Coronary Heart Disease News and Research

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Much more needs to be done to tackle heart disease in South Asians in the United Kingdom

Health inequality between ethnic groups in the United Kingdom is widening. Death rates from coronary heart disease in South Asians (immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) have declined at a slower rate than in the indigenous population, while evidence shows that second and third generation South Asians seem to be displaying many of the same risk characteristics that make them prone to coronary heart disease as their parents and grandparents.

26 May 2005

Within six months, one in three patients fail to take cardiovascular risk-lowering medications as prescribed

Therapy that includes medications to reduce high blood pressure and to lower lipid levels can reduce risk for heart disease, but within six months, more than a third of patients fail to take one or both medications as prescribed, according to a study in the May 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 May 2005

Hypertension drug combination yields high rate of blood pressure control in hard-to-treat patients

The study, conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and 118 other sites, was focused on bringing down systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, which is the more difficult number to bring down.

18 May 2005

Testosterone appears to benefit, not harm, cardiovascular health of middle-aged men

Although men suffer more coronary heart disease than women, the blame should not be placed on testosterone, according to a new study in the May 17, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 May 2005

New trend in treating heart disease in diabetics - angioplasty using the Cypher Sirolimus-eluting coronary stent

The World Health Organisation has predicted an increase in the worldwide prevalence of diabetes of epidemic proportions . Eighty percent of people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular complications -- stroke and/or coronary heart disease (CHD).

12 May 2005

Polypill improves survival rates for heart disease sufferers

A ‘polypill’ made up of a combination of drugs could extend the lives of thousands of patients with coronary heart disease, say researchers at The University of Nottingham.

10 May 2005

Metabolic syndrome costing four times that for all other patients

It is well known that hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are each taking a toll on Americans' health, but according to a new analysis, metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by a combination of these and/or other risk factors, is fast becoming one of the nation's costliest health concerns.

9 May 2005

Drug combinations improve survival for patients with heart disease

Patients with coronary heart disease who take a combination of three specific drugs have a better chance of survival than those taking single drugs, finds a study in this week's BMJ.

5 May 2005

Decline in major heart disease offset by rise in diagnosed angina among British men

Rates of heart attack and coronary death among British middle aged men have fallen steadily since the late 1970s, but this has been largely offset by an increase in the rate of diagnosed angina, finds a study in this week's BMJ.

5 May 2005

Diabetes appears to rob women of usual advantage in heart disease risk

For men, a heart attack increases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease more than diabetes does, but for women, diabetes is sometimes the greater threat, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Severely obese children have lipoprotein profiles that signal early risk of cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome

"The message is urgent about the importance of prevention of cardiovascular disease in childhood. Lifestyle modification with appropriate diet and exercise can reduce cardiovascular risk in children," said lead author Daniel L. Preud'Homme, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Wright State University School of Medicine and director of the lipid clinic at The Children's Medical Center, both in Dayton, Ohio.

1 May 2005

Research may re-define management of heart failure in diabetes

Control of oxidised copper levels in the body may be as important as lowering blood glucose levels in preventing cardiovascular complications in diabetes mellitus, according to New Zealand researchers.

28 Apr 2005

Risk scores may identify young individuals with atherosclerosis

Young people with atherosclerotic lesions may be identified by a risk score calculated from coronary heart disease factors like obesity, sex, age, cholesterol, and smoking, according to an article in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Apr 2005

Fatness, despite fitness, is linked with cardiovascular risk factors

Body fatness was associated with more cardiovascular disease risk factors even among healthy, aerobically fit men, according to a report today in an obesity-themed issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

23 Apr 2005

Do life events precede the onset of heart attacks?

A group of researchers of the University of Bologna (headed by Dr Chiara Rafanelli) has verified in a controlled study whether heart attacks are preceded by stressful life circumstances.

23 Apr 2005

Antibiotic treatment does not reduce risk of secondary cardiac events

Taking antibiotics weekly for one year does not reduce the risk of a heart attack or other cardiac event for patients with stable coronary artery disease, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. It is published in the April 21, 2005, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

20 Apr 2005

Men estimate men's risks of common disorders higher than women do, and vice versa

New research from University of Glasgow researchers on lay perceptions about gender differences in health reveals that both men and women believe health risks are higher for their own sex than for the opposite sex. But, it also shows that males think that men are fitter and females think women are more athletic.

20 Apr 2005

Family history of obesity increases risk of suffering a serious heart ailment

A Johns Hopkins study finds that people who have a family history of heart disease have more reason than most to keep their weight down. In these families, the Hopkins team found that siblings who were obese or overweight had a 60 percent increased risk of suffering a serious heart ailment, such as a heart attack, before the age of 60.

19 Apr 2005

Eat like the Greeks and live longer

Researchers at the University of Athens Medical School, in a major pan-Europe study, have produced convincing evidence that a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit and low in saturated fats can help us live longer.

10 Apr 2005

Almonds may help combat obesity, heart disease and diabetes

Three studies presented during this week's 2005 Experimental Biology conference add to the growing body of research that eating just a handful of almonds may be a valuable tool to combat some of America's leading health threats, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

6 Apr 2005