Breast cancer awareness andcardiovascular awarenessWomen 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 10/11/2007 10:35:44 PM)
Chronic job stress doubles the risk of a second heart attackPeople who experience chronic job strain after a first heart attack double their risk of suffering from a second one, reports a research team from Universit Lavals Faculty of Medicine in the October 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
This study is the first to clearly demonstrate the risks linked to job strain for workers who have been victim of a first heart attack. Research had previously shown a relationship........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/10/2007 4:48:59 AM)
Stem cell therapy for heart patientsUniversity of Florida doctors on Wednesday (Oct. 3) treated their first patient enrolled in a new study designed to test whether injecting stem cells into the heart helps restore blood flow to the organ by prompting new blood vessels to grow.
UF scientists plan to test the experimental treatment in people with severe coronary artery disease and daily chest pain who have not responded to traditional medications or surgical procedures designed........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/4/2007 9:40:19 PM)
Depression, Aging, Proteins And Heart DiseaseScientists here have linked an increase in two immune system proteins essential for inflammation to a latent viral infection and proposed a chain of events that might accelerate cardiovascular disease.
The same process may be involved in a host of other ailments plaguing the elderly.
The findings also suggest that chronic depression may play a key role in starting the cascade that can lead to the buildup of plaques clogging coronary........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/1/2007 9:56:56 PM)
Reduce risk of cardiac event before surgeryPeople with heart disease should take special precautions before undergoing any kind of surgery, even noncardiac surgery, to reduce their risk of a cardiac event, as per new joint guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association 2007 Guidelines on Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation and Care for Noncardiac Surgery will be published online........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/27/2007 9:48:50 PM)
Rehabilitation after heart attackWaltham, MA Despite good evidence that cardiac rehabilitation reduces disability and prolongs life, fewer than one in five people receive rehabilitation services after a heart attack or coronary bypass surgery, as per a Brandeis study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
We need to find ways to increase the use of cardiac rehabilitation, because it is used very little by patients who could benefit a lot, said Jose A.........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/25/2007 8:37:35 PM)
Tissue-engineered Heart Structures For ChildrenInfants 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 9/12/2007 8:12:46 PM)
Two drugs equally effective for heart patientsIn lifesaving procedures to open blocked heart arteries a key question haccording tosisted for years: Is use of the more expensive drug, abciximab, justified over use of the less-expensive eptifibatide".
A new Mayo Clinic study would be reported in the current edition of Value in Health, Volume 11, Issue 4 and now available as an e-publication, offers clinicians the first large-scale contemporary study to help answer the question. The study........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/10/2007 9:23:37 PM)
Preventing 4 In 10 Premature Heart AttacksScreening 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 9/6/2007 9:52:45 PM)
Triage Guidelines For Emergency Heart PatientsTwo 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 8/31/2007 4:58:51 AM)
Hypertension frequently undiagnosed in childrenIn a study of children and adolescents with hypertension, only about one in four had been previously diagnosed with the condition, according to a study in the August 22/29 issue of JAMA.
Hypertension, with an estimated prevalence of between 2 percent and 5 percent, is a common chronic disease in children and is increasing in prevalence with the pediatric obesity epidemic. Diagnosis of hypertension in children is complicated because normal........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/21/2007 6:18:35 PM)
Estrogen Deficiency, Obesity And High Blood PressureAt menopause, women lose hormone protection against heart (cardiovascular) and kidney (renal) diseases, and are likely to become obese. A research team has tested the idea that estrogen deficiency in aged females may trigger the development of hypertension and obesity. The results of their study, using an animal model, suggest that estrogen depletion can have these effects.
The study is entitled, "Role of Estrogens in Postmenopausal Obesity........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/8/2007 6:54:52 PM)
High Blood Pressure Problems Largely MisunderstoodThe distrust of healthcare providers shown by people with hypertension impedes effective therapy, as emphasized in a new study published in Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. In a systematic review and metasynthesis of eleven qualitative studies published between 2000 and 2005, including more than 500 patients, significant and problematic differences were identified in beliefs about the presence of symptoms, the need to........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/6/2007 5:41:21 PM)
Shorter heart health programs just as effectiveSecondary 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 8/3/2007 9:55:53 PM)
Cholesterol-lowering drugs don't offset healthy choicesWithin the medical field, it is often assumed that patients view cholesterol-lowering medications (or statins) as a license to eat whatever they like -- they figure their medicine has them covered, so a steak here and there wont hurt. However, a study reported in the recent issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds that such patients dont tend to adopt unhealthy diets when prescribed statins.
