Coronary Heart Disease News and Research

RSS

Use of estrogen alone does not increase lung cancer mortality in postmenopausal women: Study

Use of estrogen alone did not increase lung cancer mortality in postmenopausal women, according to a study published online August 13 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial, which consisted of several clinical trials on postmenopausal women, one study showed women with previous hysterectomy taking combined estrogen plus progestin therapy had a statistically significant increase in lung cancer mortality, but not incidence. Other studies with combined hormone therapy have had conflicting results. But the influence of estrogen alone was unclear.

16 Aug 2010

Ultrafine particle exposure may contribute to coronary heart disease risk in firefighters: Research

Exposure to high levels of ultrafine particles—invisible particles that can reach the smallest air passages in the lungs—may be an important contributor to the risk of coronary heart disease in firefighters, reports a study in the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

12 Aug 2010

Lower outdoor temperature associated with 2% increase in heart attack risks

Lower outdoor temperatures are linked to an increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to a new study by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).For the study (published in the British Medical Journal and released online today at bmj.com), the researcher, led by Krishnan Bhaskaran of LSHTM found that each 1°C reduction in temperature on a single day is associated with around 200 extra heart attacks.

11 Aug 2010

Isis second-quarter pro forma net operating loss increases to $15.5 million

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. The Company finished the second quarter of 2010 with a pro forma net operating loss (NOL) of $15.5 million and $17.1 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, compared to a pro forma net operating loss of $1.3 million and pro forma net operating income of $798,000 for the same periods of 2009.

9 Aug 2010

ResMed revenue increases 16% to $291.6 million for quarter ended June 30, 2010

ResMed Inc. today announced record revenue and income for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, and a two-for-one stock split.

From ResMed Corp 6 Aug 2010

Alnylam publishes research findings of Sort1 gene role in cardiovascular disease development

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the publication of new research findings in the journal Nature describing the discovery and validation of the role of the gene Sort1 in the development of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction (MI). This work was done with collaborators at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Broad Institute. The collaborative effort combined genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and RNAi technology to identify and validate novel genes as targets for new therapies for heart disease.

6 Aug 2010

Genzyme, Isis announce results of two mipomersen phase 3 studies

Genzyme Corp. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced results of two phase 3 studies of mipomersen in patients who had high cholesterol levels while on maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy. In the study of patients with severe hypercholesterolemia, mipomersen reduced LDL-C, the primary endpoint, by 36 percent compared with a 13 percent increase for placebo.

5 Aug 2010

SORT1 pathway holds promise as new target for therapeutic intervention for LDL cholesterol reduction

The true power of genomic research lies in its ability to help scientists understand biological processes, particularly those that - when altered - can lead to disease. This power is demonstrated dramatically in a pair of papers published today in the journal Nature. In the first, a global team of researchers describes 95 different variations across the genome that contribute in different degrees to alterations in blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels in multiple human populations. In the second report, close examination of just one of these common variants not only reveals the involvement of an unexpected genetic pathway in lipid metabolism but also provides a blueprint for using genomic findings to unravel biological connections between lipid levels and coronary heart disease.

5 Aug 2010

Celera decreases second-quarter net loss to $6.1 million

Celera Corporation today reported net revenues of $32.6 million for the second quarter of 2010 that ended June 26, 2010, compared to $41.4 million for the prior year quarter. For the second quarter of 2010, Celera reported a net loss of $6.1 million, or $0.07 per share, compared to a net loss of $31.7 million, or $0.39 per share, for the prior year quarter.

4 Aug 2010

Americans halved their risk of dying from CHD over past 20 years: Study

By smoking less, watching their cholesterol and lowering their high blood pressure, Americans halved their risk of dying from coronary heart disease over the past 20 years, a new study shows.

3 Aug 2010

Healthy heart may slow down aging of brain: Study

Keep your heart healthy and you may slow down the aging of your brain, according to a new study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.In the study, people whose hearts pumped less blood had brains that appeared older than the brains of those whose hearts pumped more blood. Decreased cardiac index, the amount of blood that pumps from the heart in relation to a person's body size, was associated with decreased brain volume using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

3 Aug 2010

Disparities in cardiovascular disease risk linked to socioeconomic differences between races: Study

A new UCLA study suggests that disparities in cardiovascular disease risk in the United States are due less to race or ethnicity than to socioeconomic status.

2 Aug 2010

Abnormal sleep duration adversely affects cardiovascular health

A study in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Sleep suggests that regularly sleeping for more or less than seven hours per day is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

2 Aug 2010

Adequate calcium intake maintains optimum bone mass

A broad range of scientific research has demonstrated that an adequate intake of calcium plays an important role in building and maintaining optimum bone mass, and a recent meta-analysis published online in the British Medical Journal should not cause consumers to doubt the value of calcium supplements for maintaining bone health.

31 Jul 2010

Research Roundup:COBRA subsidies; Children's insurance and dental coverage; Adopting health IT; Race and heart treatments

Archives of Internal Medicine: Racial Differences In Admissions To High-Quality Hospitals For Coronary Heart Disease - "Racial disparities in the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) are widely documented, yet the reasons behind persistent gaps in quality of care are not fully understood," write the authors, who examined "Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) admitted during 2002 through 2005 to hospitals located in markets with top-ranked cardiac hospitals, as ascertained from the US News and World Report 'America's Best Hospitals' annual rankings."

31 Jul 2010

VaxGen completes merger transaction with diaDexus

VaxGen, Inc. announced today the completion of its merger transaction with diaDexus, Inc., a diagnostics company focused on the development and commercialization of patent-protected in vitro diagnostic products addressing unmet needs in cardiovascular disease.

29 Jul 2010

Scientists unveil new biomarkers for stroke, coronary heart disease

Analysis of blood protein data from the Women's Health Initiative cohorts has revealed new biomarkers for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine found that beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) levels were significantly elevated in postmenopausal women with CHD, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) was strongly associated with stroke.

28 Jul 2010

ESC concerned over interpretation of JUPITER sub-analysis trial results about HDL cholesterol

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is concerned that interpretations of a paper about cholesterol, published in the Lancet, could act to deter ongoing research efforts into developing new therapeutic strategies to increase high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Caution, the ESC experts advise, should be displayed in the interpretation of the results.

26 Jul 2010

Young women more likely to die in hospitals following heart attacks: Study

A new study by researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has found that women between the ages of 35 and 54 were more likely to die in hospitals following heart attacks than men of a similar age. This finding from a sample of more than 423,000 patients can be seen as surprising, given that women, on average, develop their first acute myocardial infarction -- or heart attack -- about 10 years later than men, and are overall less likely to develop myocardial infarction than are men.

23 Jul 2010

Genzyme second-quarter revenue decreases to $1.08 billion

Genzyme Corp. today reported that second-quarter revenue was $1.08 billion, compared with $1.23 billion in the same period last year, reflecting limited shipments of Cerezyme® (imiglucerase for injection) and Fabrazyme® (agalsidase beta) due to product supply constraints in 2010. The company expects to be able to increase shipments of Cerezyme and Fabrazyme during the second half of the year.

21 Jul 2010