Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) News and Research

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A Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) occurs when blood flow to a section of heart muscle becomes blocked. If the flow of blood isn’t restored quickly, the section of heart muscle becomes damaged from lack of oxygen and begins to die.

Heart attack is a leading killer of both men and women in the United States. But fortunately, today there are excellent treatments for heart attack that can save lives and prevent disabilities. Treatment is most effective when started within 1 hour of the beginning of symptoms. Heart attacks occur most often as a result of a condition called coronary artery disease (CAD). In CAD, a fatty material called plaque (plak) builds up over many years on the inside walls of the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to your heart). Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture, causing a blood clot to form on the surface of the plaque. If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the part of the heart muscle fed by the artery.

Children with hypertension have trouble with goal-directed tasks

Children with high blood pressure are not as good at complicated, goal-directed tasks, have more working memory problems and are not as adept at planning as their peers without hypertension, according to recent research.

24 Feb 2009

Scientists develop mobile sleep lab for home use

Poor sleep can be attributed to many causes, including shift work, stress, snoring or even sleep apnea - a disorder in which the sleeper temporarily stops breathing.

22 Feb 2009

Stenting not necessary in late treatment of heart attacks

Two years ago, a major study found that many patients who receive delayed treatment for a heart attack do just as well with drugs alone as they do with drugs plus stents to prop open their blocked arteries.

20 Feb 2009

Back from the dead twice

“I died twice,” says a teary-eyed DeWayne Lark, “If I didn't believe in miracles before, I believe in them now.”

20 Feb 2009

VAP cholesterol test helps find link between a rare gene mutation and heart protection

Using the VAP Cholesterol Test from Atherotech, Inc., University of Maryland researchers have found an association between a rare gene mutation and heart protection.

17 Feb 2009

Discovery of novel genetic markers linked to increased risk of heart attack

An international team of researchers including scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München has succeeded in identifying new gene variants associated with an increased risk for myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack.

17 Feb 2009

Senior patients benefit from selective use of early revascularization

The elderly represent a growing proportion of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS).

16 Feb 2009

Common gene variants increase risk of hypertension, may lead to new therapies

A new study has identified the first common gene variants associated with an increased incidence of hypertension - a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.

16 Feb 2009

Smokers put loved ones at risk of heart attacks

Researchers at University College London and St George's, University of London measured recent exposure to tobacco smoke in non-smoking middle-aged men taking part in the British Regional Heart Study by measuring the levels of cotinine - a compound carried in the blood - at two time points 20 years apart.

15 Feb 2009

Unexplained chest pains

Each year, many people seek emergency treatment for unexplained chest pains.

9 Feb 2009

When it comes to treating heart attacks, experience matters

New research shows that patients have a much better chance of survival when both their hospital and their physician have a strong track record in treating heart attack with angioplasty and stenting.

9 Feb 2009

Multivitamin use not linked to women's risk of cancer, heart disease or death

Postmenopausal women who take multivitamins appear to have the same risk of most common cancers, cardiovascular disease or dying of any cause as women who do not take multivitamin supplements, according to a report in the February 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

9 Feb 2009

Study identifies gene variants associated with early-onset myocardial infarction

The largest study ever completed of genetic factors associated with heart attacks has identified nine genetic regions - three not previously described - that appear to increase the risk for early-onset myocardial infarction.

8 Feb 2009

How electronic medical records can be used to test drug efficacy

For years controversy has surrounded whether electronic medical records (EMR) would lead to increased patient safety, cut medical errors, and reduce healthcare costs.

8 Feb 2009

What's the most common long-term complication of diabetes?

What's the most common long-term complication of diabetes? Problems with the heart and blood vessels, according to the February issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

5 Feb 2009

Cultured cells from the bone marrow can heal nerves in diabetes model

Transplanting cells that replenish blood vessels can also restore nerve function in an animal model of diabetic neuropathy, Emory researchers have found.

5 Feb 2009

Major research effort to improve quality of care for heart patients

People suffering from angina or heart attacks are set to benefit from a major investigation by the University of Bristol into their quality of care.

5 Feb 2009

Top hospitals have 27 percent lower mortality: Annual HealthGrades study

Medicare patients treated at top-rated hospitals nationwide across the most common Medicare diagnoses and procedures are 27 percent less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to all other hospitals, according to a study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

29 Jan 2009

Diabetes epidemic shows no signs of abating

In the United States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

27 Jan 2009

Health IT associated with better outcomes, lower costs

Patients at Texas hospitals that have automated some aspects of their health information systems appear to have fewer complications, lower death rates and reduced costs, according to a report in the January 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

27 Jan 2009