Heart News and Research

RSS

Wealthy kids are not always healthy kids

An international team of researchers from the UK, Estonia, Denmark and Norway, have found that children from poorer families are not necessarily less healthy than those with more affluent and better educated parents.

23 Jul 2005

Radioisotopes from scans can trigger airport radiation alarms

People having a scan that involves radioisotopes should be warned that they could set off security radiation alarms in airports for up to 30 days after the procedure, state the authors of a case report in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Jul 2005

One-day treatment with the anticancer drug carboplatin is as effective as radiotherapy for testicular cancer

One-day treatment with the anticancer drug carboplatin is as effective and less toxic than three weeks radiation therapy for a type of testicular cancer, according to a report published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Jul 2005

Food subsidies in Poland has led to a drastic drop in deaths from coronary heart disease

In 1991 the Polish government cut subsidies for saturated fats - i.e. from dairy and animal sources. Researchers examined how this affected diet in the general population, and whether there were any changes to death rates from heart disease.

21 Jul 2005

Wealth doesn't always equal health

Across Europe, children from poor families don't necessarily have worse health than children with more affluent and better educated parents, say researchers in this week's BMJ.

21 Jul 2005

Researchers discover type of "fuel" that the heart uses can contribute to the severity of heart failures

Researchers have determined how metabolic pathways differ between healthy and failing hearts. Normally, a heart derives its energy from a balance of fatty acids and carbohydrates, specifically glucose.

21 Jul 2005

Does the heart contain stem cells that are self-renewing?

If you've ever used a loofah in the shower, you've stirred up some stem cells. As the outer layer of skin sloughs off, stem cells in the dermis rush to repair and replace those buffed away.

21 Jul 2005

New research finds molecular link between obesity and diabetes

Researchers say they have discovered a molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and the link could be a potential target for new drugs to treat the disease.

21 Jul 2005

Stress test has less effect on blood vessels when hormone cortisol is blocked

Negative effects of the hormone cortisol on the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, may explain how stressful events trigger heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Heart attack patients: shedding pounds reduces risks

Heart attack patients with diabetes or a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors known as metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of another heart attack, stroke or death, but patients who lost weight after their heart attacks were less likely to become diabetic, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Good quality of life for cardiogenic shock patients after emergency procedures

Emergency bypass surgery or angioplasty procedures to counteract deadly complications that follow some heart attacks not only improve survival odds for cardiogenic shock patients, but the quality of life after such emergency revascularization procedures appears to be better than that of survivors who received less aggressive treatment, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Human dummy to teach medics

A new way to teach medical students will be demonstrated for the first time at Bristol University on 21 July 2005, during a joint meeting of the Physiological Society and the Federation of European Physiological Societies.

21 Jul 2005

Maintaining a healthy weight in children may be one good way to keep a healthy blood lipid profile and a happy heart

A study of 400 high school age children with a variety of fitness and fatness levels showed that fatter youths had unfavorable lipid profiles, including higher levels of triglycerides and higher ratios of total cholesterol to the protective HDL cholesterol or high density lipoprotein.

21 Jul 2005

Eighty-three percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition

Eighty-three percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition, such as congestive heart failure, Alzheimer's disease or diabetes. Two-thirds of Medicare spending is incurred by the 9.5 million beneficiaries with five or more chronic conditions. These percentages suggest that the Medicare program needs to address chronic conditions rather than the acute, episodic illnesses that have been the focus of the Medicare program since it began in 1966.

20 Jul 2005

Researchers have doubled the potency of a protein that drives blood to clot

...according to research to be published in the July 26 edition of Biochemistry. The study results may have profound implications for the treatment of hemophilia, the inherited blood disorder that causes easy or excessive bleeding in 30,000 Americans.

20 Jul 2005

Protein found in fat cells is a newly discovered cause of insulin resistance

A study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has shown that a protein found in fat cells is a newly discovered cause of insulin resistance, establishing a previously unidentified molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes and offering a potential new target for the development of drugs to treat diabetes.

20 Jul 2005

Evaluating how hospitals deliver medical care standardizes practices and improves care

In recent years, American hospitals have made significant improvements on standardized, evidence-based measures of clinical performance for several medical conditions, including heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.

20 Jul 2005

Quality of care in U.S. hospitals

Ashish Jha, assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, have for the first time assessed the quality of care in U.S. hospitals.

20 Jul 2005

University of Florida researcher finds way to explore role of microRNAs in specific tissue

University of Florida researchers have learned how to selectively shut down a flyweight-sized genetic molecule that packs a heavyweight punch, a discovery that may help doctors better understand cancer, birth defects and other health problems.

20 Jul 2005

Metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes

A new review of studies confirms that the drug metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes. Using metformin alone can improve control of blood glucose, while also reducing risk factors for heart disease such as excess body weight, cholesterol levels and hypertension, the review found.

20 Jul 2005