Scientists also observed that some patients were........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/1/2007 8:48:19 PM)
ICDs effective in helping to prevent sudden cardiac deathHigh-risk patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy appear to have reduced risk of sudden cardiac death with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator that terminates dangerous heart rhythm disorders, as per a research studyin the July 25 issue of JAMA.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people, including trained athletes. HCM is a genetic disease in which the heart muscle thickens........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/25/2007 5:17:28 AM)
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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 6:36:30 PM)
Diet and regular soft drinks increase risk for heart diseaseDrinking 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 5:39:36 PM)
SMS your ECG to ERA 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,........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 7/17/2007 10:43:49 PM)
Can heart tissue be regenerated?When human hearts are injured, as during a heart attack, healthy tissue normally can't regrow. Scientists now demonstrate in rats that a sponge-like patch, soaked in a compound called periostin and placed over the injury, can not only get heart cells to begin dividing and making copies of themselves again, but also improves heart function. Their findings are reported in the July 15 online edition of Nature Medicine.
Periostin is a component........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/17/2007 10:28:00 PM)
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Taking the stress outStress tests are good front-line tests indicators of heart disease, but just how good depends on ordering the right one, scientists say.
Thirty percent of all women, for example, have a false positive exercise treadmill test, in which they walk for several minutes at a slightly increasing incline with an electrocardiogram measuring the electrical activity of the heart, they say.
So if you are female, I put you on a treadmill and the waves........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/11/2007 10:39:44 PM)
Cardiovascular benefit for people with chronic kidney diseaseNew research, published recently in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology by The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, has observed that lowering blood pressure protects stroke victims with Chronic Kidney Disease from further strokes or heart attacks. Given the high risk of cardiovascular complications in people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), these results have significant implications for millions of people across........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/8/2007 3:50:23 PM)
Algorithms to reanimate the heartWhen an adult suffers a cardiorespiratory arrest the rapid application of an electrical discharge with a defibrillator can avoid sudden death in a number of cases. Nevertheless, defibrillation also has its impediment or enemy: time. For every minute that passes from the moment of the attack, the possibilities of survival drop by 10%. This is why, in order to avoid avoidable deaths, more and more easy-to-handle, automatic defibrillators are........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/2/2007 10:30:09 PM)
Hearts are experts at self-preservationBristol researchers have identified a heart protection mechanism in mice that surgeons and cardiologists may be able to exploit to improve treatments for patients in future.
The research, published in the recent issue of the American journal Critical Care Medicine, was funded by the British Heart Foundation and conducted by Saadeh Suleiman, Professor of Cardiac Physiology at the University of Bristol, and his colleagues at the Bristol Heart........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 10/1/2007 5:45:36 AM)
Climate may increase heat-related deathsWhile 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 9/27/2007 9:49:49 PM)
How a statin drug reduces cholesterol and fat?Researchers have provided new details about how a drug used against heart disease helps to unclog blood vessels from an excess of cholesterol and fats. The results help explain how the drug works and may provide ways to improve similar drugs in the future.
A type of white blood cell called macrophage is responsible for the accumulation of fat in blood vessels, leading to inflammation and plaque formation on the inner linings of the vessel.........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/18/2007 5:06:33 AM)
Metabolic syndrome and uric-acid kidney stonesResearchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that patients suffering from the metabolic syndrome - a cluster of conditions that increases the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes - also have a propensity to develop highly acidic urine, which increases the risk of developing kidney stones.
The first study, to demonstrate this relationship independent of age and renal function, appears in the recent issue of the Clinical........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/14/2007 5:21:20 AM)
Natural aorta grafts have few side effectsA 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,........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 9/10/2007 9:14:30 PM)
Risk of heart failure while on imatinibCongestive heart failure rarely occurs among leukemia patients who take imatinib, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found after an exhaustive review of the detailed medical histories of 1,276 patients who enrolled in clinical trials for the drug.
