Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

New clues to amyloidoses

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), a hereditary disease characterised by abnormal deposits of insoluble protein in the organs, results from a mutation in a single gene (the transthyretin or TTR gene). Nevertheless, disease incidence and age of onset can vary significantly between patients what have always puzzled scientists.

21 Feb 2005

Beta blocker lowers blood pressure and wards off repeat heart attacks

A form of beta blocker, a drug commonly used to lower blood pressure and ward off repeat heart attacks, may provide the answer to preventing osteoporosis, said a Baylor College of Medicine researcher.

20 Feb 2005

Prozac, Xenical and Meridia may help type 2 diabetes patients lose weight

Three commonly used drugs - Prozac, Xenical and Meridia - may help type 2 diabetes patients lose small amounts of weight, although long-term benefits are not clear, a new review of 22 studies suggests.

20 Feb 2005

Air pollution thickens the blood and boosts inflammation

Air pollution, and especially particulate matter, thickens the blood and boosts inflammation, finds experimental research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

20 Feb 2005

Cannabis use may increase risk of stroke

Regular users of cannabis could be putting themselves at risk of stroke, while they are still young, indicates a case report, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

20 Feb 2005

Shedding new LIGHT on disease

New drugs for the 270,000 people who suffer heart attacks every year in the UK will be among the projects in Leeds' new research institute. The Leeds Institute of Genetics Health and Therapeutics (LIGHT) was opened by head of the Medical Research Council chief executive Professor Colin Blakemore yesterday.

17 Feb 2005

Study aims to help heart patients adapt to implanted defibrillators

Professor Jane Irvine, of York University’s psychology department, is helping those heart patients who must use miniature implanted defibrillators to cope with the psychological stress caused by these devices. Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) are programmed to electrically shock the heart in the event of a life threatening heart rhythm incident.

17 Feb 2005

Olmesartan improves blood supply to kidneys

How do medications that block the renin-angiotensin system (RAS blockers) work to protect against kidney disease in people with diabetes? At least partly by improving the blood supply to the kidneys, suggests a study in the April Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

17 Feb 2005

Are hormone therapy drugs safe?

The history of hormone therapy drugs – once thought of as almost magic pills to keep women healthy, vital and young – shows why it is so important to conduct research studies to identify the risks and benefits of drugs, say researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

17 Feb 2005

Link between muscle movement and breathing rhythms may shed new light on SIDS and sleep apnea

Between 2,000 and 3,000 infant deaths each year are attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition, approximately 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, a respiratory ailment that can lead to death in some cases.

17 Feb 2005

Blood tests improve within two weeks of quitting smoking

Long-term smokers who quit may benefit from almost immediate improvements in blood platelet function, which could potentially reduce their risk of heart attacks or strokes caused by blood clots, according to a new study in the Feb. 15, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

16 Feb 2005

Heart repair linked to migraine relief

Migraine headache patients reported the painful attacks eased or even vanished after they underwent procedures to close abnormalities that allow blood to flow between the atria of their hearts, according to the results of two new studies in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

16 Feb 2005

Clinical trial of newest technology to treat thoracic aortic aneurysms

A clinical trial is underway at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) to study the safety and effectiveness of an endovascular medical device to treat life-threatening thoracic aortic aneurysms. Ronald Fairman, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery at HUP, is leading the study at Penn and is one of 35 principal investigators in North America to participate in this landmark trial.

16 Feb 2005

Changing chemistry helps explain estrogen threat to the heart

A piece of the topical puzzle of how estrogen goes from protecting women from heart disease to apparently increasing their risk later in life may have been found.

16 Feb 2005

Early epidurals do not increase risk of Cesarean delivery

A study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital refutes the popular belief that getting an epidural early in labor increases a woman's risk of cesarean delivery.

16 Feb 2005

New report detailing how animal experiments misled scientists on Vioxx

Tommorow, February 17, John J. Pippin, M.D., FA.C.C., will testify before Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials and present a new report detailing how experiments on mice, dogs, and other animals misled scientists and ultimately contributed to a tragic outcome for human patients exposed to Vioxx and other drugs.

15 Feb 2005

Link between diabetes and obesity

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis used genetically modified mice to uncover a potentially important link between diabetes and obesity.

15 Feb 2005

Vioxx doubles risk of heart attacks and strokes

The largest prospective trial ever examining the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx as a chemoprevention agent found that the risk of developing a cardiovascular "event" - heart attacks and/or strokes - was almost double in patients who received the drug, compared to patients who took the placebo, according to a study out Feb. 15 on-line in The New England Journal of Medicine.

15 Feb 2005

Mushrooms help lower cholesterol and keep hearts healthy

An analysis of previously uncharted chemical contents, mostly carbohydrates, in U.S.-consumed mushrooms shows that these fruity edible bodies of fungi could be tailored into dietary plans to help fill various nutritional needs.

14 Feb 2005

Mesoblast signs adult stem cells agreement

Australia’s adult stem cell company, Mesoblast Limited, today announced that it had signed an agreement for production of specialised adult stem cells, known as Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs), to be used in human pilot clinical trials in patients with orthopaedic and cardiovascular diseases.

14 Feb 2005