Arrhythmia News and Research

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An arrhythmia is a problem with the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or with an irregular rhythm. A heartbeat that is too fast is called tachycardia. A heartbeat that is too slow is called bradycardia. Most arrhythmias are harmless, but some can be serious or even life threatening. When the heart rate is too slow, too fast, or irregular, the heart may not be able to pump enough blood to the body. Lack of blood flow can damage the brain, heart, and other organs.

Research finds no increased risk of abnormal heart rhythms despite FDA warning against citalopram

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's warning that high doses of the antidepressant citalopram can cause potentially serious abnormal heart rhythms might be doing more harm than good.

4 May 2013

Martindale Pharma announces UK launch of Prenoxad Injection for opioid overdose

Martindale Pharma, a leader in the manufacture and supply of specialty pharmaceuticals, is pleased to announce the UK launch of Prenoxad Injection, the world's first licensed emergency treatment for acute opioid related overdose for use at home or other non-medical settings.

3 May 2013

Undetected arrhythmia could underlie some wake-up strokes

Unrecognized atrial fibrillation could be a cause of some wake-up strokes, say researchers who found an increased prevalence of the arrhythmia in patients who had stroke symptoms on waking.

29 Apr 2013

Bausch + Lomb agrees to commercialize Paragon BioTeck's phenylephrine in US

Bausch + Lomb, the global eye health company and Paragon BioTeck, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into a license agreement for Bausch + Lomb to commercialize and distribute Paragon's phenylephrine in the United States on an exclusive basis beginning this month.

20 Apr 2013

Study finds no evidence that digoxin increases mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation

A study published today in the European Heart Journal found no evidence that digoxin increases mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation, the opposite of results just published by another group in the same journal analyzing the same data.

17 Apr 2013

UCSF Medical Center doctors implant new cardiac defibrillator to diagnose arrhythmias

Doctors at UCSF Medical Center implanted a new cardiac defibrillator that uses a single-lead to sense vital changes in the heart rhythm on March 14, 2013, becoming one of the first heart centers in Northern California to perform this procedure.

15 Apr 2013

Computational simulations can help understand, treat cardiac rhythm disorders

Computational models of the human heart can be very useful in studying not just the basic mechanisms of heart function, but also to analyze the heart in a diseased state, and come up with methods for diagnosis and therapy.

11 Apr 2013

Risk prediction tools that estimate future risk of stroke and heart disease may also predict memory loss

Risk prediction tools that estimate future risk of heart disease and stroke may be more useful predictors of future decline in cognitive abilities, or memory and thinking, than a dementia risk score, according to a new study published in the April 2, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Apr 2013

Research findings could lead to new therapeutic strategy for heart failure

New research from UC Davis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that blocking an enzyme that promotes inflammation can prevent the tissue damage following a heart attack that often leads to heart failure.

24 Mar 2013

Maternal vitamin D levels not found to affect children’s bone health

A study of nearly 4000 pairs of mothers and their children in the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol has shown that maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy are not associated with the child’s bone health in later life. The research, published Online First in The Lancet, is the largest ever observational study of the effects of mothers’ vitamin D levels in pregnancy on their children’s bone health, and suggests that UK health guidelines may be overstating the importance of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy.

20 Mar 2013

UCLA team uses brain aneurysm treatment technique to treat irregular heart rhythms

For the first time, a UCLA team has used a technique normally employed in treating brain aneurysms to treat severe, life-threatening irregular heart rhythms in two patients.

15 Mar 2013

Midwall fibrosis may increase likelihood of death in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

Detection of midwall fibrosis (the presence of scar tissue in the middle of the heart muscle wall) via magnetic resonance imaging among patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (a condition affecting the heart muscle) was associated with an increased likelihood of death.

7 Mar 2013

Mirabegron reduces frequency of incontinence episodes in phase III trial

In a new phase III trial mirabegron, a β3-adrenoceptor agonist, given once daily for 12 weeks, reduced the frequency of incontinence episodes and number of daily urinations, and improved urgency and nocturia in adults with overactive bladder compared to those in a placebo group.

5 Mar 2013

Abell Foundation to award $50,000 to 3 Johns Hopkins researchers for medical inventions

Johns Hopkins' John Wong, Ph.D., has won a BioMaryland LIFE Award, and Ronald Berger, M.D., Ph.D., and Hien Nguyen, M.D., were awarded funds from the Abell Foundation, the researchers learned last week. Each of the winners will receive $50,000 to help develop their discoveries for clinical use.

27 Feb 2013

Breakthrough study aims at developing first comprehensive model of fetal heart

Technology developed at The University of Nottingham has been used in a breakthrough study aimed at developing the first comprehensive model of a fully functioning fetal heart.

26 Feb 2013

BIOTRONIK receives FDA approval for Lumax 740 DX System

BIOTRONIK, a leading manufacturer of cardiovascular medical technology, announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval for the BIOTRONIK Lumax 740 DX System.

26 Feb 2013

CHADS scores possibilities extend beyond atrial fibrillation

The CHADS-based risk scores can predict long-term vascular outcomes and mortality in patients with stroke who do not have atrial fibrillation, research suggests.

25 Feb 2013

Team Danmark, Global Health Partner enter exclusive collaboration agreement

Through its subsidiary Gildhøj Privathospital, Global Health Partner is entering into an exclusive collaboration agreement with Team Danmark to provide Denmark's leading elite athletes with sports medicine and sports surgery.

22 Feb 2013

Experts to create first comprehensive model of human heart development

The walls of the human heart are a disorganised jumble of tissue until relatively late in pregnancy, despite having the shape of a fully functioning heart, according to a pioneering study.