Blood Clot News and Research

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A Blood Clot is a mass of blood that forms when blood platelets, proteins, and cells stick together. When a blood clot is attached to the wall of a blood vessel, it is called a thrombus. When it moves through the bloodstream and blocks the flow of blood in another part of the body, it is called an embolus.

New generation drug-eluting stent demonstrates equivalent efficacy to market leader in 'real world'

In the first study of its kind, a drug-eluting stent (DES) with a biodegradable polymer applied only to the outer surface has been demonstrated as safe and effective as one of the most established and widely used types of DES with a durable polymer, in equivalent conditions to everyday clinical practice.

1 Sep 2008

Positive exercise testing in athletes: What does that mean?

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) during sports activity is an uncommon, but catastrophic event. Different efforts to reduce the risk of SCD related to sports have been undertaken. What is the role of the exercise test in this context? What does a positive exercise test mean?

31 Aug 2008

New technique offers hope for stroke sufferers

If a stroke patient doesn't get treatment within approximately the first three hours of symptoms, there's not much doctors can do to limit damage to the brain.

25 Aug 2008

Daily aspirin recommended for all middle-aged

Researchers in the UK say that taking an aspirin each day could prevent heart attacks in middle-age.

25 Aug 2008

FDA approves Nplate (romiplostim), first bone marrow stimulator for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Nplate (romiplostim), the first product that directly stimulates the bone marrow to produce needed platelets in patients with a rare blood disorder that can lead to serious bleeding.

24 Aug 2008

Scientists discover platelets play an important early role in promoting cerebral malaria

Platelets - those tiny, unassuming cells that cause blood to clot and scabs to form when you cut yourself - play an important early role in promoting cerebral malaria, an often lethal complication that occurs mostly in children.

18 Aug 2008

Researchers warn of heart risks from energy drinks

Recent research from both Australia and the United States has raised questions about energy drinks and says they may be harmful to some people.

17 Aug 2008

Venezuelan Indians dying from rabies spread by bats

Scientists from the United States say early investigations into the deaths of a number of tribal Indians in northeastern Venezuela suggest that they may have been infected by a type of rabies carried by bats.

13 Aug 2008

Gene doping in sport

Professor John Rasko, head of the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at the Centenary Institute, University of Sydney, talks about gene doping and other methods of performance enhancement on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

8 Aug 2008

Chronic exposure to estrogen impairs some cognitive functions

University of Illinois researchers report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition, the researchers found.

3 Aug 2008

Warfarin may prevent liver failure in hepatitis C

The drug warfarin may help prevent liver failure in thousands of people with Hepatitis C, according to new research.

31 Jul 2008

Newly identified risk factor for cardiovascular disease may lead to new treatments

Low levels of naturally occurring antibodies may represent an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke in men. This discovery, published in the academic journal Atherosclerosis, has now led to attempts to develop an immunization against cardiovascular disease.

31 Jul 2008

Rheumatoid arthritis doubles a person's risk of heart attack

People coping with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus already have a lot to deal with. Even so, paying attention to heart health may be especially important for this group.

29 Jul 2008

Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped drug delivery particles

Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped particles - called nanobialys because they resemble tiny versions of the flat, onion-topped rolls popular in New York City - could soon be carrying medicinal compounds through patients' bloodstreams to tumors or atherosclerotic plaques.

29 Jul 2008

Medical errors costing $1.5 billion annually

Potentially preventable medical errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to new estimates by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 Jul 2008

Higher than average success rate reported for children receiving living donor transplants

Ninety-six per cent of children who have received liver transplants from living relations are still alive five years after surgery, according to research published in the July issue of the British Journal of Surgery.

17 Jul 2008

Study examines heparin use following cardioembolic stroke

The common practice of administering heparin soon after cardioembolic stroke is associated with an increased risk for serious bleeding, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the September 2008 print issue of Archives of Neurology. However, it appears that anticoagulation with warfarin therapy may safely begin shortly after stroke.

14 Jul 2008

An automated wearable artificial kidney

Two researchers from UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System have developed a design for an automated, wearable artificial kidney, or AWAK, that avoids the complications patients often suffer with traditional dialysis.

10 Jul 2008

How alcohol impacts heart and stroke risk may differ for men and women

The volume of alcohol consumption may have a significantly different effect on heart and stroke risk in men and women, according to a study of Japanese people published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Jul 2008

Holey nanoparticles create new tumor imaging and therapeutic agent

Using a polymer that has both water-soluble and water-insoluble regions, a team of investigators from the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence has created a nanoparticle shaped like a bialy, a close relative of the bagel. Combining this nanoparticle with manganese, a metal that boosts magnetic resonance imaging signals, and an antibody that targets blood vessels, the investigators then created a new type of imaging agent that also has the potential to deliver drugs to tumors.

9 Jul 2008