Congestive Heart Failure News and Research

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Congestive Heart Failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump blood the way it should. In some cases, the heart can't fill with enough blood. In other cases, the heart can't send blood to the rest of the body with enough force. Some people have both problems. "Heart failure" doesn't mean that your heart has stopped or is about to stop working. However, it's a serious condition that requires medical care. Heart failure develops over time as the pumping of the heart grows weaker. It can affect the right side of the heart only or both the left and right sides of the heart. Most cases involve both sides of the heart.

Heart plays a losing game of catch-up as people age

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have evidence to explain why the supposedly natural act of aging is by itself a very potent risk factor for life-threatening heart failure.

5 Nov 2007

Medical College of Wisconsin receives grant to study infantile hemangiomas

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee a three-year, $1 million Orphan Products Development grant to study infantile hemangiomas – a vascular tumor of the skin or internal organs.

25 Oct 2007

Physical therapy in ICU can reduce hospital stays

The results of the first study to show the effectiveness of early physical therapy in a medical intensive care unit (ICU) were presented by a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center at the national meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.

24 Oct 2007

Sharp declines in hospital death rates in 2004

Sharp declines in the hospital death rates of patients from heart attack and five other leading conditions meant that an estimated 136,000 who would have died had they been hospitalized a decade earlier survived their stays in 2004, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

16 Oct 2007

Trial of repeated antibiotic therapy for Lyme diseases

Findings from the first placebo-controlled study of chronic cognitive impairment after treated Lyme disease (also known as chronic Lyme encephalopathy) demonstrate that patients report moderate cognitive impairment, physical dysfunction comparable to patients with congestive heart failure, and fatigue comparable to patients with multiple sclerosis.

10 Oct 2007

UF researchers test stem cell therapy for heart patients

University of Florida doctors on Wednesday (Oct. 3) treated their first patient enrolled in a new study designed to test whether injecting stem cells into the heart helps restore blood flow to the organ by prompting new blood vessels to grow.

4 Oct 2007

Sex after chronic heart failure

Although medication can help extend the lives of men with chronic heart failure, several factors associated with this disease can interfere with a person's ability to engage in and enjoy sexual activities.

4 Oct 2007

Even mildly underactive thyroid doubles risk of heart conditions

Individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism - a mildly underactive thyroid only detectable by a blood test - are twice as likely to develop heart failure, compared to those with normal thyroid levels, according to a new study presented on Thursday, Oct. 4, at the 78th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in New York.

4 Oct 2007

Rosiglitazone and Pioglitazone increase risk of congestive heart failure but not the risk of cardiovascular death

Patients with type 2 diabetes* or prediabetes* are more likely to develop congestive heart failure (CHF) when given rosiglitazone or pioglitazone, as compared with controls. However these drugs did not increase the risk of cardiovascular death (CVD) for these patients.

1 Oct 2007

Rehabilitation significantly underused after heart attack and bypass surgery

Despite strong evidence that cardiac rehabilitation reduces disability and prolongs life, fewer than one in five people receive rehabilitation services after a heart attack or coronary bypass surgery, according to a Brandeis study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

26 Sep 2007

Care by a hospital-based general physician strongly associated with shorter length of hospital stay in patients

Patients at an academic medical center who are cared for by a hospital-based general physician may have a shorter length of hospital stay than those who are not, especially if the patients require close monitoring or complex discharge planning, according to a report in the September 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Sep 2007

FAU receives patent for invention that induces and restores cardiac muscle function

Florida Atlantic University received U.S. patent no. 10/822,496, "Promoting Cardiac Cell Differentiation," based on an invention which induces and restores cardiac muscle function.

24 Sep 2007

New patented invention induces and restores cardiac muscle function

Florida Atlantic University received U.S. patent no. 10/822,496, "Promoting Cardiac Cell Differentiation," based on an invention which induces and restores cardiac muscle function.

21 Sep 2007

ACTOS associated with reduced risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes

Results presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes demonstrate the ability of ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) to reduce the risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

20 Sep 2007

Researchers question safety of Avandia and it's longterm use

Researchers in the U.S. say the long-term use of a medication used in patients with type 2 Diabetes and people with glucose intolerance, increases the risk for heart failure and heart attacks.

12 Sep 2007

Congestive heart failure is rare among leukemia patients who take imatinib

Congestive heart failure rarely occurs among leukemia patients who take imatinib, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found after an exhaustive review of the detailed medical histories of 1,276 patients who enrolled in clinical trials for the drug.

10 Sep 2007