Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

Wall Street Journal examines women's health initiative findings on HRT's effect on heart attack risk

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined findings from the 15-year, $725 million NIH-sponsored Women's Health Initiative on hormone replacement therapy's effects on heart attack risk.

10 Jul 2007

More muscle for the argument to give up smoking

Researchers at The University of Nottingham have got more bad news for smokers. Not only does it cause cancer, heart attacks and strokes but smokers will also lose more muscle mass in old age than a non-smoker. The effect of this predisposes smokers to an accelerated decline in physical function and loss of independence.

9 Jul 2007

Low testosterone levels in post-menopausal women associated with heart disease

Post-menopausal women with lower levels of testosterone are more likely to suffer from heart disease. Research, published in the June edition of the European Journal of Endocrinology, shows that higher testosterone levels in post-menopausal women may have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease.

9 Jul 2007

Toronto gets serious about air quality

Residents in Toronto, Canada will soon have a new way of testing the air quality in their city.

9 Jul 2007

Noninvasive ultrasound used to check health of carotid arteries

Specialists with the Strong Women's Heart Program are expanding a study that considers the effects of a statin drug on metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases women's risk for heart disease and stroke.

9 Jul 2007

Study targets pharmacists to help diabetes sufferers

A new Wesley Research Institute project aims to make it much easier for people to manager their Type 2 Diabetes by using community pharmacists.

9 Jul 2007

Autophagy may accelerate decompensated heart failure

Autophagy, a normal process by which cells eat their own proteins to provide needed resources to the body in times of stress, may paradoxically cause harm to hearts already weakened by disease, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

9 Jul 2007

Scots of South Asian descent have increased risk of heart attacks

Scots of South Asian descent are significantly more likely to suffer a heart attack than the rest of the Scottish population, according to a report published in the online open access journal BMC Public Health.

9 Jul 2007

Researchers create flour enriched with varying levels of bran

Trying to get more fiber in your diet? Munching on cookies or tortillas probably doesn't come to mind.

9 Jul 2007

Exercise reduces inflammation

Although a number of studies have suggested that regular exercise reduces inflammation a condition that is predictive of cardiovascular and other diseases, such as diabetes it is still not clear whether there is a definitive link.

9 Jul 2007

Protein CD36 may be important to future weight-loss strategies

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein absorbs lipids in the upper part of the intestine, and they believe its key role in this process may provide a novel approach for obesity treatment in the future.

9 Jul 2007

People with damage to blood vessels in the brain more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease

A recent study in Journal of Neuroimaging suggests that cognitively normal adults exhibiting atrophy of their temporal lobe or damage to blood vessels in the brain are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

9 Jul 2007

QRISK score more accurate than Framingham or ASSIGN for heart attacks

A new score for predicting the risk of heart disease gives a more accurate measure of how many UK adults are at risk of developing the disease and which adults are most likely to benefit from treatment.

9 Jul 2007

Hospital operators may fail to steer people with stroke symptoms to call 9-1-1

Nearly a quarter of hospital or ,healthline, operators mistakenly routed a caller describing classic stroke symptoms to primary care doctors rather than to 9-1-1, according to a research project published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

9 Jul 2007

High-risk patients need improved guidance on heart attacks

Varying advice means patients at high-risk of having a heart attack are unclear about when symptoms are potentially life threatening and when they should call an ambulance, argue a group of heart specialists in this week's BMJ.

9 Jul 2007

Engineered blood vessels work like native tissue

Blood vessels that have been tissue-engineered from bone marrow adult stem cells may in the future serve as a patient's own source of new blood vessels following a coronary bypass or other procedures that require vessel replacement, according to new research from the University at Buffalo Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

9 Jul 2007