Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) News and Research

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A Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) occurs when blood flow to a section of heart muscle becomes blocked. If the flow of blood isn’t restored quickly, the section of heart muscle becomes damaged from lack of oxygen and begins to die.

Heart attack is a leading killer of both men and women in the United States. But fortunately, today there are excellent treatments for heart attack that can save lives and prevent disabilities. Treatment is most effective when started within 1 hour of the beginning of symptoms. Heart attacks occur most often as a result of a condition called coronary artery disease (CAD). In CAD, a fatty material called plaque (plak) builds up over many years on the inside walls of the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to your heart). Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture, causing a blood clot to form on the surface of the plaque. If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the part of the heart muscle fed by the artery.

New research fails to verify gene variations as risk factors for acute coronary syndromes

New research has failed to confirm findings from smaller studies that 85 gene variations are associated with an increased risk for acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which includes heart attack and a type of angina, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Apr 2007

Report reveals cost of type 2 diabetes complications

A first-of-its-kind report looking at the prevalence and cost of type 2 diabetes complications shows that an estimated three out of five people (57.9 percent) with type 2 diabetes have at least one of the other serious health problems commonly associated with the disease, and that these health problems are taking a heavy financial toll on the United States.

11 Apr 2007

Aspirin under used for heart attack prevention

Although taking an aspirin regularly can lower the risk of heart disease, a new study finds that too few adults are using the common pain reliever for prevention.

11 Apr 2007

New imaging technology with use of novel contrast agent may predict heart attack in waiting

A new imaging technology may hold the key to not only stopping heart attacks in their tracks but also preventing them for ever occurring.

10 Apr 2007

Heart study observes 20th year in Forsyth County

Because of the 4,035 Forsyth County residents who participated in a long-running study of heart disease risk factors, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues have made major findings such as how being overweight is associated with becoming disabled and that passive smoking increases the risk of hardening of the arteries.

9 Apr 2007

Doctors aggressively treat early heart attacks

An international study involving 467 hospitals in 12 countries found that doctors do a good job of aggressively treating the early stages of heart attacks - even before laboratory tests confirm the diagnosis.

9 Apr 2007

HRT scare questioned

According to the latest research hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may not be quite as dangerous as was first implied by a major American study in 2002.

8 Apr 2007

Scientists decode genome of Streptococcus sanguinis

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have decoded the genome of a bacteria normally present in the healthy human mouth that can cause a deadly heart infection if it enters the bloodstream.

7 Apr 2007

Researchers discover how cells fine-tune oxygen use

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered how cells fine-tune their oxygen use to make do with whatever amount is available at the moment.

7 Apr 2007

Ibuprofen interferes with the blood thinning properties of aspirin in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease

Doctors who treat the painful condition of osteoarthritis in patients with increased cardiovascular risk need to be cautious.

7 Apr 2007

Rural hospitals shown to provide quality care for patients with heart attacks

Contrary to some previous studies, rural hospitals in Iowa do provide quality care for patients with heart attacks and do not have higher death rates when compared to urban hospitals, report University of Iowa researchers.

5 Apr 2007

iIbuprofen may increase likelihood of heart problems in osteoarthritis patients

The common painkiller, ibuprofen, may boost the likelihood of heart problems in high risk patients who have osteoarthritis, suggests research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

5 Apr 2007

No apparent increase in coronary heart disease for women who initiate hormone therapy

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth ( NYSE:WYE ) , provides comment on a re- analysis of pooled data from both hormone therapy arms of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Apr 2007

New and improved techniques to treat cardiac arrest

Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been named Director of Penn's new Center for Resuscitation Science.

4 Apr 2007

Leg pain can mean peripheral arterial disease

David Dow thought he was having back problems, and that his legs were hurting as a result. As it turns out, that pain may have saved his life.

4 Apr 2007

People without health insurance more likely to forego routine physical exams

The lack of health insurance prompts people to forego routine physical exams and have a reduced awareness of cardiovascular risk factors and is associated with increased rates of stroke and death, researchers have concluded.

4 Apr 2007

Walk your way to better health

What if someone told you, you could walk your way to better health?

4 Apr 2007

Postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease by age and years since menopause

Secondary analyses of findings from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) suggest that women who begin hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause may have less risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) due to hormone therapy than women farther from menopause.

3 Apr 2007

Risedronate versus Alendronate study

The largest retrospective, observational study comparing two osteoporosis therapies on the basis of fracture reduction was presented today at the Seventh European Congress on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ECCEO) in Porto, Portugal.

3 Apr 2007

Long-term safety of drug-eluting stents in off-label use

Research presented at the American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La, paints a picture of the "real world" use of drug-eluting stents and offers new insight into the connection between blood clotting, or thrombosis, in the stent - a dangerous complication - and adherence and responsiveness to anti-clotting medication.

3 Apr 2007