Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Four or more glasses of red wine per week may reduce risk of prostate cancer by 50 percent

Drinking a glass of red wine a day may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer in half, and the protective effect appears to be strongest against the most aggressive forms of the disease

23 Sep 2004

Accurate method for interpretation of heart images developed

VTT - Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed an internationally significant method for interpreting MRI images of the heart.

22 Sep 2004

Women aged 70 years and older who exercised regularly lower risk of cognitive impairment

Women who engaged in the most activity - for example, walking at least 6 hours per week - had a 20 percent decrease in risk of cognitive impairment compared to those who were inactive and, also demonstrated the cognitive functioning of someone three-years younger than their actual age.

22 Sep 2004

Abused or neglected children are more likely to develop heart disease as adults

The study is the first to suggest that ischemic heart disease in adulthood may be a possible long-term consequence of childhood trauma.

22 Sep 2004

BMA Cymru Wales to launch no smoking campaign

BMA Cymru Wales will tomorrow be launching its 'Let the Dragon Breathe' poster campaign at the National Assembly for Wales after a meeting of the Assembly's committee on smoking in public places.

22 Sep 2004

NIH opens new hospital totally dedicated to clinical research

This new hospital totally dedicated to clinical research — research involving patients — is the most significant addition to the NIH campus in more than 50 years and provides a unique opportunity for scientists, clinicians, and patients to study and conquer both chronic and acute disease in the 21st century.

22 Sep 2004

Mediterranean diet lowers risk of all-causes of death

Individuals 70 to 90 years old who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet and several healthy lifestyle habits had a more than 50 percent lower death rate than those who did not, according to a study in the September 22/29 issue of JAMA.

21 Sep 2004

Walking helps elderly men stave off dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Elderly men who are sedentary or walk less than a quarter of a mile per day are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to men who walk more than two miles per day, according to a study of over 2,200 Japanese-American men in Hawaii.

21 Sep 2004

Evidence pointing to chronic cellular inflammation as the precursor of heart disease and diabetes

Endocrinologists from the University at Buffalo are providing one more link in the growing chain of evidence pointing to chronic cellular inflammation as the precursor of heart disease and diabetes.

21 Sep 2004

Obesity makes surgery more difficult and risky

Critically injured obese trauma patients have higher rates of death than nonobese trauma patients, according to an article in the September issue of The Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

21 Sep 2004

Streptococcus bacteria uses sword and shield to fight white blood cells

A single gene called cylE within the important bacterial pathogen Group B Streptococcus (GBS), controls two factors that act together as a “sword” and “shield” to protect the bacteria from the killing effects of the immune system’s white blood cells

21 Sep 2004

Overweight children up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke before age of 65

Overweight children are three to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke before they reach the age of 65 warns the World Heart Federation, an NGO dedicated to the prevention of heart disease and stroke, on World Heart Day, Sunday 26th September 2004.

20 Sep 2004

Link between elevated blood sugar levels in diabetics and increased risk of life-threatening forms of cardiovascular disease

A Johns Hopkins study suggests that people with type I and type II diabetes would be well advised to monitor their blood sugar levels more than the usual twice daily to make sure that levels are not elevated over 150 milligrams per deciliter for sustained periods.

20 Sep 2004

Vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease

In addition to its popular role in flavoring ice cream, fudge and cake frosting, vanilla may have a future use as a medicine. Recent laboratory research has strengthened the possibility that a form of vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease.

20 Sep 2004

Resveratrol in red wine, is thought to contribute to improved cardiovascular effects associated with moderate consumption of red wine

Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Salk Institute in San Diego, Calif., have succeeded in converting chalcone synthase, a biosynthetic protein enzyme found in all higher plants, into an efficient resveratrol synthase.

20 Sep 2004

FDA approval for small vessel cobalt chromium coronary stent

Guidant Corporation has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the company’s newest stent system designed to treat coronary artery disease in small vessels in patients with abrupt or threatened abrupt closure.

20 Sep 2004

Fathers' occupational exposures may play an important role in the development of birth defects

Can exposure to hazardous substances at work contribute to the development of birth defects? If so, then fathers' occupational exposures may play a more important role than mothers' exposures

20 Sep 2004

Research findings may help stave off full-blown diabetes

A new study by researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center sheds light on the key mechanisms by which new pancreatic beta cells normally form in response to insulin resistance. These findings may some day help researchers devise ways of staving off full-blown diabetes.

18 Sep 2004

Link between eosinophils and asthma

Mayo Clinic researchers have used a comparative genomic strategy to demonstrate a causative link between eosinophils, a rare type of white blood cell, and asthma.

18 Sep 2004

Inflammation could have important implications for modern-day health care

Starting in the mid-1850s, humans began living longer due, researchers believe, to improvements in living conditions, nutrition, income levels and medicine.

18 Sep 2004