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 heart valve ring helps congestive heart failure patients regain lost heart function

A new heart valve ring appears to help congestive heart failure patients regain lost heart function, reversing the disease's effects on heart structure in two ways and easing their disabling symptoms, researchers reported here today at the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

13 Apr 2005

Protein that regulates cholesterol levels may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity

A protein that regulates cholesterol levels in the body also is responsible for maintaining a healthy balance between fat storage and fat burning, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center study that may lead to new drug targets in the fight against obesity.

12 Apr 2005

Pfizer voluntarily withdraws Bextra from New Zealand market

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is voluntarily withdrawing the Cox-2 medicine Bextra from the New Zealand market following a request from Medsafe to suspend distribution and marketing, and will recall supplies of Bextra progressively from wholesale and pharmacy shelves over the next few days.

12 Apr 2005

Women with heart attacks benefit from stenting

Female heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty have a higher risk of death than men, but stenting may improve their outcomes, according to a study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

12 Apr 2005

Soy oil increases heart rate variability

Taking daily supplements of fish or soy oil may improve cardiac function and protect against heart attacks in the short-term. Study results published in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, are the first to show that soy oil increases heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of cardiac autonomic function.

11 Apr 2005

Study predicted cardiovascular risk of Cox-2 inhibitors

Amid the recent controversy and confusion over serious side effects from pain medications, a new UCLA and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System study demonstrates that for arthritis sufferers at high risk for gastrointestinal problems who traditionally may have used a drug like Vioxx, the most cost-effective and safest treatment is actually a common painkiller combined with an acid-reducing drug.

11 Apr 2005

Women with heart attacks benefit from stenting

Female heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty have a higher risk of death than men, but stenting may improve their outcomes, according to a study reported in Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association.

7 Apr 2005

Infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae may increase the risk of heart attack in young men

Preliminary research suggests infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae may increase the risk of heart attack in young men, according to an article in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

7 Apr 2005

Diuretics work better for high blood pressure

Study results by faculty members of the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston suggests that the older, cheaper diuretics remain the drug of choice for both black and non-black patients in treating high blood pressure and reducing risk of heart disease, and confirms earlier findings that diuretics rather than newer, more expensive drugs such as ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, or beta blockers should be preferred as a first therapy for most patients.

5 Apr 2005

Modest triglyceride elevations linked to coronary artery disease risk

Even modest increases in blood levels of triglycerides, as well as a type of high cholesterol known as type III hyperlipidemia, are strongly associated with coronary artery disease in people with a family history of the disease, according to a new study in the April 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Apr 2005

Gene therapy shows effect in heart patients

The first double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of VEGF gene injections into the heart muscle of patients with coronary artery disease with the intention of spurring growth of new blood vessels showed significant effects on heart wall motion, although blood flow was not significantly better in treated patients, according to a new study in the April 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Apr 2005

U.S. website allows consumers to shop around

The US government launched a new Web site on Friday designed to help consumers shop around when it comes to comparing their local hospitals.

4 Apr 2005

Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) blocking agents cause skin disease

Members of the second most important family of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can cause serious dermatological conditions in a quarter of patients under treatment, reveals a study published in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.

3 Apr 2005

Airway inflammation boosts infarction damage

Epidemiological studies show that the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications are increased in long standing cases of asthma. Historically, the complications are often attributed to the chronic drug therapy used to treat asthma.

3 Apr 2005

Cranberry juice may help protect against heart disease

Protection against a wide variety of diseases is among the many benefits of a diet high in whole fruits and vegetables. Cranberries over the years have been identified with preventing or ameliorating urinary tract infections and playing a positive role gum disease, ulcers and even cancer.

3 Apr 2005

Simvastatin linked to protection against endothelial dysfunction in diabetic rats

Almost two years ago, the diabetes arm of the Heart Protection Study, the largest-ever study using a cholesterol-lowering medication, found that diabetics who took a daily dose of the statin drug simvastatin over five years reduced the risk of a first nonlethal heart attack by 37 percent and risk of a first nonfatal or fatal stroke by 24 percent, regardless of their cholesterol or glucose levels.

3 Apr 2005

Discovery could lead to new drug targets for heart disease

Mice with glowing green hearts have yielded the latest clue in the search for molecules involved in structural heart disease. Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators found that blocking the activity of a single protein, called CaM kinase, in the mouse heart protects against the damaging effects of a heart attack.

30 Mar 2005

Important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems

Scientists have identified an important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems, creating new possibilities for treating the primary cause of death in kidney disease patients.

29 Mar 2005

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques

A catheter-based imaging technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques in patients with various cardiac symptoms. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will appear in the journal Circulation.

29 Mar 2005

Pcsk9 gene - new target for cholesterol-lowering drugs

Mice lacking a key protein involved in cholesterol regulation have low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, levels more than 50 percent lower than normal mice, and researchers suggest that inhibiting the same protein in humans could lead to new cholesterol-lowering drugs.

29 Mar 2005