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Adult offspring of parents with PTSD have lower cortisol levels

A small study suggests that adults whose parents are Holocaust survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to have lower average levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the adult offspring of parents without PTSD, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Imaging is everything: What the clinician needs to know

In recent years, the concept of multimodality imaging has emerged coincident with advances in the newer technologies of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and Coronary Computed Tomography (CCT).

3 Sep 2007

Fat: An active player in the regulation of many processes in health and disease

Why should we be interested in doing obesity-related research? Emphasis is put on this type of research simply because of the fact that the epidemiological data and predictions are alarming. Worldwide it is estimated that one person in every eight is overweight and more than 300 millions are obese

3 Sep 2007

Pregnancy-induced hypertension

Warnings signs such as increased stress could indicate that pregnancy-induced hypertension is reaching life-threatening levels, found Temple University researcher Kathleen Black, DNSc, RNC, the author of a study in the September/October issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing.

3 Sep 2007

Researchers look at malaria resistance to chloroquine

Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), scientists at Binghamton University, State University of New York, hope to understand how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum evolved resistance to the once-effective medication chloroquine.

3 Sep 2007

Radiation and drug combo helps boost efficacy of lung cancer treatment

Combining radiation therapy with a drug that helps destroy blood vessels nourishing malignant tumors has been shown in mice to be significantly more effective in treating lung cancer than either approach alone, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

3 Sep 2007

Role of self monitoring in patients with type 2 diabetes

A new study published on bmj.com calls for better advice about home blood glucose monitoring for patients with non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes.Type 2 diabetes usually develops in people over 40, especially when the person is overweight.

3 Sep 2007

A mysterious illness in the Congo has experts scratching their heads

A mysterious illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has experts scratching their heads.

3 Sep 2007

Another U.S. food scare for ground beef and E.coli

Consumers in the United States have been issued yet another warning about contaminated food.

3 Sep 2007

OPTIMIST: The Outcome of PCI for stent-ThrombosIs MultIcentre STudy

Stent thrombosis is a recognized complication occurring in 1-2% of patients with coronary artery disease treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation. Its occurrence is expected to increase with the number of stent implantation procedures done worldwide. Moreover, stent thrombosis is a hot topic in the cardiology community.

3 Sep 2007

getABI study finds that even mild atherosclerosis in the legs increases mortality substantially

Patients with atherosclerosis in the leg arteries face a substantially increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk, according to a large study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Vienna.

3 Sep 2007

New ESC-ESH guidelines on arterial hypertension

In 2000, 26% (972million) of the adult population worldwide had hypertension and this figure is estimated to rise by 2025 to 1.56billion.

3 Sep 2007

Genetic-based dosing in orthopedic patients beginning warfarin therapy

Doctors prescribing blood thinners have had to go through a lengthy trial-and-error process to arrive at the optimal dose for their patients. But now the process can be faster and safer, thanks to research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

3 Sep 2007

Cell that triggers symptoms in allergy attacks can also limit damage

A blood cell known as a troublemaker for triggering the itch and inflammation in allergy attacks, the mast cell, can also calm down the flare-ups, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have found.

3 Sep 2007

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) and atrial septal defect (ASD) closure

A PFO and an ASD are congenital structural heart diseases characterized by a communication between heart chambers at the level of the wall (septum) separating them. These chambers are the left and right atrium as shown on the picture below. The right atrium receives (dark) oxygen-depleted blood from the great veins, while the left atrium receives (red) oxygen-rich blood from the lungs.

3 Sep 2007

Abbott and AstraZeneca confirm Phase III clinical trials of Fenofibrate ABT-335 and Crestor as fixed-dose combination

Abbott and AstraZeneca confirmed they will advance the development of Abbott's next-generation fenofibrate ABT-335 and AstraZeneca's CRESTOR (rosuvastatin calcium) in a fixed-dose combination treatment into Phase III clinical trials.

3 Sep 2007

Left main stem angioplasty

The left main coronary artery supplies at least two thirds of the hearts blood supply. When it becomes narrowed it causes large areas of the heart to malfunction with subsequent severe anginal chest pain and breathlessness. Occlusion of the left main coronary is usually fatal within a matter of seconds.

3 Sep 2007

Do we harm women when we treat them in the same way as men?

Half of the female population in the western world die of cardiovascular disease. Neither the women themselves, nor society at large recognizes this fact. Maybe because of this, research on women with acute coronary syndromes is scarce and thus we lack knowledge about the best way to properly treat women with an acute myocardial infarction.

3 Sep 2007

Blood-flow detector software shows promise in preventing brain damage

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Cambridge University in England have designed an automated means of continuously tracking potentially dangerous changes in blood flow to the brain in real time, a system that shows promise for preventing brain damage and death in children with head injuries.

3 Sep 2007

New ESC CVD prevention guidelines provide the key to maintaining a healthy heart

The new (Fourth) Joint European Society's Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in clinical practice were launched at the ESC Annual Conference today.

3 Sep 2007