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Aetna HealthFund study shows sustained cost savings for Aetna members

Aetna today announced the results of a study of health care claims and utilization for members in its Aetna HealthFund® consumer-directed plans. The study of two million Aetna members shows sustained savings over time and increased member engagement in their health.

3 Apr 2010

Endovascular aortic abdominal aneurysm repair utilization associated with disease prevalence

While health policy researchers commonly suggest that geographic variations in the amount of medical care provided can be attributed to hospital costs or physician practice patterns, a new study examining regional utilization of a specific surgical procedure - minimally invasive aneurysm repair - shows that is not the case.

3 Apr 2010

Young adults with hyperthyroidism face increase risk of stroke

Young adults with overactive thyroid face a 44 percent increased risk of stroke compared to those with normal thyroid function, according to a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

3 Apr 2010

Art-based interventions may help reduce adverse physiological and psychological outcomes

The Foundation for Art & Healing today releases the proceedings from its groundbreaking Arts and the Heart Roundtable (AHR), a gathering of luminaries from the medical, arts and public health sectors regarding the connection between creative engagement and cardiac health. Held during the summer of 2009 in New York, the goal of the meeting was to draw on research and clinical expertise as well as the direct experiences of cardiac patients who have found creative endeavors to aid in their own personal healing processes.

2 Apr 2010

Physicians increase prescription of new biologics

Sermo, the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced a Sermo Event Report titled "Is there any Threat to Anti-TNFs from Newer Biologic DMARDs?" In the past year, the FDA has approved four new biologic DMARDs – Actemra (Genentech), Orencia (Bristol-Myers Squibb), Simponi (Centocor Ortho Biotech), and Cimzia (UCB). According to the report, Orencia leads the pack among physicians as the next line of treatment for patients who fail two or more TNF antagonists.

2 Apr 2010

Loyola University Medical Center launches 'Pay-it-Forward Kidney Transplant Program'

It's extremely rare when someone asking for nothing in return steps forward at a hospital and offers to donate a kidney to a complete stranger.

2 Apr 2010

Molecular mechanism behind mutation in calcium channel protein linked with night blindness

Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one's ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels.

2 Apr 2010

UMDNJ-University Hospital among top five academic medical centers for heart failure treatment

Patients treated at UMDNJ-University Hospital for heart failure receive some of the best care in the nation, according to newly released rankings. The data, from the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), place the hospital among the top five academic medical centers in the nation for treating heart failure patients with recommended care. This care was measured in the areas of discharge instructions, appropriate prescriptions of heart failure medications at discharge, evaluation of left heart function, and adult smoking cessation advice/counseling.

2 Apr 2010

Study shows imaging technique useful for planning cardiac procedures

For a patient with heart failure, checking whether the heart could benefit from bypass surgery or a stent is critical to ensuring survival. One imaging technique, positron emission tomography (PET) with the imaging agent fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), may provide doctors with the information they need to make more informed treatment decisions, according to research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM).

2 Apr 2010

Medtronic to appeal U.S. jury verdict in CoreValve system patent infringement case

Medtronic, Inc., announced today that it will appeal the $73.5 million jury verdict returned in the U.S. District Court in Delaware deciding that the CoreValve® transcatheter aortic valve system infringes a valid U.S. Andersen patent owned by Edwards Lifesciences.

2 Apr 2010

Sunshine vitamin cures common health problems

What do obesity, heart disease, depression, diabetes, and fibromyalgia have in common? The answer is vitamin D deficiency. More than 200 million Americans lack this essential vitamin and as a result suffer from a host of daily annoyances, chronic conditions, and even life-threatening illnesses.

2 Apr 2010

Reform promotes patient safety by creating payment incentives, making mistakes public

The Albany Times Union: "More than a million Americans are harmed each year as a result of their medical care — not their underlying condition — and an estimated 100,000 die. Another 100,000 people die from hospital-acquired infections. In addition to expanding coverage to the uninsured, the health reform law attacks the problem of medical errors on two fronts: It establishes new payment incentives for safer care, and makes some mistakes public."

2 Apr 2010

UK researchers receive grant to study link between manmade chemicals and heart disease

The British Heart Foundation is to fund research exploring the link between Bisphenol A (BPA), a manmade chemical found in commonly used plastics, and heart disease.

2 Apr 2010

Scientists create genetic map to identify mechanism behind heart abnormalities

Though heart disease is a major cause of disability and death, very little is understood about its genetic underpinnings. Recently, an international team of investigators at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) and other organizations shed new light on the subject.

2 Apr 2010

AHR panel calls for greater research to establish connection between creative engagement and cardiac health

2 Apr 2010

Gene therapy improve survival rates among heart attack patients

Gene therapy could be an effective way to improve survival rates among heart attack patients, new research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) suggests. Academics at the University of Bristol found that boosting levels of a natural growth factor in the heart could help the muscle to recover after a heart attack. The death rate from a heart attack was halved in mice that received the treatment.

1 Apr 2010

Young mother dies of post-liver transplant complications in Singapore

Claire Murray, a 25 year old woman from Perth, suffered from a liver failure due to drug addition. She underwent a controversial second live liver transplant where a part of her aunt’s liver was given to her two weeks ago. She has reportedly succumbed to her condition and died just before 12:00pm (AWST) from complications in Singapore.

1 Apr 2010

ARCA biopharma raises $6.8M through sale of 1,075,000 common stock shares

ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced that during the first quarter of 2010, through its previously established equity distribution agreement, it raised net proceeds of approximately $6.8 million through the sale of 1,075,000 shares of ARCA common stock in open market.

1 Apr 2010

Implementation of wait time guarantees: Unfulfilled promises

The Wait Time Alliance (WTA) today expressed disappointment that some jurisdictions have still not fulfilled their 2007 promise to implement wait time guarantees, and other jurisdictions have implemented guarantees that are inconsistent and weak.

1 Apr 2010

UC Irvine Healthcare's heart failure program earns the Gold Seal of Approval

UC Irvine Healthcare's heart failure program and Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center have again earned the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission, healthcare's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body.

1 Apr 2010

Heart News and Research

Aetna HealthFund study shows sustained cost savings for Aetna members

Endovascular aortic abdominal aneurysm repair utilization associated with disease prevalence

Young adults with hyperthyroidism face increase risk of stroke

Art-based interventions may help reduce adverse physiological and psychological outcomes

Physicians increase prescription of new biologics

Loyola University Medical Center launches 'Pay-it-Forward Kidney Transplant Program'

Molecular mechanism behind mutation in calcium channel protein linked with night blindness

UMDNJ-University Hospital among top five academic medical centers for heart failure treatment

Study shows imaging technique useful for planning cardiac procedures

Medtronic to appeal U.S. jury verdict in CoreValve system patent infringement case

Sunshine vitamin cures common health problems

Reform promotes patient safety by creating payment incentives, making mistakes public

UK researchers receive grant to study link between manmade chemicals and heart disease

Scientists create genetic map to identify mechanism behind heart abnormalities

AHR panel calls for greater research to establish connection between creative engagement and cardiac health

Gene therapy improve survival rates among heart attack patients

Young mother dies of post-liver transplant complications in Singapore

ARCA biopharma raises $6.8M through sale of 1,075,000 common stock shares

Implementation of wait time guarantees: Unfulfilled promises

UC Irvine Healthcare's heart failure program earns the Gold Seal of Approval

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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