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.

Brits to trial stem cell treatment for heart attack victims

In an experimental treatment which aims to prevent heart failure and death following a heart attack, doctors in Britain will trial a treatment which uses a patients own stem cells.

8 Nov 2006

KFC to eliminate trans-fats from food

American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) says it will stop using trans-fatty acids for most of its products from next April.

31 Oct 2006

Doctors warned that commonly used painkillers linked to increased risk of heart attacks

Doctors in the UK are being warned that commonly used painkillers such as ibuprofen can increase the risk of heart attacks if taken over long periods.

25 Oct 2006

A couple of drinks a day protects men from heart attacks

Researchers in the U.S. say doctors should not discourage men in good health from having a drink or two each day as a moderate intake of alcohol is as beneficial to healthy men as to those at risk of heart attack.

25 Oct 2006

Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may lower risk of heart attack more so than not drinking at all

For men with healthy lifestyle habits, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack than drinking heavily or not drinking at all, according to a report in the October 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Oct 2006

Moderate drinking reduces men's heart attack risk

Even as studies have consistently found an association between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced heart attack risk in men, an important question has persisted: What if the men who drank in moderation were the same individuals who maintained good eating habits, didn't smoke, exercised and watched their weight - How would you know that their reduced risk of myocardial infarction wasn't the result of one or more of these other healthy habits?

23 Oct 2006

Check out hospital rating before checking in

According to the latest study, the gap between the best and worst performing hospitals in the United States has widened by as much as 5 percent since last year.

17 Oct 2006

Psoriasis increases the risk of a heart attack

American researchers are suggesting that adults who suffer from psoriasis are at an increased risk of a heart attack.

11 Oct 2006

Cocktail of two drugs heals damaged hearts

A cocktail of drugs has been found in trials with animals to heal damaged heart muscle.

10 Oct 2006

Major breakthrough could lead to improved recovery of the heart after heart attack or cardiac surgery

For the first time ever, researchers at the University of Bristol have been able to directly measure energy levels inside living heart cells, in real time, using the chemical that causes fireflies to light up.

21 Sep 2006

Risks of gastrointestinal ulcers linked to aspirin use might outweigh its benefits for the heart in certain patients

Doctors should consider whether patients are at high risk of stomach ulcers before prescribing aspirin treatment.

20 Sep 2006

Carbon monoxide shown to reverse symptoms of pulmonary hypertension

In a medical case of Jekyll and Hyde, carbon monoxide - the highly toxic gas emitted from auto exhausts and faulty heating systems - has proven effective in treating the symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), an extremely debilitating condition that typically leads to right heart failure and eventual death.

20 Sep 2006

Researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

Calling it an important technical advance in the study of the complex receptors and pathways of the body's cellular system, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have reconstructed the signaling pathways that impact activation of a receptor that is critical to the control of bleeding and to the thrombosis that occurs in heart attacks and strokes.

18 Sep 2006

Latest studies reveal more risks with Vioxx

Two major studies by experts in the U.S. and Australia have provided new evidence of the cardiovascular and kidney risks attached to both COX-2 inhibitors and NSAID painkillers.

18 Sep 2006

New campaign to educate about peripheral arterial disease

More than 8 million men and women - one in 20 adults - have peripheral arterial disease (P.A.D), a largely unrecognized condition which puts them at risk for heart attack and stroke.

13 Sep 2006

Nitric oxide in blood and side-effects of painkillers

Cardiff University researchers have increased the understanding of why some painkillers increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

12 Sep 2006

High levels of two proteins in the bloodstream indicate need for action to avoid heart attack

Researchers working to decode chemical SOS signals sent out by disease-damaged hearts believe they now know better when to aggressively clear clogged arteries and when medical procedures may be unnecessary and even harmful.

12 Sep 2006

Drug ads and their influence on patients and doctors

Television ads for prescription drugs are everywhere, enticing people to ask their doctors for this drug or that one, but the effect this type of ad has on American healthcare may be more complicated than simply inducing patients to choose one brand or the other, according to a team of researchers.

12 Sep 2006

Brain scans show unconscious woman played tennis in her head

Neuroscientists at Britain's Cambridge University say functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI brain scans appear to show that a woman in a vegetative state seemed to play tennis in her head despite the fact that she had been unconscious for five months after a motor vehicle accident.

11 Sep 2006

Drug can quickly mobilize angiogenic cells to repair injury

To speed healing at sites of injury - such as heart muscle after a heart attack or brain tissue after a stroke - doctors would like to be able to hasten the formation of new blood vessels.

7 Sep 2006