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.

NSAIDs raise risk of heart disease: Study

A new study published online in the British Medical Journal explores the relative safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs), commonly used to treat joint and muscle aches and pain and concludes that NSAIDs significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular events in patients who take them regularly.

12 Jan 2011

Mediterranean diet helps more than one chronic condition

In a study that was published in the Oct 13, 2001 issue of Diabetes Care, authors had reported that Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes significantly. Those on this diet were 52 percent less likely to develop diabetes, compared with those who adhered least to the diet. Salas-Salvadó J. of Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain and colleagues compared two groups of subjects following two Mediterranean diets, one with nuts at 30 grams per day and the other with olive oil at 1 liter per week, with those on a low-fat diet.

2 Jan 2011

Brilinta – AstraZeneca’s new blood thinner faces FDA hurdle

AstraZeneca’s new blood thinner that was pitched against Plavix, the world’s second-best selling drug failed to live up to expectations making stocks drop to a two year low, the steepest decline since Nov. 21, 2008, and the worst performance today on the 18-company Bloomberg Europe Pharmaceutical Index.

20 Dec 2010

Health report card for NSW

The latest report on NSW health shows that it is better than most in heart disease and cancer statistics. However 60% of the state are overweight or obese says the report and 70% of the NSW adults say they have been diagnosed with long-term illnesses.

14 Dec 2010

European summit agrees that lifestyle change is the only answer to heart disease

‘Some progress, but the big challenges remain’. This was the verdict after the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) hosted the 2010 European Summit on CVD Prevention on 30 November. The summit was attended by a broad cross-section of medical experts, healthcare organisations, national societies, regulators and representatives from the European Union (EU).

7 Dec 2010

Cardiologist provided unnecessary stent implants: investigation

In a new investigation a Senate Finance Committee has found that a former cardiologist, Mark Midei at Towson, Md.-based St. Joseph Medical Center performed 585 medically unnecessary stent implants, costing Medicare and private insurers a combined $6.6 million in fraudulent reimbursement fees. These stents are special medicated or wire tubes that are placed inside coronary arteries of the heart to prevent them from collapsing or clogging up which may lead to a hear attack.

6 Dec 2010

Scientific breakthrough for high blood pressure

Melbourne researchers have successfully used a new machine that reduces increased blood pressure with the help of radio waves. High blood pressure plagues nearly one fourth to a third of the Australian population and can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Almost half of sufferers do not even show any significant improvement by using the drugs available in the market for high blood pressure.

18 Nov 2010

Novel heart attack treatment results presented at premier USA cardiology forum

Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB; USADR:MBLTY) has announced that positive preclinical trial results were presented at the American Heart Association’s annual conference in Chicago showing that the company’s proprietary “off-the-shelf” stem cells can be injected simply, safely, and effectively into the coronary arteries after a heart attack to prevent heart failure.

15 Nov 2010

Erroneous defibrillators: FDA new initiative to check safety

More problems are being reported in external defibrillators, the life-saving medical devices located in emergency rooms, airports and other public places. These Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs are generally used in patients who have suffered sudden cardiac arrest if used in the first few minutes after their collapse. They deliver electrical energy to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.

15 Nov 2010

Statins benefit ‘at risk’ patients but are underused: Study

A look at some of the large clinical trials and studies has shown that thousands of deaths could be prevented a year if people at risk of heart attack or stroke are prescribed high doses of statins. The review involves data from 170,000 patients in 26 randomized trials. The paper is published in the journal The Lancet.

10 Nov 2010

Americans sicker but live longer than the English: Study

According to a new study in the journal Demographics, and elderly American is not quite as healthy as his English counterpart, but does live just as long, if not longer. The study found that Americans aged 55 to 64 and 70 to 80 had higher rates of chronic diseases than same-aged English people, but they died at about the same rate. Americans aged 65 and older could be sicker than their English peers but lived longer.

5 Nov 2010

Alzheimer’s risk raised 157% with smoking: Study

A Kaiser Permanente study reported this Monday that heavy smoking in midlife more than doubles the odds of developing Alzheimer's disease. This study is one of the first of its kind to examine the long-term consequences of heavy smoking on Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia explained the study's principal investigator, Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist with Kaiser Permanente in Oakland. The research is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Oct 2010

Hands only CPR effective: New guidelines

According to latest changes made to CPR guidelines rescuers need to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth. The change is termed as “the simplest step first” for traditional CPR, said Dr Michael Sayre, an emergency doctor at Ohio State University Medical Centre and co-author of the guidelines issued by the American Heart Association.

17 Oct 2010

Carotid artery stenting increases risk of death, stroke

For patients with blockages in the carotid artery that supplies blood to the brain, carotid artery stenting (a non-surgical treatment) appears to be associated with an increased risk of both short- and long-term adverse outcomes when compared with surgical treatment (carotid endarterectomy), according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies that was posted online today and will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

12 Oct 2010

Meridia – weight loss pill off the shelves in US

Abbott Pharmaceuticals has announced the withdrawal of weight loss drug Meridia from shelves in the United States and urged patients to stop taking it after regulators questioned its safety. The withdrawal happened last Friday in the US. In January, Meridia sales were suspended in Europe.

10 Oct 2010

Weight loss pill off shelves due to heart attack risk

Final verdict on a popular weight loss drug Reductil is to be delivered today. It is being debated whether the pill should be taken off the shelves in Australia and New Zealand. The drug Sibutramine sold as Reductil is linked to increased risk of heart attacks.

10 Oct 2010

CPR without mouth to mouth works: Study

According to a new study people who suffered cardiac arrest and received chest compressions from bystanders had higher survival rates than those given standard resuscitation that included mouth-to-mouth breathing.

5 Oct 2010

Avandia restricted by the FDA and EMEA

The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has restricted the use of the controversial diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) due to its propensity to increase cardiovascular disease risk.

24 Sep 2010

Paper highlights need for new studies and guidelines around oxygen therapy during MI

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) welcomes a paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC )(1) highlighting concerns over the use of oxygen therapy during MI in patients with normal oxygen levels. The publication adds to calls for revision of the STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy and for a prospective, large scale randomised trials, issues that were both first raised in a Cochrane Review published in June.

21 Sep 2010

Flu shots, heart attacks and flu prevention guidelines

According to a new British study yearly flu shots may protect against heart attacks, and the earlier in the season a shot is given the greater the protection. Niroshan Siriwardena, a professor of primary and pre-hospital health care at the University of Lincoln said, “The risk of getting a heart attack was reduced by 19 percent for those who had a vaccination in the past year.”

21 Sep 2010