Heart Attack News and Research

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UK tops Euro league for costs of living with heart disease

The UK is shouldering the brunt of economic burden from coronary heart disease, according to new pan-European statistics from the British Heart Foundation and the European Heart Network.

13 Feb 2005

Sudden emotional stress can result in severe but reversible heart muscle weakness

Shocking news, such as learning of the unexpected death of a loved one, has been known to cause catastrophic events, such as a heart attack.

10 Feb 2005

Link between heart disease and periodontal bacteria

Researchers report this week that older adults who have higher proportions of four periodontal-disease-causing bacteria inhabiting their mouths also tend to have thicker carotid arteries, a strong predictor of stroke and heart attack.

7 Feb 2005

People with gum disease are more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center provides the most direct evidence to date that preventing gum disease could significantly improve your chances of avoiding vascular problems.

7 Feb 2005

Call for faster action to improve NHS cardiac rehab services

Major failings in National Health Service provision for patients recovering from heart attacks and surgery are revealed in a new report on rehabilitation services in England launched today.

3 Feb 2005

Potential risk of suffering ischemic stroke shortly after discontinuing aspirin

Stroke survivors who stopped taking their prescribed daily aspirin tripled their risk of having another stroke within the month, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2005.

3 Feb 2005

Rheumatoid arthritis linked to excess risk of congestive heart failure

A serious chronic disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by inflammation and damage of the joint, major organ involvement and increased mortality. Among patients, about one in three deaths results from cardiovascular disease (conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels).

3 Feb 2005

People with rheumatoid arthritis have more silent, unrecognized heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths

People with rheumatoid arthritis not only have a higher risk of coronary heart disease than those in the general population, but they have more silent, unrecognized heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

3 Feb 2005

Viagra protects cardiomyocytes against cell death

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have shown that a widely used drug for treating erectile dysfunction, Viagra, reduces the death of heart cells under heart attack-like conditions in a laboratory model.

31 Jan 2005

Cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention protocols to imperative prevent recurrent heart attacks

Physicians should aggressively encourage patients to exercise and follow cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention protocols to prevent recurrent heart attacks, the American Heart Association recommends in its updated scientific statement on cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.

27 Jan 2005

The role body fat plays in determining one's risk of chronic diseases

As the prevalence of obesity in America approaches epidemic proportions, researchers are scrambling to learn more about how the body stores fat, how fat tissues affect body systems and the role body fat plays in determining one's risk of chronic diseases.

27 Jan 2005

Stem cells given in minimally invasive procedure improve heart function

Patients with severe congestive heart failure who had exhausted all other treatment options showed markedly improved heart function following a procedure in which their own stem cells were deployed directly into the heart by way of four tiny incisions in the chest, according to results of a trial presented today at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Thoracic Surgery.

26 Jan 2005

Drug reviparin reduces the risk of death after heart attack

The drug reviparin (a low molecular weight heparin anticoagulant), when administered to patients with a heart attack, is effective in reducing the risk of death and the risk of a subsequent heart attack, according to a study in the January 26 issue of JAMA.

26 Jan 2005

Medicine alone may not offer best quality of life for patients with moderate heart attack risk

Routine angiography and revascularization procedures, if indicated, appear to offer better quality of life than conservative medical treatment for patients with chest pain and evidence of coronary artery disease, according to a new study (PDF file) in the Jan. 18, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

19 Jan 2005

Physicians should avoid prescribing Bextra altogether

Physicians should avoid prescribing Bextra altogether, or use it only as a drug of last resort, says a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues in an editorial published on-line Jan. 17 in Circulation, a publication of the American Heart Association.

19 Jan 2005

Animal study on vascular effects of COX-2 inhibition

In an article by Egan et al, titled, "Cyclooxygenases, Thromboxane, and Atherosclerosis," published in the Jan 17 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association researchers examined some of the molecular mechanisms of drugs affecting prostaglandin and thromboxane production.

17 Jan 2005