Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

Kidney experts say it’s time to remove race from medical algorithms. Doing so is complicated.

Alphonso Harried recently came across a newspaper clipping about his grandfather receiving his 1,000th dialysis treatment. His grandfather later died — at a dialysis center — as did his uncle, both from kidney disease.

8 Jun 2021

Immunomodulatory therapies for nephrological autoimmune diseases may help treat severe COVID-19

Various viruses and bacteria have long been known to cause autoimmune diseases where there is such a predisposition. This phenomenon also seems to play a major role in SARS-CoV-2, especially in severe courses.

8 Jun 2021

Study sheds new light on the mechanics and physics of blood clotting

Heart attacks and strokes - the leading causes of death in human beings - are fundamentally blood clots of the heart and brain. Better understanding how the blood-clotting process works and how to accelerate or slow down clotting, depending on the medical need, could save lives.

8 Jun 2021

Wearable sensor shows link between blood pressure and intracranial pressure

Brazilian researchers have simultaneously demonstrated the mechanism linking high blood pressure to elevated intracranial pressure, validated a non-invasive intracranial pressure monitoring method, and proposed a treatment for high blood pressure that does not affect intracranial hypertension.

8 Jun 2021

Study: COVID-19 produced more symptoms and complications than seasonal influenza in youths

A new global study of 30-day outcomes in children and adolescents with COVID-19 found that while death was uncommon, the illness produced more symptoms and complications than seasonal influenza.

8 Jun 2021

ACE2 functions as a gateway for COVID-19 virus

Normally, the ACE2 enzyme helps regulate our blood pressure. The enzyme sits on the surface of cells, including cells in the lungs, but in connection with COVID-19 it has been found that ACE2 also functions as a gateway for the virus.

8 Jun 2021

Fluorescence-based assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

Researchers have developed a rapid assay to rapidly detect neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using an imaging technique they developed for the Ebola virus.

8 Jun 2021

Study reveals mechanisms by which SGLT2 inhibitors produce renoprotective effect

SGLT2 inhibitors (gliflozins) were developed as oral antidiabetics. They enhance urinary glucose excretion by inhibiting SGLT-2 (sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter-2) in the renal tubuli.

8 Jun 2021

Scientists explain why space travel weakens the human immune system

Microgravity in space perturbs human physiology and is detrimental for astronaut health, a fact first realized during early Apollo missions when astronauts experienced inner ear disturbances, heart arrhythmia, low blood pressure, dehydration, and loss of calcium from their bones after their mission.

8 Jun 2021

Link between SARS-CoV-2 organotropism and kidney injury

It was clear at a relatively early stage of the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide range of symptoms; in addition to typical respiratory symptoms, patients also had neurological symptoms (starting with anosmia), gastrointestinal symptoms, elevated liver values, and renal, urinary or hematological changes, for example.

8 Jun 2021

New blood test helps monitor patient’s response to cancer treatment

Cancer patients who are undergoing targeted therapy can look forward to a new blood test that could tell their doctors whether the treatment is working, within one day after the start of the treatment.

8 Jun 2021

Oral antidiabetic medication provides kidney protection in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare form of kidney inflammation (glomerulonephritis) in which the glomeruli become increasingly scarred (sclerotic), leading to progressive loss of kidney function.

7 Jun 2021

New research identifies protein as therapeutic anti-viral target for COVID-19

New research identified a novel interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the galectin-3-binding protein (LGALS3BP) which could be a new therapeutic anti-viral target.

7 Jun 2021

Ultrasound examinations can be deployed to detect and treat lung congestion in hemodialysis patients

Accumulation of water in the lungs (lungcongestion) is a common condition in hemodialysis patients, particularly in those at high cardiovascular risk, like those presenting coronary artery disease and/or heart failure.

7 Jun 2021

COVID-19 can cause long-term consequences for the kidneys

The kidneys are a target organ of COVID-19 and are affected very early in the course. However, this is precisely where there is strong prognostic potential: As early as last spring, COVID-19-associated nephritis was identified as an early warning signal for severe courses of the infectious disease and studies to that effect were published.

7 Jun 2021

Experimental monoclonal antibody could be a new weapon against HIV epidemic

An experimental, lab-made antibody can completely prevent nonhuman primates from being infected with the monkey form of HIV, new research published in Nature Communications shows.

7 Jun 2021

Discovery offers a potential new pathway to treat hypertension

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and premature death worldwide.

7 Jun 2021

Minimally-invasive procedure could offer hope to patients with high blood pressure

A minimally-invasive procedure that targets the nerves near the kidney has been found to significantly reduce blood pressure in hypertension patients, according to the results of a global multicentre clinical trial led in the UK by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust.

7 Jun 2021

Study finds high levels of lead in indigenous people in Peruvian Amazonia

Lead is a toxic metal, and its widespread use has led to significant environmental pollution and public health problems in many parts of the world.

7 Jun 2021

Around 5% of children develop long COVID-19 symptoms, suggests new study

A new study, by researchers at University College London (UCL) in the UK, shows that even though children rarely develop symptomatically severe COVID-19, the prevalence of long COVID in children with a history of infection is over 4.5%.

7 Jun 2021