Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Stroke risk increases when children with sickle cell disease cease transfusions

Stopping regular blood transfusions in children with sickle cell disease who are at risk for a stroke means their stroke risk likely will return, researchers have found.

30 Dec 2005

MIT offer logitics solution to Flu vaccine shortages

Although the flu causes tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States, vaccine to fight the illness is often in short supply when the flu season is at its peak.

30 Dec 2005

Too high blood-thinner doses harmful to patients

According to a new analysis by cardiologists at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, in the prescribing of common but powerful anti-clotting drugs, 42 percent of patients rushed to emergency rooms with symptoms of a heart attack received doses intended to stop clotting in coronary arteries above the recommended range.

29 Dec 2005

University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism

As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.

29 Dec 2005

Molecular link between high fat diets and type 2 diabetes established

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a molecular link between a high-fat, Western-style diet, and the onset of type 2 diabetes. In studies in mice, the scientists showed that a high-fat diet disrupts insulin production, resulting in the classic signs of type 2 diabetes.

29 Dec 2005

Hyperbaric oxygen treatments mobilizes stem cells aiding injury repair

According to a study to be published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulation Physiology, a typical course of hyperbaric oxygen treatments increases by eight-fold the number of stem cells circulating in a patient's body.

29 Dec 2005

Childhood infections stunt growth and reduce life expectancy

Records from four European countries show that, on average, survivors of generations with rampant childhood infection - measured by cohort mortality rates at young ages - were shorter and died sooner than counterparts from generations with less childhood disease.

28 Dec 2005

Misdosing anti-clotting drugs leads to heart attack symptoms

Because of inaccuracies in prescribing, 42 percent of patients rushed to emergency rooms with symptoms of a heart attack received doses of powerful drugs intended stop clotting in coronary arteries outside of the recommended range, a new analysis by Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) cardiologists has found.

28 Dec 2005

Post cardiac surgery heart irregularities reduced by medication

Use of the medication amiodarone is associated with one-half the incidence of atrial tachyarrhythmias (rapid, abnormal heart beat) following cardiac surgery, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Dec 2005

Heart disease risk higher if a brother or sister has heart problems

According to a new report having a brother or sister with a cardiovascular disease poses a greater risk than having a parent with a history of the disease.

28 Dec 2005

Implantable defibrillators benefit women as much as men after heart attack

Women who have had a heart attack get as much survival benefit as men from implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), devices designed to monitor the heart's pumping rhythm and shock it back to normal when needed, according to a study published in the December edition of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.

22 Dec 2005

Study to look for links between the nervous system and fatal heart rhythm

Finding out why seemingly healthy people experience ventricular fibrillation, a fatal irregular heart rhythm, could eventually lead to better methods of early detection, according to a Medical College of Georgia researcher.

22 Dec 2005

Women suffering lupus OK to take oral contraceptives

Major study of women with either inactive or stable systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) – a disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and damages healthy tissues of the skin, joints and internal organs – were able to take oral contraceptives without increased risk of flares, or periods of increased disease activity, that characterize the disease.

22 Dec 2005