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.

Aspirin can prevent stroke and heart attacks: Study

In a large scale Australian study, researchers have found that Aspirin can save lives and drastically reduce rates of stroke and heart attack.

15 Sep 2010

Complementary medicine to save millions: Report

According to a new report substituting pharmaceutical antidepressants with St John’s Wort could save the health system $50 million a year. This research was conducted by Access Economics for the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) at the University of Western Sydney. It showed that cost effectiveness of complementary and alternative therapies have the potential to cut costs without compromising patient outcomes.

13 Sep 2010

Burger, fries and a statin please!

British scientists have come up with a novel idea. They suggested that junk food counters should hand out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to their customers to “neutralize” the heart risks of eating fatty foods like burgers and fries. The idea is to project having high cholesterol fatty food as risky a behavior as driving or smoking that needs the user to go for seatbelts and filtered cigarettes respectively.

17 Aug 2010

Telephone monitoring can save heart failure patients: Study

Chronic heart failure needs constant care and regular monitoring. Now research says remote monitoring, either over the phone or using wireless technology, helps people with heart failure live longer and stay out of hospital.

10 Aug 2010

Research findings point to new ways to improve quality of future trials through better training

Practitioners of clinical medicine are familiar with learning curves, and strategies like simulation are increasingly used to minimize learning-curve effects on clinical care. Because similar learning curves have been hinted at in some clinical trials, researchers at Duke University Medical Center studied the phenomenon in the data record of a large, multi-site clinical trial. Their findings point to ways to improve the quality of future trials through better training and simulation exercises.

31 Jul 2010

HIV drug can raise the risk of heart disease: Study

There are a handful of drugs effective in treating HIV/AIDS. However new research shows that some of these drugs can increase the risk of heart attacks. The results come from a Garvan Institute of Medical Research study involving 20 people, 10 taking the drug Ritonavir and 10 others the drug Raltegravir for one month.

28 Jul 2010

Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX HeartStation enables rapid diagnosis of 15-lead ECG studies when compared to 12-lead ECG studies at Western Maryland Regional Medical Center

Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions, today announces that Western Maryland Regional Medical Center's recent upgrade to the newest version of IMPAX HeartStation ECG Management System has helped enable the rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients with posterior wall heart attacks. The Cumberland-based hospital is using the recently released features of IMPAX HeartStation to digitally review and archive 15-lead ECG studies.

22 Jul 2010

FDA to decide on Avandia’s fate Wednesday

Avandia, a drug used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes was approved for use in 1999. However controversies have surrounded it since 2007 when a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven E. Nissen published a study in the acclaimed New England Journal of Medicine that concluded that the drug significantly increased the risk for heart problems like heart attacks, heart failure and deaths.

13 Jul 2010

Kid cholesterol

According to a new study published in the 12th July issue of the journal Pediatrics, one third of kids have blood cholesterol on the higher side and these levels might be overlooked with the current screening recommendations.

13 Jul 2010

The heart and the psyche – Link between heart disease and anxiety-depressive disorders

According to a new report published in the acclaimed journal Archives of General Psychiatry, concomitant anxiety and other psychiatric illnesses in heart patients raise their risk of getting heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and early death.

5 Jul 2010

Researchers assess effect of MDs on cardiac and endothelial cell proliferation, survival

A research team from McGill University (Canada) report a beneficial effect on cardiac function in mouse models when implanted monocytes - a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system - helped preserve cardiac function following a heart attack (myocardial infarction).

17 Jun 2010

Women unaware of their heart disease risk: Report

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has come up with results of their study funded by the National Heart Foundation that warns Australian women of their heart disease risk. It says that heart disease is the leading killer of Australian women and most women (eight out of ten) think that heart disease kills only “old men”.

31 May 2010

30 percent risk of heart attack in Australians over 55

According to a new study researchers have warned that at least one in five Australians over the age of 55 have a 30 percent chance of suffering a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke in the next five years.

18 May 2010

Polypill to be tested in new heart disease trial

Researchers will be exploring whether a new, very low cost, one-a-day combined 'polypill' could reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems across the world, in a major new international trial that launches today.

17 May 2010

A 75 minute wait for ambulance costs life of a heart patient in North Queensland

On Monday a 44 year old man from Marian west of Mackay, called an ambulance after he developed heart problems. The paramedics reached his home more than an hour later to find him dead. The man called an ambulance at 1.31pm (AEST) on Monday but the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) said paramedics did not arrive until 2.46pm.

11 May 2010

Nuts added to unhealthy diets can still reduce cholesterol and benefit the heart

It has been known for a while now that eating nuts regularly offers cardiovascular benefits. Now a new study has established the fact that a regular intake of nuts can lead to better and healthier cholesterol levels.

10 May 2010

Forbidding ambulance costs deter heart attack victims from calling ‘000’: National Heart Foundation

According to a new survey conducted by The National Heart Foundation, the forbidding ambulance costs are preventing timely calls to the emergency by at least one in 10 heart attack victims. The Foundation also released a discussion paper released during Heart Week urging free universal ambulance services in all states and territories. Dr Bill Coote in the paper entitled Universal Ambulance Cover has also said that this would prevent many heart attack deaths.

5 May 2010

Mandatory cuts for salt content in processed foods on the horizon

This Tuesday The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has urged the US Food and Drug Administration to start regulating the amount of salt in processed foods. This measure according to them can do what years of advising people to cut down on salt have failed to do.

22 Apr 2010

Trans fats back on the agenda in UK

Dariush Mozzaffarian and Meir J Stamper, wrote an article in the British Medical Journal urging the government to ban industrial trans fatty acids or TFAs. This adds to the plea of doctors and medical charities across the country, who want to follow the example of Denmark and New York City where TFAs have been eradicated without affecting the price, taste or availability of products.

19 Apr 2010

Insurance status and heart attack, many patients not seeking needed help

The signs of a cardiac arrest may exist but if you are under insured or not insured there is good chance that you may not undertake the recommended life saving actions of getting professional help as soon as you can.

14 Apr 2010