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Breast-reconstruction procedure can preserve mammary artery for future cardiac surgery

Doctors at Johns Hopkins have shown that during an increasingly popular type of breast-reconstruction surgery, they can safely preserve the internal mammary artery, in case it is needed for future cardiac surgery.

13 Oct 2011

Raw fruits and veggies may offset genetic risk for heart disease: Study

In a new study a team of researchers looked at the genotypes of 27,243 people from two separate studies to see if they had a certain gene variant. Earlier studies including a 2010 meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that the 9p21 gene is associated with a higher risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease.

13 Oct 2011

FDA grant to foster development of novel pediatric medical devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the Georgia Institute of Technology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University and Saint Joseph's Translational Research Institute (SJTRI) a two-year, $1.8 million grant to foster the development of medical devices focused on the special needs of children.

13 Oct 2011

CSIR and Mayo Clinic sign research collaboration agreement

Mayo Clinic and the top science and technology organization in India have signed an agreement to collaborate on research. Leaders from Mayo and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India today signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on such topics as drug, device and biomarker studies relating to heart disease, chemical biology and applied genomics, and innovations in metabolomics.

13 Oct 2011

ESC to deliver educational programme on cardiovascular disease in Beijing

At over 40%, the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China is amongst the highest in the world- and has been rightly described as an epidemic. Its population faces a catalogue of CVD risk factor statistics that expose high levels of obesity, diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure, and a smoking habit within males that is proving stubborn to address.

13 Oct 2011

Restless legs syndrome linked to hypertension

Up to 15 percent of the population has restless legs syndrome. Restless legs syndrome is characterized by crawling sensations and repeated muscle twichings in one or both legs, and an uncontrollable urge to move them - which may compel a person to walk in circles for hours at night.

12 Oct 2011

Cholera epidemic in Africa: Largest yet

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has announced in a statement that the cholera epidemic in West and Central Africa is one of the worst the area has ever seen. So far this year more than 85,000 cases have been reported in the region, including 2,466 deaths.

12 Oct 2011

ASHG to honor U of U geneticist with William Allan Award

As a teenager just moved to Iowa from war-ravaged Germany in 1951, John M. Opitz, M.D., wanted to study developmental biology, but his "very Prussian" mother insisted he go to medical school instead.

12 Oct 2011

Environmental toxicants can pose risk for atherosclerosis

Environmental toxicants such as dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides can pose a risk for cardiovascular disease. For the first time a link has been demonstrated between atherosclerosis and levels of long-lived organic environmental toxicants in the blood.

12 Oct 2011

CHOP, Albert Einstein College of Medicine to study genetics of conotruncal defects

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and collaborators at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) a five-year, $6.7 million grant to study the genetics of both rare and common congenital heart abnormalities known as conotruncal defects.

12 Oct 2011

Aspirin desensitization procedure can benefit patients with sinusitis, asthma and AERD

Beth Moore can now keep up with her children. The suburban Philadelphia mother of two had suffered from allergies and chronic sinusitis since her teens. With age her symptoms became more severe, turning into bronchitis and eventually asthma, diminishing her ability to breathe and sapping her of her energy. The only complete relief came from aspirin; and the aspirin desensitization that allowed her to overcome her aspirin allergy and end her decades-long battle with sinusitis.

11 Oct 2011

New mechanism to enhance restoration of blood flow in ischemic diseases

In Nature, VIB-K.U.Leuven researchers describe a new mechanism to enhance the restoration of the blood flow in ischemic diseases, which are among the leading causes of death worldwide.

11 Oct 2011

Georgia hospitals present varying financial pictures

One hospital run by Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta had its best financial results of the decade in 2010, but many of the state's independent hospitals are facing hard times. Medical staff issues and attempted aquisitions are also in the news.

11 Oct 2011

Troy High School teacher receives top prize in national ING Unsung Heroes awards program

ING, a leading provider of employer-sponsored retirement plans for educators, businesses, and government and not-for-profit entities, announced that Rebecca Brewer, a biology teacher at Troy High School in Troy, Mich., has received the top prize in the national 2011 ING Unsung Heroes awards program. Through this program, ING awards educators throughout the U.S. grants for innovative teaching ideas.

11 Oct 2011

Middle-aged woman with RLS more likely to develop hypertension

If you're a middle-aged woman with Restless Legs Syndrome, you may have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, according to new research reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

11 Oct 2011

Statins hold promise against traumatic brain injury

Older patients who happened to have been taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs when admitted to the hospital with serious head injuries were 76 percent more likely to survive than those not taking the drugs, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study.

11 Oct 2011

New DCE-CT technique gives better clues to future cardiac events in heart patients

A new non-invasive technique for measuring how well the heart and blood vessels function in patients already suffering from coronary artery disease could, in a single test, identify which abnormally narrowed blood vessels are the most likely to lead to further cardiovascular complications.

11 Oct 2011

Simple test can save lives of infants with undiagnosed critical heart defects

The US Secretary of Health recently supported a recommendation that all babies born in the US are to be screened for critical heart defects, before leaving hospital. Behind this decision is a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, and the West Götaland Region's maternity units in Sweden which shows that a simple test can save the lives of newborns with these heart defects.

11 Oct 2011

Villanova University establishes MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education

Obesity rates in the United States have reached epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese and 17 percent of children and teens (ages 2-19) are obese.

11 Oct 2011

Our brain may filter out negativity to provide a rosier picture: Study

A new study shows that a reason why optimists retain a positive outlook even in the face of reality could be that the brain rejects bad news. The study published in Nature Neuroscience adds that in some people, anything negative is practically ignored - with them retaining a positive world view.

10 Oct 2011