Scientists found 22 patients, or 1.7 percent, had symptoms that could have been caused by heart failure. Of those, 18 had prior medical conditions that could also........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 9/6/2007 9:41:11 PM)
Early treatment can reverse heart damageUniversity of Minnesota scientists have discovered that treating people who have early cardiovascular abnormalities, but show no symptoms of cardiovascular disease, can slow progression and even reverse damage to the heart and blood vessels.
In a recent double-blind study, scientists enrolled 76 asymptomatic subjects with early markers for cardiovascular disease, based on a 10-factor scale called the Rasmussen Disease Score. During the first........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/27/2007 9:25:02 PM)
High blood pressure, low energy- a recipe for heart failureAug. 10, 2007 -- A number of people with long-standing hypertension develop heart failure. But some don't. Daniel P. Kelly, M.D., and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions are trying to figure out what could explain that difference.
Their latest research reveals that impaired energy production in heart muscle may underlie heart failure in some hypertensive patients. The scientists........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/10/2007 7:10:16 AM)
Gender, Genes And Blood PressureA number of common diseases exhibit gender bias and gender differences have been observed in the development of hypertension (hypertension) and heart (cardiovascular) disease. Prior studies have reported that gender may affect vascular physiology and the body's response to some types of blood pressure medications. Eventhough gender is commonly accounted for in association studies, newer research has focused on identifying autosomal (not on........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/8/2007 7:57:03 PM)
Biomarker For Heart Failure Predicts Risk Of DeathA potential new biomarker for heart failure may be more powerful than established measures in identifying patients at increased risk for death from several causes. In a report to appear in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that has received early online release, an international research team describes finding that blood levels of a protein called ST2 both indicate the presence of heart failure among patient with shortness of........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/6/2007 5:39:16 PM)
New heart attack guidelinesThe 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 8/6/2007 5:38:05 PM)
Many heart attack patients still not getting clot-busting treatmentFar more of todays heart attack patients receive emergency angioplasty therapy or clot-busting drugs to re-open their clogged heart arteries than even a decade ago, a new study finds.
But 10 percent of patients who could benefit from this urgent therapy which is known to save lives and prevent lasting damage to the heart muscle dont get it at all, the study shows.
And the chance of missing out on lifesaving emergency therapy was highest........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 8/3/2007 5:03:13 AM)
Using stem cells to help heart attack victimsNew research at The University of Nottingham is paving the way for techniques that use stem cells to repair the damage caused by heart attacks.
The research, funded with a grant of 95,000 the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is looking at the process that turns a stem cell into a cardiomyocyte the beating cell that makes up the heart.
The Nottingham scientists are in the process of developing a new system........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/29/2007 9:39:04 PM)
Low Cholesterol Levels And CancerMillions of Americans take statins to lower their cholesterol, but how low should you go" A number of scientific studies support the benefits of lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and achieving low LDL cholesterol levels is one of the most important steps in preventing heart disease. New research, however, provides evidence for an association between low LDL levels and cancer risk.
The authors of the study, reported in the........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 6:40:13 PM)
One in 4 NYC adults has elevated blood mercury levelsA quarter of adult New Yorkers have elevated blood mercury levels, as per survey results released recently by the Health Department, and the elevations are closely tied to fish consumption. Asian and higher-income New Yorkers eat more fish, and have higher average mercury levels, than others both locally and nationally. These mercury levels pose little if any health risk for most adults, but may increase the risk of cognitive delays for........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 6:08:11 PM)
Exercise, exercise, rest, repeatTaking 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........Go to the Heart-news-blog (Added on 7/18/2007 9:40:19 PM)
Depression lingers for female heart attack victimsWomen who have suffered heart attacks have higher rates of lingering depressive symptoms in comparison to their male counterparts, a University of Alberta and McGill University study shows.
In surveying 486 patients, 102 of them female, the joint study observed that 14.3 per cent of the women had worsening depression one year after their initial myocardial infarctions, as in comparison to 11 per cent of the men. As well, the women scored........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 7/15/2007 9:34:04 PM)
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