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Study identifies Top 10 Cities for Emergency Medicine based on overall mortality rate

A study released today by HealthGrades, the nation's leading, independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings, found large differences in the risk adjusted mortality rates for patients admitted through the Emergency Department, both by hospital and by market area.

12 Apr 2011

African-American adults with CVD may benefit from 'sunshine vitamin'

In recent years supplementation with Vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in people who are deficient in the vitamin.

12 Apr 2011

Diet tips for preventing cancer

Not all diet plans help reduce a person's chances of developing cancer, say experts at The University of MD Anderson Cancer Center. Nutrition experts from MD Anderson separate the good from the bad among popular diets.

12 Apr 2011

Study shows neutralizing antibodies to C5a protein may prevent heart failure

New research published online in The FASEB Journal details research in rats and mice that offers hope for stopping the devastating, and often fatal, effects of sepsis in humans. In the study, University of Michigan researchers show how neutralizing the effects of a key protein fragment, called C5a, used by the immune system to attract white blood cells may ultimately prevent heart failure.

12 Apr 2011

Pharmacological manipulation of DKK1, DKK2 can treat various vascular diseases

Angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels, is required during embryonic development and wound healing, as well as during disease processes such as tumor growth. The signals that direct angiogensis are incompletely understood, but could represent novel targets for the development of therapies that promote or inhibit this process.

12 Apr 2011

Wrist circumference may predict insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk

Measuring the wrist bone may be a new way to identify which overweight children and adolescents face an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

12 Apr 2011

Longitudinal displacement in carotid artery reflects both degree of atherosclerosis in artery and heart function

How your carotid artery moves can reveal your risk of a future heart attack, and it is now possible to study this vessel aspect in more detail thanks to a new technique which could eventually be used to identify patients with suspected coronary artery disease, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

12 Apr 2011

New research: Pomegranate juice may help reduce blood pressure

New research shows that pomegranate juice may help to reduce blood pressure. The findings will be presented today at the 2011 Society for Endocrinology conference in Birmingham, UK.

12 Apr 2011

New diabetes education program brings better blood sugar control

An intensive program that taught low-income, poorly educated diabetics to better manage their disease resulted in significantly improved long-term blood sugar control, according to Johns Hopkins researchers who designed and implemented the program.

11 Apr 2011

Study shows how specific nutritional combination may help maintain healthy breast tissue

Researchers from Canada and the United States today told attendees of the Experimental Biology 2011 Scientific Meeting that they have uncovered a possible means of enabling women to favorably influence whether the estrogens in their bodies take a "beneficial path" or a "disease-potential" path.

11 Apr 2011

Bike Fed, Kimberly-Clark to offer biking challenge for adult Wisconsin residents

Kimberly-Clark's Scott Brand and the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin have teamed up to offer a free, four-month biking challenge to all adult Wisconsin residents. The goal of the first ever Scott Brand Get Up and Ride Wisconsin Challenge is to promote bicycling and provide a fun and environmentally friendly way for Wisconsin adults to improve health and wellness.

11 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new avenue for hypertension, cardiovascular disease treatment

More than one-third of the world's population suffers from hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research has reported that Americans spent $29 billion for non-prescription cardiovascular drugs alone in 2008.

11 Apr 2011

A4M: Estrogen helps prevent risk of breast cancer in women

After timely breaking news this week about a study showing that estrogen lowers breast cancer risk in women, The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine could have almost started its 19th Annual Conference here today saying "I told you so."

11 Apr 2011

Investigational drug effective for patients with obesity

An investigational combination of drugs already approved to treat obesity, migraine and epilepsy produced up to a 10 percent weight loss in obese individuals participating in a one-year clinical trial, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

11 Apr 2011

New nonviral method to create cardiac cells

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim.

11 Apr 2011

Louisville Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine earns APS' Walter B. Cannon Award

Heart failure affects roughly six million Americans, yet treatment consists of either a heart transplant or the insertion of mechanical devices that assist the heart. This is unacceptable to Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., which is why he is on a mission to make cardiac stem cell treatment an option for all who must cope with the limitations of a failing heart.

11 Apr 2011

Air pollution on freeways may lead to brain damage: Study

Earlier research has shown that air pollution from cars and trucks on Southern California freeways – that contains soot, pavement dust and other toxic substances - can cause respiratory disease, heart attacks, cancer and premature death. Now a new study has shown that exposure to pollution particles roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair may lead to brain damage in mice, including signs associated with memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. The study comes from University of Southern California and is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

10 Apr 2011

New weight loss pill - combination of two existing drugs

According to the latest research on obesity treatments there is now a new weapon in the battle for weight loss. It combines two existing drugs that have resulted in twice as much weight loss as the only approved long-term anti-obesity medication.

10 Apr 2011

Increased levels of plasma renin activity protein may predict major cardiovascular event in high-risk patients

Increased levels of a protein that helps regulate the body's blood pressure may also predict a major cardiovascular event in high-risk patients, according to a study led by St. Michael's Hospital's cardiovascular surgeon Subodh Verma. Measuring the amount of the protein, known as plasma renin activity (PRA), in the blood stream may give doctors another tool to assess a patient's risk and help prevent a heart attack or stroke.

8 Apr 2011

Reduction in alcohol prices increases alcohol-related mortality

Does a reduction in the price of alcohol result in an increase in deaths due to alcohol? This was the subject of a study following a significant reduction in taxes in Finland in 2004 (30% for spirits, 3% for wine).The abolition of import quotas by the EU in 2004 also made it possible to import from other member countries and this led to an increase of approximately 10% in alcohol consumption in Finland.

8 Apr 2011