like diets, as per a new study by scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The study, reported in the February edition of the scientific journal Hypertension, was led by David D. Gutterman, M.D., Northwestern Mutual Professor of Cardiology, professor of medicine and physiology, and senior associate dean of research at the Medical College. Shane Phillips, M.D., a former Cardiology faculty member at the Medical College, and now assistant professor in the department of physical treatment at the University of Illinois - Chicago, was the lead author........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/heart-attack-rates-fall-following.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/heart-attack-rates-fall-following.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT 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........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/heart-attack-care-improves-treatment.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/heart-attack-care-improves-treatment.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Heart attack patients received lifesaving care up to an hour sooner after an Indiana hospital implemented a novel protocol to rapidly activate the cardiac catheterization lab, scientists reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In comparison to the traditional protocol, patients arrived at the cardiac catheterization lab ("cath lab") sooner for artery-opening procedures, had less heart damage and shorter hospital stays. The new protocol also reduced the cost of care........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/uncertain-about-care-for-heart-failure-patients.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/uncertain-about-care-for-heart-failure-patients.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Less than one fourth of physicians specializing in geriatrics, internal or family medicine or cardiology believe they can accurately predict the whether patients with heart failure are at risk of dying, new Saint Louis University research found. The ability to determine whether patients are within six months of death is crucial to clinical care, impacting key patient-care decisions such as therapeutic approaches and referral for palliative care, which is focused on symptom relief rather than cure........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/to-receive-new-heart-valve.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/to-receive-new-heart-valve.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT A 78-year-old St. Louis woman was the first patient in this region to receive an experimental device to replace her defective aortic valve without opening the chest wall or using a heart-lung machine. This procedure waccording toformed by Washington University cardiologists at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Jan. 15........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/heart-attack-for-who-are-resistant-to-aspirin.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/heart-attack-for-who-are-resistant-to-aspirin.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Being resistant to aspirin makes patients four times more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or even die from a pre-existing heart condition, as per a research studypublished on bmj.com today. The study relates to patients who are prescribed aspirin long term as a way of preventing clots from forming in the blood........ ]]> http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/high-blood-pressure-in-older-adults.html http://www.heart-watch-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/high-blood-pressure-in-older-adults.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:35:47 GMT Researchers have identified the gene that sets off a sequence of events in the blood vessels of otherwise healthy adults that can lead to high blood pressure. The disease process eventually makes conditions in vessels ripe for the creation of blockages that can cause heart attacks, strokes and circulatory problems........ ]]>