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Community health fair promotes cancer awareness and preventive screenings

Ochsner Health welcomed Iberville Parish residents and families on Saturday, March 28 for the Iberville Parish Health Fair & Community Celebration, a no-cost community event focused on cancer awareness and prevention, and access to care close to home.

30 Mar 2026

Study links atrial fibrillation to poorer brain clearance and cognitive decline

Researchers found that people with atrial fibrillation had lower MRI-based glymphatic activity and poorer cognitive performance than healthy controls, with the greatest impairment seen in non-paroxysmal AF. In patients who underwent catheter ablation, glymphatic activity improved after sinus rhythm was restored, suggesting a possible link between heart rhythm, brain waste clearance, and cognition.

30 Mar 2026

AI eye exams accurately identify heart disease risk during routine visits

A new system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess cardiovascular risk based on images of the eye captured during eye exams demonstrated strong correlation with a standard cardiovascular risk assessment, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

30 Mar 2026

Triglyceride-lowering drug olezarsen fails to reduce arterial plaque

Despite experiencing significant reductions in triglycerides, patients with triglycerides over 150 mg/dL and a high risk of atherosclerosis did not experience any significant change in the amount of non-calcified plaque in their coronary arteries after taking the triglyceride-lowering drug olezarsen, in a one-year sub-study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

30 Mar 2026

Culturally tailored food programs significantly lower blood pressure in minority adults

Black and Hispanic adults with high blood pressure (hypertension) who received a culturally tailored food-based intervention with dietitian coaching experienced a significant drop in blood pressure compared with those who received an equivalent amount of fresh produce without additional supports, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

30 Mar 2026

Digoxin found safe to use in young patients with rheumatic heart disease

Patients with rheumatic heart disease who took the heart failure drug digoxin were 18% less likely to die or experience new-onset or worsening heart failure during a two-year follow-up compared with those who received a placebo, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

30 Mar 2026

Discontinuing beta-blockers after heart attack found to be safe for low-risk patients

Among stable, relatively low-risk patients who had previously suffered a heart attack, discontinuing beta-blockers after at least one year was found to be non-inferior, or comparable, to continuing beta-blockers in terms of death, another heart attack or hospitalization for heart failure, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

30 Mar 2026

Study: Autism risk genes are largely consistent across different human ancestries

A new study, co-led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published March 30 in Nature Medicine [https://doi.org/ 10.1038/s41591-026-04228-6], demonstrates that genes associated with autism risk are largely the same across people of different ancestries.

30 Mar 2026

Mount Sinai researchers identify a highly prevalent recessive neurodevelopmental disorder

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have identified and described a previously unknown recessive neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) that appears to be the most prevalent ever discovered.

30 Mar 2026

CFHR1 could be a new diagnostic marker for IgA nephropathy

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is an autoimmune disease characterized by the deposition of circulating IgA-containing immune complexes (IgA-ICs) in the glomerular mesangium, leading to mesangial cell proliferation, enhanced extracellular matrix production, and variable infiltration of inflammatory cells.

30 Mar 2026

Probiotic therapy may offer a simple strategy to help prevent premature births

Preterm birth is a major cause of neonatal illness and death, especially among women with a history of premature delivery.

30 Mar 2026

NOX-1 identified as key molecular target to prolong ketamine's antidepressant effects

Treatment-resistant depression affects a large proportion of people with major depressive disorder, and while ketamine offers rapid relief, its antidepressant effects fade within a few weeks.

30 Mar 2026

Deferring PCI before TAVR shows comparable outcomes in elderly patients

Older patients with coronary artery disease scheduled for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) had comparable outcomes regardless of whether they underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) before TAVR, according to findings from the PRO-TAVI study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026

Transcatheter valve-in-valve procedure improves short-term outcomes in high-risk patients

In patients with a poorly functioning bioprosthetic mitral valve in the heart, a minimally invasive procedure to insert a new valve was associated with a lower rate of death or disabling stroke within one year, compared with patients who underwent standard repeat mitral valve replacement surgery, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026

Minimally invasive valve repair lowers hospitalizations in heart failure patients

At two years of follow-up, patients with a poorly functioning tricuspid valve in the heart who received optimal medical therapy plus a minimally invasive procedure using a clip to repair the valve were significantly less likely to die, have a heart attack or stroke and 40% less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure compared with similar patients who were randomly assigned to optimal medical therapy alone.

29 Mar 2026

New drug sotatercept shows benefit in CpcPH-HFpEF patients

Patients who have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and high blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) experienced significant improvements in blood pressure and vascular health after taking the drug sotatercept, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026

Noninvasive lung impedance monitoring improves outcomes in HFpEF patients

Treatment management guided by the use of a noninvasive device to monitor fluid accumulation in the lungs substantially reduced hospitalizations and deaths among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026

Trial shows mavacamten benefits adolescents with obstructive heart condition

Adolescent patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) who received the drug mavacamten saw a significant improvement in left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient, a measure of blood flow obstruction in the heart, compared with those who received a placebo, according to a small study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026

Left-ventricular unloading during angioplasty fails to improve patient outcomes

The first randomized trial to compare standard percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty, with PCI accompanied by the use of a temporary, miniaturized pump to support the heart in patients with both severe coronary heart disease and moderate to severe heart failure found no significant difference between the two approaches.

29 Mar 2026

Novel vFFR method performs similar to invasive coronary assessment

A novel, minimally invasive method of determining whether fatty deposits in a coronary artery are restricting blood flow to a patient's heart performed similarly to the standard, more-invasive procedure in a large multi-country European randomized trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

29 Mar 2026