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Flavanols help smokers repair blood vessel function

Phytochemicals known as flavanols, which are found in chocolate, fruits and vegetables, can boost the levels of nitric oxide in the blood of smokers and reverse some of their smoking-related impairment in blood vessel function, according to a new study in the Oct. 4, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

28 Sep 2005

C-reactive protein in atherosclerotic lesions: its origin and pathophysiological significance

New research shows that levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), produced by the liver and not at the lesion site, correlate with the degree of atherosclerosis.

28 Sep 2005

Lowering blood sugar levels could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease

Lowering blood sugar levels could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in both diabetics and non-diabetics, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions.

19 Sep 2005

Legs For Life free national screening program can save legs

The screening is essential for diabetics in order to prevent amputation, heart attack and stroke, because one-third have PAD, but most do not present classic symptoms.

1 Sep 2005

Experimental immunusuppressant drug preserves transplanted kidneys

An international team of transplant physicians has shown that the investigational drug belatacept (LEA29Y) preserves transplanted kidney function as effectively as cyclosporine, the drug most commonly used to prevent the immune system from rejecting transplanted organs.

24 Aug 2005

New drug that selectively blocks immune responses protects kidneys after transplant

In an international clinical trial, a new drug that selectively blocks immune responses has proved as effective in preventing acute kidney transplant rejection as cyclosporine, the standard anti-rejection treatment.

24 Aug 2005

Latest findings on aspirin resistance

Treatment failures occur with any drug and aspirin is no exception. Evidence is growing that some people will not respond to the anti-coagulant action of aspirin and the drug will not protect against cardiovascular events despite its regular intake.

9 Aug 2005

New insight into how protein E75 may control circadian rhythms and metabolic processes

University of Toronto researchers have gained new insight into how a specific protein may control circadian rhythms and metabolic processes, which has implications for treating cholesterol-related diseases.

28 Jul 2005

Pneumonia - another use for statins

Patients hospitalised because of pneumonia are at less risk of dying from the disease if they have been taking the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs 'statins' before hospital admission.

25 Jul 2005

Variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity

Scientists in France and the United States report that a variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity, key features of the "insulin resistance syndrome" that affects more than 50 million people in this country and a similar number in Europe.

19 Jul 2005

Diagnosing diabetes early saves lives

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that while 520,000 Australians have been diagnosed with diabetes, there are probably as many again who remain undiagnosed, exposing them to serious complications caused by the disease, including kidney disease, heart attacks and eye problems.

19 Jul 2005

Metabolic syndrome prevented by a fit heart

According to a new study, a person's cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong predictor of their risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

12 Jul 2005

Genes play an overriding role in cholesterol response

Why does it seem like some people can eat all the ice cream they want without increasing their cholesterol or gaining much weight, while others with high cholesterol have to watch their diets like a hawk? Because no matter what their lifestyle, people's genes play an overriding role in their cholesterol response.

11 Jul 2005

Fat in the bloodstream linked to heart attacks

New research, by Dr. Sotirios Tsimikas of the University of California, San Diego, has produced the first convincing evidence that a type of fat in the bloodstream can trigger the earliest conditions that lead to clogged blood vessels, the highest cause of heart attacks.

7 Jul 2005

Vitamin E supplements do not protect healthy women against heart attacks and stroke

Vitamin E supplements do not protect healthy women against heart attacks and stroke, according to new results from the Women's Health Study, a long-term clinical trial of the effect of vitamin E and aspirin on both the prevention of cardiovascular disease and of cancer.

5 Jul 2005

How can the U.S. health-care system prepare for the huge wave of dementia patients expected by 2010?

How can the U.S. health-care system and more specifically, primary care doctors - the physicians from whom older adults receive most of their care - prepare for the huge wave of dementia patients expected to engulf us in 2010, the year the baby boomers begin to reach 65?

27 Jun 2005

Elevated C-reactive protein can foil diet's ability to lower cholesterol

If you have high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker in blood for inflammation that is strongly associated with heart disease, trying to lower your LDL-cholesterol through modest diet changes alone may not work.

20 Jun 2005

Novel targets found for the development of drugs to complement, or replace, statins

A team of investigators from the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and Harvard Medical School has uncovered novel targets for the development of drugs that would potentially complement, or replace, statins in treating heart disease.

8 Jun 2005

Under prescribing of statins puts more people at risk of premature death

A new study out of Stanford School of Medicine says that cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins that can help prevent heart disease are still underprescribed for many at-risk patients.

31 May 2005

'Bad' metabolism cloggs up arteries

Scientists are now saying that a 'bad' metabolism may explain why some people who have never smoked and do not have high cholesterol levels suffer from a potentially lethal build-up of plaque in the arteries.

26 May 2005