Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) News and Research

RSS

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.

Stem cells show promise in preventing post-heart attack heart failure

Patients with weak heart function who receive stem cell therapy shortly after a heart attack are at lower risk of developing heart failure and related hospital stays compared with standard care, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today.

30 Oct 2025

Risks of antipsychotic use in dementia extend beyond previous alerts, study shows

Antipsychotic use in people with dementia is associated with higher risks of a wide range of serious health outcomes compared with non-use, according to a new study from a collaboration across the Universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Dundee.

23 Apr 2024

Antipsychotics for dementia associated with elevated risks of serious adverse outcomes

Antipsychotic use in people with dementia is associated with elevated risks of a wide range of serious adverse outcomes including stroke, blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, compared with non-use, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

17 Apr 2024

Cardiovascular disease risk factors are largely the same for men and women

For men and women, the risk factors for cardiovascular disease are largely the same, an extensive global study involving University of Gothenburg researchers shows.

17 Oct 2022

Cardiovascular disease risk factors are largely the same for women and men, study shows

For women and men, the risk factors for cardiovascular disease are largely the same, an extensive global study involving University of Gothenburg shows.

21 Sep 2022

Study finds link between recent cannabis use and myocardial infarction in young adults

Adults younger than 45 years who reported recently using cannabis were 2 times more likely to have had a heart attack (myocardial infarction), and this link was stronger in frequent users, according to new research in CMAJ.

7 Sep 2021

Researchers identify potential cause of noise-related blood vessel damage, heart disease

Long-term exposure to environmental noise - think planes, trains, and automobiles -- has been linked in multiple studies to adverse health effects such as poor sleep, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

27 Nov 2019

Listening to instrumental music may relieve cardiac stress

Stress while driving is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac complications such as heart attack (myocardial infarction), according to studies published in recent years. Selecting suitable driving music may be one way to mitigate this risk.

12 Nov 2019

Heart School attendance linked to lower mortality risk in myocardial infarction patients

Patients who attend 'Heart School', as almost every patient in Sweden is invited to do after a first heart attack, live longer than non-participating patients. This is shown in a new study, by researchers at Uppsala University, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

16 Sep 2019

Cardiac events, stroke result in unemployment, lower income among survivors of working age

People who have experienced a heart attack (myocardial infarction), stroke or cardiac arrest are significantly less likely to be working than healthy people, and if they are working, on average have lower incomes, found a study published in CMAJ.

7 Jan 2019

New guidance helps clear up confusion over how to diagnose heart attack

Confusion over how to diagnose a heart attack is set to be cleared up with new guidance launched today. The 2018 Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction is published online in European Heart Journal, and on the ESC website.

25 Aug 2018

Cardiovascular risk factors may play greater role in sudden cardiac arrest among younger people

Obesity and other common cardiovascular risk factors may play a greater role in sudden cardiac arrest among younger people than previously recognized, underscoring the importance of earlier screening, a Cedars-Sinai study has found.

13 Feb 2018

'Open gym' format reduces cardiac rehabilitation wait times, study reports

Changing from scheduled appointments to an "open gym" format can reduce waiting times for cardiac rehabilitation, reports a study in the September/October issue of Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention.

30 Aug 2017

Study elucidates how aerobic exercise protects the sick heart

Regular exercise is considered an important form of treatment for heart failure, a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

18 Aug 2017

Study finds increased risk of death, heart attack in people who survive stroke without complications

People who survive a stroke or a mini-stroke without early complications have an increased risk of death, another stroke or heart attack (myocardial infarction) for at least 5 years following the initial stroke, found a new study published in CMAJ.

24 Jul 2017

Cedars-Sinai researcher receives $2.5 million grant to develop risk assessment tool for sudden cardiac arrest

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician researcher has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop a risk assessment tool that could identify patients susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest, a usually fatal heart rhythm malfunction.

11 Jan 2016

Young diabetic women have six-fold heart attack risk

Women aged 45 years and under with diabetes have a six-fold risk of heart attack, according to research presented at ESC Congress today.1 The study in more than 7 000 women also found that young women who had a heart attack (myocardial infarction, MI) were more likely to be smokers than older women with MI.

1 Sep 2015

Study: Knee or hip replacement surgery may increase heart attack risk

Contrary to recent reports, Boston-based researchers found that osteoarthritis patients who had total knee or hip joint replacement surgery, known as arthroplasty, were at increased risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction) in the early post-operative period.

31 Aug 2015

Proton pump inhibitors linked to increased risk of heart attack

People who use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are up to 21% more likely to experience a heart attack than people who do not use the antacids, according to researchers from Stanford University, California.

11 Jun 2015

Using cardiac biomarkers to identify NSTEMI and ACS patients: an interview with Peter Mason

ACS is currently identified through the use of ECGs pre-hospital and the confirmed via a Troponin biomarker test once in the acute setting.

16 Nov 2014