Blood News and Research

RSS

Sophisticated genetic tests are not notably better than traditional risk factors at predicting heart disease

Traditional cardiovascular risk factors often assessed in an annual physical, such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking status, are at least as valuable in predicting who will develop coronary heart disease as a sophisticated genetic test that surveys millions of different points in DNA, a study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher suggests.

19 Feb 2020

BPA-free plastic products aren't safe for people to use, scientists warn

Using "BPA-free" plastic products could be as harmful to human health -- including a developing brain -- as those products that contain the controversial chemical, suggest scientists in a new study led by the University of Missouri and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

19 Feb 2020

Brain activity can reveal empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of other people. Is it possible to detect a person's empathy through brain activity?

19 Feb 2020

Study finds declines in heart attacks to be greater among men than women

In a study published in the American Heart Association scientific journal Circulation, Kaiser Permanente research scientists report a steady decline in heart attacks for both men and women enrolled in the health system from 2000 to 2014, although that rate of decline slowed among women in the last 5 years of the study.

18 Feb 2020

AI-based approach may allow EKGs to be used for detecting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

An approach based on artificial intelligence may allow EKGs to be used to screen for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the future.

18 Feb 2020

Lengthening prostate cancer screening intervals for men could improve outcomes

A new study in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published by Oxford University Press, finds significant benefits to lengthening the amount of time between prostate cancer screenings for men.

18 Feb 2020

Drugs targeting T cells may be effective in treating cerebral malaria

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found evidence that specific immune cells may play a key role in the devastating effects of cerebral malaria, a severe form of malaria that mainly affects young children.

18 Feb 2020

New compendium on cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle causing cardiac myocyte injury and myocardial dysfunction, which impair structural and functional ventricular filling or ejection of blood in the absence of other structural or vascular heart diseases.

18 Feb 2020

Organs from hepatitis C-infected donors benefit many kidney patients

A new medical approach recommended by University of Cincinnati physician-researchers may reduce organ wait times, save money, boost quality of life and prolong life expectancy for kidney patients.

18 Feb 2020

Genetic tests to predict heart disease risk have limited benefit

Genetic tests to predict a person's risk of heart disease and heart attack have limited benefit over conventional testing.

18 Feb 2020

Fruit flies have a new defense strategy to deal with oxidative stress

Oxidative stress affects all living organisms, and the damage it causes is believed to play a part in cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and a number of other health conditions.

18 Feb 2020

Plasma from recovered patients used to treat coronavirus a valid approach, WHO says

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) outbreak has taken nearly 1,900 people and infected more than 73,000 people, mainly in China. It has spread to 28 countries, prompting scientists to develop potential therapies to treat deadly viral infections. Now, Chinese doctors are using plasma therapy to treat coronavirus patients.

18 Feb 2020

Salivary uric acid found to be a good predictor of body fat percentage in adolescents

In addition to helping us chew and swallow, keeping the mouth moist and protecting us against germs, saliva can also be used for early detection of the risk of developing diseases associated with surplus body fat.

18 Feb 2020

Low folate levels associated with malnutrition in hospital patients

About 10% of patients who come to complex care hospitals may have low levels of folate and other indicators of malnutrition, investigators say.

18 Feb 2020

Antioxidant in mushrooms may relieve symptoms of pre-eclampsia

Pregnancy hypertension, or Pre-eclampsia, is a complex disorder of pregnancy. Treatment of elevated blood pressure can manage the condition in the mother, but in severe cases delivery is needed, which can present a major problem to the baby if it is born prematurely.

18 Feb 2020

New 3D model shows how breast cancer cells interact with the body’s stem cells

A Loughborough University Ph.D. student has provided new insight into how breast cancer cells interact with cells in our body by using a novel 3D model.

18 Feb 2020

Sudden cardiac is often the first manifestation of heart disease in women

New research from the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai shows that rates of sudden cardiac arrest are rising following decades of a downward trend.

17 Feb 2020

Measles re-emerging globally

Measles is a common childhood illness but can cause more than a passing fever with rash. It could turn out to be a complicated and severe illness, warn doctors in a new paper published in February 2020 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

17 Feb 2020

Plant-based diets improve heart health via the gut microbiome

A new study published in February 2020 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports that a reduced intake of animal-based foods and a diet based on plants can result in a lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by influencing the gut microbiome pattern to favor beneficial species.

17 Feb 2020

Poor sleep in women linked to raised risk of heart disease

Researchers from Columbia University Irving Medical Center have found that women who eat and sleep poorly are at a greater risk of getting obese, overweight, and heart disease. The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, is titled, "Measures of Poor Sleep Quality Are Associated with Higher Energy Intake and Poor Diet Quality in a Diverse Sample of Women from the Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network."

17 Feb 2020