Heart News and Research

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Mechanism behind cardiac scarring discovered

In the aftermath of a heart attack, the body's own defenses may contribute to future heart failure. Authors of a new study believe they have identified a protein that plays an important role in a process that replaces dead heart muscle with stiffening scar tissue. The researchers are hopeful that the findings will lead to the development of new therapies to prevent this damage.

15 Dec 2008

New research provides a clinical picture of obstructive sleep apnea from over six million hospital admissions

Research in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is the first to show the full clinical picture of comorbid conditions associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), quantify their frequency of occurrence and reveal their possible interrelationships.

15 Dec 2008

Continuous positive airway pressure improves sleeping glucose levels in type 2 diabetics with obstructive sleep apnea

A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that screening type 2 diabetes patients for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and treating those who have OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy could improve the management of their hyperglycemia and might favorably influence their long-term prognosis.

15 Dec 2008

New understanding of mechanism that regulates DNA methylation

Researchers in a University of Oregon lab have shed more light on the mechanism that regulates DNA methylation, a fundamental biological process in which a methyl group is attached to DNA, the genetic material in cells of living organisms.

14 Dec 2008

Doxil and docetaxel combination treatment delays disease progression in metastatic breast cancer

Results from a Phase 3 study show that patients with metastatic breast cancer who were treated previously with an anthracycline in the adjuvant setting experienced a significant improvement in time to disease progression (TTP) and overall response rates after receiving a combination of DOXIL (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) and docetaxel as compared to docetaxel alone.

14 Dec 2008

Exercise can relieve symptoms of peripheral artery disease

You probably know that poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to dangerous deposits of fatty plaques in arteries.

14 Dec 2008

Research aims to reduce scarring from heart attacks

A heart damaged by heart attack is usually broken, at least partially, for good.

14 Dec 2008

Paliperidone palmitate shows positive results for treatment of schizophrenia

Paliperidone palmitate, an investigational long-acting therapy (LAT) demonstrated statistically significant symptom control compared with placebo according to the results of a 13-week study.

14 Dec 2008

Promising clinical trial for Progeria "premature aging" disease

One of the fastest translations of a basic research discovery into a promising clinical trial for an "untreatable" and fatal disorder will be discussed publicly for the first time by the key players in this remarkable research story, on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)'s annual meeting in San Francisco.

14 Dec 2008

GlaxoSmithKline statement on FDA advisory committee vote on use of asthma medicines containing long-acting beta agonists

The following is GlaxoSmithKline's statement regarding recommendations of a combined Advisory Committee to the FDA on the use of asthma medicines containing long-acting beta agonists, including GSK's Serevent (salmeterol) and Advair (salmeterol/fluticasone proprionate).

14 Dec 2008

Overactive brain enzyme may play role in preventing weight gain and obesity

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that overactivity of a brain enzyme may play a role in preventing weight gain and obesity.

14 Dec 2008

Good news for young male cancer patients

"Young men undergoing treatment for cancer often want to know how the disease and its treatment affect their chances of fathering healthy children. Our large-scale study shows that there is a slightly higher risk of deformities, but the actual risk of having a child with deformities is nevertheless extremely low. I think this is good news!"

14 Dec 2008

Discovery of gene mutation that appears to help prevent heart disease

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have discovered a novel gene mutation among the Old Order Amish population that significantly reduces the level of triglycerides in the blood and appears to help prevent cardiovascular disease.

12 Dec 2008

Timothy syndrome provides clues about enzyme role in arrhythmias

A University of Iowa study provides insight into a calcium-sensing enzyme already known to play a role in irregular heartbeats and other critical functions.

12 Dec 2008

Novavax announces positive results in trial of seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate

Novavax, Inc. has announced favorable results from a Phase IIa human clinical trial of its seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate.

12 Dec 2008

New cause of atrial fibrillation found

A new study shows that atrial fibrillation--the most common form of sustained heart arrhythmia--can be caused in an unexpected way.

12 Dec 2008

New implantable hemodynamic monitor may help manage diastolic heart failure

An implantable hemodynamic monitor (IHM) may help to guide medical treatment in a large subgroup of patients with heart failure - those with diastolic heart failure (DHF), reports a study in the December Journal of Cardiac Failure, published by Elsevier.

12 Dec 2008

Heart regenerates after infarction

Up until today scientists assumed that the adult heart is unable to regenerate. Now, researchers and cardiologists from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany) have been able to show that this dogma no longer holds true.

12 Dec 2008

Gene therapy used to treat periodontal disease

Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that gene therapy can be used to successfully stop the development of periodontal disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.

12 Dec 2008

Scientists show that HIV's evolution in the body does not occur at a constant rate

HIV is so deadly largely because it evolves so rapidly. With a single virus as the origin of an infection, most patients will quickly come to harbor thousands of different versions of HIV, all a little bit different and all competing with one another to most efficiently infect that person's cells. Its rapid and unique evolution in every patient is what allows HIV to evade the body's defenses and gives the virus great skill at developing resistance to a pantheon of antiviral drugs.

12 Dec 2008