Heart News and Research

RSS

ARBs may be linked with increased risk of developing cancer: US scientists

A common class of blood pressure drugs called angiotensin-receptor blockers may be linked with a slightly increased risk of developing cancer, US scientists have found.

16 Jun 2010

UOHI tests Canada's first in-hospital program to screen and treat patients for diabetes

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute is testing Canada's first in-hospital program to screen and treat patients for diabetes, a growing epidemic in much of the Western world. The program is expected to lead to new ways to identify and cope with one of the most important risk factors for heart disease, particularly in women.

16 Jun 2010

Cytokine PharmaSciences completes misoprostol vaginal insert Phase II study

Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc. today announced the completion of a Phase II study of the misoprostol vaginal insert (MVI), a proprietary, controlled-release and retrievable polymer chip containing prostaglandin E(1) (PGE1). Results of the dose-finding study in pregnant women at term gestation confirm the efficacy and safety of this investigational product and suggest that the MVI may reduce time to delivery after induction, support more natural labor, and reduce the rate of cesarean delivery.

16 Jun 2010

“Devastating” evidence against Dr. Jayant Patel

Dr. Jayant Patel, 60, is pleading not guilty to the manslaughter of Mervyn Morris, Gerry Kemps and James Phillips and grievous bodily harm to Ian Vowles during his time as director of surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005. In new developments the Brisbane Supreme Court heard many medical specialists give evidence against Patel’s decision to operate on Mr. Phillips in May 2003 who later died.

15 Jun 2010

BIOTRONIK announces commercial availability of new ProMRI Pacing Systems

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of high-quality implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of wireless remote monitoring technologies, announced today the commercial availability of its new ProMRI Pacing Systems — Evia pacemaker series and Safio pacing leads — providing European patients the first portfolio of bradycardia systems that are compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans under specific conditions.

15 Jun 2010

AMA voted to adopt new public health policies

New policy adopted today will pair the AMA with the appropriate federal agencies to convene an expert panel to address the immediate and long-term human and environmental health impacts of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The AMA will also work to educate physicians, other health professionals and the public about the public health risks associated with exposure to crude oil and byproducts.

15 Jun 2010

New studies: Politicians could do more to tackle the spread of obesity

Politicians could do more to tackle the spread of obesity, a new series of studies suggests. Governments are being urged to encourage better eating habits by supporting financial incentives to enable production of healthier foods, such as subsidised fruit and vegetable production and levies on calorie-rich foods.

15 Jun 2010

Alliance for a Healthier Generation recognizes 179 schools for increasing healthy eating, physical activity

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, today recognized 179 schools that have transformed their campuses into healthier places for students and staff. President Bill Clinton, American Heart Association Chairman Neil Meltzer, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey presented awards during an event in New York City.

15 Jun 2010

Early administration of tranexamic acid to patients with severe bleeding injuries saves lives

If recently injured patients with serious bleeding were to receive a cheap, widely available and easily administered drug to help their blood to clot, tens of thousands of lives could be saved every year, according to a paper published on-line today by The Lancet.

15 Jun 2010

2,300 researchers under one roof at American Society of Echocardiography 21st Annual Scientific Sessions

Research released today at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 21st Annual Scientific Sessions unveiled findings that will have a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and the application of echocardiography in the future.

15 Jun 2010

Noninvasive carotid artery ultrasound helps avoid coronary angiography

New research from NYU Langone Medical Center shows that a simple, inexpensive and noninvasive carotid artery ultrasound of the neck can be used as a preliminary diagnostic tool for coronary artery disease (CAD). This may be an alternative to the standard, expensive and more invasive coronary angiography.

15 Jun 2010

Mechanical heart pumps can improve survival among patients with life-threatening heart failure: Thesis

Heart failure is a very common condition: around 200,000 people in Sweden have been diagnosed with the disease. Some patients with life-threatening heart failure can be helped by mechanical heart pumps, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

15 Jun 2010

FDA grants HeartWare approval for IDE destination therapy study of Ventricular Assist System

HeartWare International, Inc., a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies that are revolutionizing the treatment of advanced heart failure, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted HeartWare conditional approval to begin enrollment in an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) destination therapy clinical study for the HeartWare® Ventricular Assist System.

15 Jun 2010

Researchers establish link between air pollution and SDB

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health have established the first link between air pollution and sleep-disordered breathing, a known cause of cardiovascular diseases.

15 Jun 2010

Cheap drug that prevents bleeding may save 100,000 lives each year: Study

Researchers have shown that a cheap and easy to use drug that stops bleeding may save up to 100,000 lives each year from injuries associated with road accidents and violence. The study was published this Tuesday in the acclaimed international journal The Lancet and was conducted by doctors at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

14 Jun 2010

First hospital in Mexico to use GORE HELEX Septal Occluder for transcatheter closure of ASD

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced that Instituto Nacional De Cardiologia in Mexico City, Mexico, is the first hospital in the country to use the GORE® HELEX Septal Occluder for the transcatheter closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD). Department Chief, Dr. Carlos Zabal and Dr. Jose Garcia Montes of the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, in Mexico City, achieved the milestone procedure in March, 2010.

14 Jun 2010

New path involving "innocent spectators" to defeat systemic sclerosis

There is a new path to defeat systemic sclerosis, also called scleroderma because of the hardening of the skin of the patients (from Greek skleros, "hard", and derma, "skin"). This path involves the B-cell of the immune system, so far only considered "innocent spectators," as Catholic University rheumatologist Gianfranco Ferraccioli, among the authors of the important research, puts it.

14 Jun 2010

Programs try cash incentives to get forgetful patients to take meds

The New York Times reports on a new approach to getting patients to take their medications consistently: financial incentives. "One-third to one-half of all patients do not take medication as prescribed, and up to one-quarter never fill prescriptions at all, experts say. Such lapses fuel more than $100 billion dollars in health costs annually because those patients often get sicker. Now, a controversial, and seemingly counterintuitive, effort to tackle the problem is gaining ground: paying people money to take medicine or to comply with prescribed treatment."

14 Jun 2010

Lantheus Medical Imaging reports new Phase 4 data from DEFINITY study

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic medical imaging, today announced new data from a Phase 4, open-label safety study evaluating the effect of DEFINITY® Vial For (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension, an echocardiography contrast agent, on pulmonary and systemic artery hemodynamics in patients with either normal or increased baseline pulmonary artery pressure.

14 Jun 2010

FDA clears U.Va.'s SpermCheck Fertility at-home test

Couples will soon have a new tool in diagnosing male infertility - without the expense and inconvenience associated with a trip to a specialist's office.

14 Jun 2010