Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Evidence explains relationship between television and poor diet in children

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Children's Hospital Boston found that kids who spend more time watching television also eat more of the calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods advertised on television. Previous studies had demonstrated that children who watch more television are more likely to be overweight, but this is the first time a research team has found evidence for a mechanism explaining that relationship.

26 Apr 2006

New drug may revolutionize how chronic iron overload is treated in chronic anemia patients

Those with severe chronic anemias need frequent blood transfusions to remain healthy, but such frequent transfusions can cause a potentially deadly buildup of iron in the body, leading to heart and liver failure. The traditional treatment to remove excess iron is so onerous that many patients choose to forgo it, putting their own lives at risk. The results of an international study on deferasirox, a new drug that may revolutionize the way chronic iron overload is treated, will be published in the May 1, 2006, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

26 Apr 2006

Blood pressure readings lower if patients are allowed to relax and be comfortable

According to a new study from a team of nurses headed by Melly Turner, R.N., systolic blood pressure can be an average of 14 points higher when taken immediately after arriving in the exam room and sitting on an examination table rather than sitting in a chair with your back supported and feet flat on the floor. In fact, all study participants had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements when seated in a chair versus the exam table.

26 Apr 2006

Children of snorers, three times as likely to snore themselves

Children of parents who snore are three times more likely to snore themselves, according to a new study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Furthermore, children who test positive for allergies are twice as likely to snore.

26 Apr 2006

Vegan diets more enivronmentally friendly than meat based diets

The food that people eat is just as important as what kind of cars they drive when it comes to creating the greenhouse-gas emissions that many scientists have linked to global warming, according to a report accepted for publication in the journal Earth Interactions.

26 Apr 2006

Alternative anti-inflammatory drugs promise less cardiovascular problems

New type of anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce COX-2 cardiovascular problems, says Queen's researcher

25 Apr 2006

New method allows heart beat triggers to be viewed and better understood

Researchers have developed unique chemical dyes that have made it possible to see what the naked eye has never seen before: action potentials, or voltage changes, of cardiac cells - including those deep inside the heart, which trigger and determine the pace of heartbeats.

25 Apr 2006

Study shows drugs work differently in the brains of men and women

A Johns Hopkins discovery could lead to tailored treatments for drug abuse and neurological diseases after providing what is believed to be the first evidence in people that amphetamines have a greater effect on men's brains than women's.

24 Apr 2006

Direct link between childhood obesity and junk food advertising

A team of researchers from the Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) and the Children's Hospital in Boston have found that children who spend more time watching TV were more likely to eat more of the calorie-dense, low nutrient foods advertised on television.

24 Apr 2006

Research into toxins points to development of better medicines

Researchers have combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy with special protein synthesis procedures to uncover how potassium channels and toxins combine and change in structure. This work could make it possible to develop medications for high blood pressure and many other diseases connected to potassium channel failure .

23 Apr 2006

Birth defects from rubella almost eradicated in the USA

Congenital rubella syndrome, a birth defect caused by the rubella virus (also known as German measles), has practically been eliminated in the U.S., according to a statement published in the April 2006 issue of Birth Defects Research Part A, the official journal of The Teratology Society.

23 Apr 2006

Protein discovery opens up new therapeutic possibilities for epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases

UC Irvine researchers have found that a protein best known for building connections between nerve cells and muscle also plays a role in controlling brain cell activity.

23 Apr 2006

HRT can reduce heart attacks by about one-third in women under age 60

For the last few years, women have heard conflicting reports about the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). A new study that analyzes many trials together concludes that HRT can reduce heart attacks by about one-third in women under age 60 but has mixed results for older women.

23 Apr 2006

Hypnotherapy relieves chest pain not linked to heart disease

According to a small study in the UK, hypnotherapy was helpful in relieving the angina-like chest pain experienced by some people which is not caused by heart disease.

23 Apr 2006

Australian scientists tackle deadly Q fever

Scientists at James Cook University have taken the lead in developing a new vaccine against a highly infectious cattleyard disease caused by a bacteria which has the potential to be developed as a bioterrorist weapon.

20 Apr 2006

Corticosteroids do not improve survival in patients with late-stage acute respiratory distress syndrome

The study is the first multi-center randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effects of moderate doses of steroids in ARDS patients when treatment is started 7 days or more after the onset of the condition.

20 Apr 2006

Genetic data from an island population proves to be a useful tool in understanding disease

With fewer than 4,000 residents, the genetically isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae, in the West Pacific, provides an ideal population in which to research heritability of disease.

20 Apr 2006

Muscles burn lactic acid as well as carbos

In the lore of marathoners and extreme athletes, lactic acid is poison, a waste product that builds up in the muscles and leads to muscle fatigue, reduced performance and pain.

20 Apr 2006

New design lets mini-microscope observe cells in vivo

Two eyes are better than one. Or more precisely, two lines of sight are better than one. That's the word from researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, who have applied this adage to the design of a tiny microscope that is about the size of an M&M.

20 Apr 2006