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Heart failure (HF) is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs. It should not be confused with cardiac arrest or myocardial infarction.
Obesity directly tied to several cancers

Obesity directly tied to several cancers

"Obesity is a major risk factor for developing cancer, roughly the equivalent of tobacco use, and both are potentially reversible. Further, obese cancer patients do worse in surgery, with radiation or on chemotherapy - worse by any measure." Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., Director of MD Anderson's new Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship and professor of Behavioral Science. [More]
Study suggests that fluid, sodium restrictions have no effect on weight loss in ADHF patients

Study suggests that fluid, sodium restrictions have no effect on weight loss in ADHF patients

A clinical trial of 75 patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure suggests that aggressive fluid and sodium restriction has no effect on weight loss or clinical stability at three days but was associated with an increase in perceived thirst, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. [More]
UCLA study: Older men with multiple underlying health problems should avoid prostate cancer treatment

UCLA study: Older men with multiple underlying health problems should avoid prostate cancer treatment

Older prostate cancer patients with other underlying health conditions should think twice before committing to surgery or radiation therapy for their cancer, according to a multicenter study led by researchers in the UCLA Department of Urology. [More]

Hospital emergency departments play growing role in US health care system

Hospital emergency departments play a growing role in the U.S. health care system, accounting for a rising proportion of hospital admissions and serving increasingly as an advanced diagnostic center for primary care physicians, according to a new RAND Corporation study. [More]

EHRA EUROPACE 2013 to feature late breaking clinical trials

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear the results of cutting edge studies, and to learn about the new Guidelines which are likely to have a tremendous impact on the European health care system. [More]

Heart failure patients may have high risk of death, re-admission after leaving hospital, say researchers

Heart attack or heart failure patients may have a high risk of death or re-admission for a month or longer after leaving the hospital, researchers said at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Scientific Sessions 2013. [More]
Bayer HealthCare to present new data on oncology portfolio at ASCO meeting

Bayer HealthCare to present new data on oncology portfolio at ASCO meeting

Bayer HealthCare announced today that new data on the oncology portfolio, including Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets, Stivarga (regorafenib) tablets and the recently U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved product Xofigo (radium Ra 223 dichloride) injection will be presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, May 31 – June 4, in Chicago, IL (USA). [More]
Simponi injection gets FDA approval to treat adults with ulcerative colitis

Simponi injection gets FDA approval to treat adults with ulcerative colitis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new use for Simponi (golimumab) injection to treat adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. [More]
Bayer HealthCare: Patient enrollment underway in Phase III trial of Stivarga tablets for treatment of HCC

Bayer HealthCare: Patient enrollment underway in Phase III trial of Stivarga tablets for treatment of HCC

Bayer HealthCare announced today that patient enrollment is underway for RESORCE (Regorafenib after Sorafenib in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma), an international Phase III trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stivarga (regorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have progressed on Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets, an anticancer medicine for the treatment of patients with unresectable HCC. [More]
New studies support previous findings that reducing dietary sodium intake improves health

New studies support previous findings that reducing dietary sodium intake improves health

Recent studies that examine links between sodium consumption and health outcomes support recommendations to lower sodium intake from the very high levels some Americans consume now, but evidence from these studies does not support reduction in sodium intake to below 2,300 mg per day, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. [More]
Viewpoints: Angelina Jolie on her decision to have a double mastectomy; Justice Ginsburg's 'blind spot' on abortion

Viewpoints: Angelina Jolie on her decision to have a double mastectomy; Justice Ginsburg's 'blind spot' on abortion

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex (Angelina Jolie, 5/14). [More]
Study shows dual-chamber ICDs are associated with higher risk of device-related complications

Study shows dual-chamber ICDs are associated with higher risk of device-related complications

Even though patients receiving an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for primary prevention often receive a dual-chamber ICD, an analysis that included more than 32,000 patients receiving an ICD without indications for pacing finds that the use of a dual-chamber device compared with a single-chamber device was associated with a higher risk of device-related complications and similar 1-year mortality and hospitalization outcomes, according to a study in the May 15 issue of JAMA. [More]

Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation honors Beaumont cardiologist for improving health care in Michigan

Kavitha Chinnaiyan, M.D., director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging Education at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, has received the Frank J. McDevitt, D.O., Award for Excellence in Health Policy Research for Physicians. [More]

Sorin Group receives FDA approval for SMARTVIEW remote monitoring solution

Sorin Group, a global medical company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced it received FDA approval for and is beginning the U.S. launch of the SMARTVIEW remote monitoring solution for patients with implanted cardiac rhythm management devices. [More]

New 3-D technology to see precise source of atrial fibrillation in the heart

Researchers at the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center have developed a new 3-D technology that for the first time allows cardiologists the ability to see the precise source of atrial fibrillation in the heart - a breakthrough for a condition that affects nearly three million Americans. [More]
Private insurers have cost Medicare almost $300 billion more over the life of the program

Private insurers have cost Medicare almost $300 billion more over the life of the program

A study published online today finds that the private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled an extra $282.6 billion since 1985, most of it over the past eight years. In 2012 alone, private insurers were overpaid $34.1 billion. [More]

Ochsner Medical Center performs Gulf South Region's first implant of SynCardia Total Artificial Heart

When Alfred Williams was admitted to Ochsner Medical Center in December, the 41-year-old father of five had exhausted all treatment options for his enlarged heart. His condition, known as dilated cardiomyopathy, had progressed to end-stage heart failure affecting both sides of his heart. Unable to walk, he had been confined to a bed for months. Hospice care seemed like the only option Mr. Williams had left… until doctors approached him about becoming Ochsner's first patient to receive the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. [More]
Trevena, Forest sign collaborative agreement to develop TRV027 for treatment of ADHF

Trevena, Forest sign collaborative agreement to develop TRV027 for treatment of ADHF

Trevena, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company and the leader in the discovery and development of G-protein coupled receptor biased ligands, and Forest Laboratories Holding Limited, a subsidiary of Forest Laboratories Inc., an international pharmaceutical company, announced today that they have entered into a collaborative licensing option agreement for the development of TRV027, an AT1R biased-ligand that recently completed Phase 2a clinical trials. [More]
Researchers discover that microRNAs link two defining characteristics of fit muscles

Researchers discover that microRNAs link two defining characteristics of fit muscles

Researchers discovered that small pieces of genetic material called microRNAs link the two defining characteristics of fit muscles: the ability to burn sugar and fat and the ability to switch between slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers. [More]

BIOTRONIK receives FDA approval for ICD/CRT-D series

BIOTRONIK, a leading manufacturer of cardiovascular medical technology, announced that the Food and Drug Administration granted approval for its Ilesto 7 implantable cardioverter-defibrillator/cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator series. [More]