Congestive Heart Failure News and Research

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Congestive Heart Failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump blood the way it should. In some cases, the heart can't fill with enough blood. In other cases, the heart can't send blood to the rest of the body with enough force. Some people have both problems. "Heart failure" doesn't mean that your heart has stopped or is about to stop working. However, it's a serious condition that requires medical care. Heart failure develops over time as the pumping of the heart grows weaker. It can affect the right side of the heart only or both the left and right sides of the heart. Most cases involve both sides of the heart.

GlaxoSmithKline response to JAMA article on ICES retrospective analysis

The following is GlaxoSmithKline's response to the retrospective analysis by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) titled "Thiazolidinediones and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Patients with Diabetes".

13 Dec 2007

Exercise testing to predict mitral regurgitation

In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing may help predict seriousness of mitral regurgitation

12 Dec 2007

Study finds disease management programs improve the quality of health care

Disease management programs that help guide the care of patients with chronic health problems appear to improve the quality of health care, but there is little evidence that such efforts actually save money, according to a study issued by the RAND Corporation.

10 Dec 2007

Most adults with conditions that increase cardiovascular disease risk have hypertension

Nearly three-fourths of American adults with conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or others that raise their risk for cardiovascular complications also have hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a report in the December 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Dec 2007

New radiotherapy system benefits high-risk patients

A new radiotherapy system that combines high-tech imaging with precision tumor-targeting capability is helping cancer specialists at Stony Brook University Medical Center treat patients.

10 Dec 2007

Discovery of link between moderate exercise and decreased inflammation of damaged skin tissue

In recent years, researchers at the University of Illinois have uncovered a host of reasons for people to remain physically active as they age, ranging from better brain function to improved immune responses.

29 Nov 2007

Physical therapy in intensive care reduce hospital stays

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) cites the results of the first study to show the effectiveness of early physical therapy for patients in a medical intensive care unit (ICU).

19 Nov 2007

Nanogen reissued patent for diagnosis of chronic congestive heart failure

Nanogen, Inc. has announced that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. RE39,816, which is a reissue of United States Patent No. 6,461,828, titled, "Conjunctive Analysis of Biological Marker Expression For Predicting Cardiac Mortality".

19 Nov 2007

Avastin (bevacizumab) shows promise in phase II study of glioblastoma multiforme

Genentech, Inc. has announced that both study arms of a randomized, multi-center Phase II clinical study of Avastin (bevacizumab) administered alone or in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy demonstrated encouraging six-month progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate in patients with relapsed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer.

19 Nov 2007

GlaxoSmithKline implements changes to the US product label for Avandia

GlaxoSmithKline announced today that it is implementing changes to the US product label for Avandia(R) (rosiglitazone maleate), based on an extensive and thorough review by the FDA of myocardial ischemia data on Avandia, the most widely studied oral anti-diabetic medicine available.

15 Nov 2007

Petition aims to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching Americans

In a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an international coalition of scientists and doctors seeks to compel the agency to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching American consumers by mandating the use of scientifically superior non-animal testing methods when those alternatives exist.

15 Nov 2007

New comorbidity index helps predict post-transplant survival

Patients awaiting liver transplantation who also suffer from other medical problems may face poorer survival after transplantation.

6 Nov 2007

Smaller heart pump bridges time to transplant for more women

A small, implantable device that helps the heart pump blood works equally well for men and women but may benefit twice as many women awaiting transplants, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

5 Nov 2007

Heart plays a losing game of catch-up as people age

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have evidence to explain why the supposedly natural act of aging is by itself a very potent risk factor for life-threatening heart failure.

5 Nov 2007

Medical College of Wisconsin receives grant to study infantile hemangiomas

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee a three-year, $1 million Orphan Products Development grant to study infantile hemangiomas – a vascular tumor of the skin or internal organs.

25 Oct 2007

Physical therapy in ICU can reduce hospital stays

The results of the first study to show the effectiveness of early physical therapy in a medical intensive care unit (ICU) were presented by a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center at the national meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.

24 Oct 2007

Sharp declines in hospital death rates in 2004

Sharp declines in the hospital death rates of patients from heart attack and five other leading conditions meant that an estimated 136,000 who would have died had they been hospitalized a decade earlier survived their stays in 2004, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

16 Oct 2007

Trial of repeated antibiotic therapy for Lyme diseases

Findings from the first placebo-controlled study of chronic cognitive impairment after treated Lyme disease (also known as chronic Lyme encephalopathy) demonstrate that patients report moderate cognitive impairment, physical dysfunction comparable to patients with congestive heart failure, and fatigue comparable to patients with multiple sclerosis.

10 Oct 2007

UF researchers test stem cell therapy for heart patients

University of Florida doctors on Wednesday (Oct. 3) treated their first patient enrolled in a new study designed to test whether injecting stem cells into the heart helps restore blood flow to the organ by prompting new blood vessels to grow.

4 Oct 2007