Heart News and Research

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Discovery of potential oral treatment for diabetes

Research in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science and Science Education of the University of Haifa has discovered a substance that may become an oral treatment for diabetes and its complications.

28 Dec 2007

High triglycerides, other cholesterol raise risk of stroke

People with high triglycerides and another type of cholesterol tested but not usually evaluated as part of a person's risk assessment have an increased risk of a certain type of stroke, according to research published in the December 26, 2007, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Dec 2007

Health coverage improves health and reduces major heart complications

As presidential candidates ramp up their primary campaigns, health care reform looms prominently among voters' main concerns.

28 Dec 2007

New immune system discovery will help fight hay fever and other allergies

A mechanism which can lead to hay fever and other allergic reactions, by preventing the immune system from regulating itself properly, has been discovered by scientists.

28 Dec 2007

Cardiac stem cell therapy research

Since the year 2000, much has been learned about the potential for using transplanted cells in therapeutic efforts to treat varieties of cardiac disorders.

28 Dec 2007

Scientists identifiy elusive telomere RNA subunit in single cell model

The Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab has identified the long-sought telomerase RNA gene in a single-cell research model.

28 Dec 2007

Anthracyclines improve survival in HER2-positive breast cancer patients

Treatment with the class of chemotherapy drugs called anthracyclines improves survival in women with HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously had surgery, but it may not offer any benefit for women with HER2-negative tumors, according to a study published online December 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

28 Dec 2007

Chocoholics beware!

The prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has warned that dark chocolate may not be as good for us as we would like to think.

27 Dec 2007

Australian researchers tackle antibiotic resistance

The development of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria that are problematic and expensive to treat is a major healthcare problem around the world. The "selective pressure" of antibiotic usage inevitably results in the emergence and proliferation of resistant bacteria.

20 Dec 2007

Researchers prevent muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis - a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder - can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

20 Dec 2007

Stop whole body scans says committee on radiation risk

An advisory committee to the British government has called for private health clinics to immediately stop offering whole body scans to the "worried well", because they carry too great a radiation risk.

20 Dec 2007

Yale launches study of young women with heart attacks

The largest, most comprehensive study of young women with heart attacks - VIRGO (Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes in Young AMI patients) - was recently launched at Yale School of Medicine with a $9.7 million National Institutes of Health grant.

20 Dec 2007

Hardening of the arteries - mutant gene identified as culprit

A genetic mutation expands lesions in the aorta and promotes coronary atherosclerosis, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine in Cell Metabolism.

20 Dec 2007

FDA Critical Path Initiative addresses differences between women's and men's health outcomes

Advanced medical technology and analysis methods now being promoted through the Food and Drug Administration's Critical Path Initiative to facilitate the development of drugs, biologics and devices can help address differences between women and men in the detection and treatment of disease, according to a paper published in the Winter 2007 issue of Drug Discovery Today: Technologies.

20 Dec 2007

Study looks at prevalence of "false-positive" catheterization laboratory activation for patients with suspected STEMI

Physicians caring for patients suspected of having a heart attack may trigger "false-positive" activation of the cardiac catheterization laboratory based on test results suggestive of a heart attack, according to a study in the December 19 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007

Dolphin therapy - a lose-lose situation for people and dolphins

People suffering from chronic mental or physical disabilities should not resort to a dolphin "healing" experience, warn two researchers from Emory University.

20 Dec 2007

Colon cancer screenings may bring little benefit and may actually pose harm

Even though current guidelines advocate colorectal cancer screenings for those with severe illnesses, they may bring little benefit and may actually pose harm, according to a recent study by Yale School of Medicine researchers published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

20 Dec 2007

Built-in exercise monitor predicts fitness

We all hold the secret to getting fit, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. The research team has shown that we each have a built-in ability to judge how hard our bodies are working, often with remarkable precision.

20 Dec 2007

Brains respond differently to thirst depending upon age

Twelve healthy subjects in their 60s and 70s showed a different pattern of brain activations during thirst and satiation than did 10 healthy subjects in their 20s who drank the same amounts and underwent imaging with positron-emission tomography (PET).

20 Dec 2007

BMI criteria for obesity surgery should be lowered

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that the existing body mass index criteria for obesity surgery often excludes a group of obese patients at risk of cardiovascular disease.

20 Dec 2007