Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Latest Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Metabolic Syndrome, a map of the cardiovascular damage

The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities with abdominal obesity (increased waist circumference) at its centre. Although all forms of obesity have a negative impact on human health, metabolic syndrome describes a set of particularly adverse biochemical changes accompanying (abdominal) obesity.

5 Sep 2005

Chernobyl: The True Scale of the Accident

A total of up to four thousand people could eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident nearly 20 years ago, an international team of more than 100 scientists has concluded.

5 Sep 2005

Nurse-led multidisciplinary programme can help coronary patients and their families to reduce their risk of major cardiovascular disease

Early results from the EuroAction hospital project, announced today at the European Society of Cardiology, demonstrate how a nurse-led multidisciplinary programme, organised in busy general hospitals, can help coronary patients and their families to reduce their risk of major cardiovascular disease (CVD).

5 Sep 2005

Advice to cardiac patients regarding sports and exercise

Increased levels of physical activity are known today to be one of the most powerful protective factors against cardiovascular disease and its progression.

5 Sep 2005

Vitamin B may do more harm than good in heart attack patients

Researchers from Norway have found that treating patients who have had a heart attack with high doses of B vitamins does not lower the risk of getting another heart attack or stroke. Contrary to expectations, B vitamins may do more harm than good.

5 Sep 2005

New blood pressure-lowering drugs reduce stroke risk by 50%

According to researchers the new types of blood pressure-lowering drugs are more effective in preventing strokes and heart attacks and save even more lives.

5 Sep 2005

Low doses of the active form of vitamin D and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs form one-two punch against prostate cancer cells

Low doses of the active form of vitamin D and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, taken in combination, have been shown to act as a powerful one-two punch that knocks down the growth of prostate cancer cells.

1 Sep 2005

Data show that HIV-infected older people not taking HAART have double the risk of death

HIV is often regarded as a disease of young people, due to its status as a drug-related or sexually transmitted disease. However, the number of people over age 50 who are infected with HIV is significant--and growing--according to an article in the Sept. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

30 Aug 2005

Viagra fights heart and lung diseases

German researchers have reported on the impact of Viagra on pulmonary hypertension at the Frontiers of Vascular Medicine Conference at Monash University this week.

30 Aug 2005

Aspirin shown to be beneficial before heart surgery

Surgeons who have been advising their patients to avoid taking aspirin in the days before surgery because they feared it could cause bleeding, will be reassured by the results of a new study.

30 Aug 2005

Blocking Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) with anticancer drugs

A class of anticancer drugs currently being evaluated in phase 3 clinical trials may also be an effective treatment for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), a fatal genetic disorder that causes premature aging.

29 Aug 2005

Drugs known as farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) may hold promise for premature aging disorder

In a surprising development, a research team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), has found that a class of experimental anti-cancer drugs also shows promise in laboratory studies for treating a fatal genetic disorder that causes premature aging.

29 Aug 2005

New understanding of role cholesterol plays in causing heart attacks, strokes

Research by a Michigan State University cardiologist published in the September edition of Clinical Cardiology has shed new light on the role that cholesterol plays in causing heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events in humans.

29 Aug 2005

UCI study helps identify one reason why women have lower stroke risk than men

Estrogen's role as an inhibitor of toxic-free radicals in cerebral blood vessels may be a key reason why premenopausal women have a lower stroke risk than men.

26 Aug 2005

Call for closer examination of a metabolic syndrome

Two major health organizations in Europe and the United States are calling for closer examination of a syndrome that has been widely believed to predict the risk of developing heart disease, questioning whether it has been appropriately defined and whether it is in fact a syndrome at all.

25 Aug 2005

Experimental immunusuppressant drug preserves transplanted kidneys

An international team of transplant physicians has shown that the investigational drug belatacept (LEA29Y) preserves transplanted kidney function as effectively as cyclosporine, the drug most commonly used to prevent the immune system from rejecting transplanted organs.

24 Aug 2005