Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

First Edition: December 17, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how the health law is viewed by immigrant populations.

17 Dec 2013

SynCardia Systems raises $14M to fund the rapid growth of Total Artificial Heart

Privately held SynCardia Systems, Inc. announced today that it had raised $14 million to fund the rapid growth of the only approved medical device that eliminates the symptoms and source of end-stage heart failure, the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart is the world's first and only FDA, Health Canada and CE (Europe) approved Total Artificial Heart.

17 Dec 2013

Doctors urge people to take advantage of Christmas gatherings to tackle ill-health

Doctors are encouraging people to take advantage of Christmas gatherings with relatives to discuss family medical histories to help tackle ill-health.

17 Dec 2013

New report shows death rates for lung cancer dropping at a faster pace

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, covering the period 1975, showed death rates for lung cancer, which accounts for more than one in four cancer deaths, dropping at a faster pace than in previous years. The recent larger drop in lung cancer deaths is likely the result of decreased cigarette smoking prevalence over many years, and is now being reflected in mortality trends. The lung cancer death rate decline, as well as declines in colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer death rates, has also helped drive decreases in death rates for all cancers types combined, a trend that began about 20 years ago.

17 Dec 2013

Affordable Care Act may help strengthen trauma systems

Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for people under the age of 45 and the fourth-leading cause of death for people of all ages. Much progress has been made over the last 50 years in developing statewide regionalized trauma systems to care for these injuries, but authors of a review appearing in the December issue of Health Affairs, believe more work is needed to ensure the right patient gets to the right place at the right time, and that the Affordable Care Act may offer opportunities to strengthen trauma systems.

17 Dec 2013

Poland's entry into EU may have led to consequence of increasing allergies in rural villages

Poland's entry into the EU may have had the surprising consequence of increasing allergies in rural villages, according to a new study. Surveys show that the prevalence of atopy, a predisposition towards allergic reactions, jumped from seven per cent to 20 per cent in villages in southwest Poland between 2003 and 2012.

17 Dec 2013

Minorities who are at highest risk of diabetes may benefit from beverage sugar tax

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages is likely to decrease consumption, resulting in lower rates of diabetes and heart disease, and these health benefits are expected to be greatest for the low-income, Hispanic and African-American Californians who are at highest risk of diabetes, according to a new analysis led by researchers at UC San Francisco.

17 Dec 2013

Alnylam initiates Phase II study with ALN-TTRsc for treatment of ATTR

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated a pilot Phase II study with ALN-TTRsc, a subcutaneously delivered RNAi therapeutic targeting the transthyretin gene in development for the treatment of TTR-mediated amyloidosis.

17 Dec 2013

Mayo Clinic researchers develop specialized catheter for transplanting stem cells into beating heart

Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues in Belgium have developed a specialized catheter for transplanting stem cells into the beating heart. The novel device includes a curved needle and graded openings along the needle shaft, allowing for increased distribution of cells.

17 Dec 2013

Study: Health care costs increase in parallel with body mass measurements

Researchers at Duke Medicine are giving people another reason to lose weight in the new year: obesity-related illnesses are expensive. According to a study published in the journal Obesity, health care costs increase in parallel with body mass measurements, even beginning at a recommended healthy weight.

17 Dec 2013

Moderate consumption of alcohol can improve immune response to vaccination

It's the time of year when many of us celebrate the holidays with festive foods and drinks, including alcohol. No better time then to ask if it is true, as is widely held, that moderate consumption of alcohol is beneficial to health.

16 Dec 2013

Study explores how blood sugar levels during pregnancy influence children’s fat

Researchers from Manchester have begun a new study to determine whether blood sugar levels during pregnancy, lower than the level used to diagnose gestational diabetes, influences later levels of body fat in children and development of diabetes in mothers after giving birth.

16 Dec 2013

Potential dual benefits to tackling LUTS progression risk factors

Research shows that several risk factors associated with Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease also predict the progression of storage and voiding lower urinary tract symptoms in men, suggesting that targeting these could have multiple benefits.

16 Dec 2013

Chest wall resection effective for recurrent mesothelioma

Salvage chest wall resection could lengthen survival in patients with isolated chest wall recurrence of malignant pleural mesothelioma, research indicates.

16 Dec 2013

Low vitamin D a consequence not a cause of ill health

Low vitamin D status is a marker of ill health rather than an underlying cause of disease, say the authors of a systematic review published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

16 Dec 2013

Two UTHealth professors elected fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Two professors at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - Barry Davis, M.D., Ph.D., and Kevin Morano, Ph.D. - have been elected fellows into the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

16 Dec 2013

Better to fat finger a text than to lose a finger due to the cold

The popular half-gloves that leave fingers uncovered for texting may be good for communicating electronically but they may also lead to permanent loss of fingers due to exposure to the cold. "Fingers are one of the first body parts to feel the effects of the cold and damp and along with toes, ears and the nose are frequently subjected to frostbite and even amputation," says Arthur Sanford, MD, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns, Loyola University Health System.

16 Dec 2013

Researchers identify new method to predict outcomes in heart failure patients

Researchers at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified a new method to determine whether a patient's heart will fail, which in the future may help physicians better treat patients and tailor therapeutic interventions.

16 Dec 2013

New technologies unveiled to provide expert care and streamline the process of treating breast cancer

Breast cancer patients are moms, wives, and caretakers. They are teachers, nurses, physicians and heads of industry. Today, more than ever before, women are delicately balancing the various roles of their lives. A breast cancer diagnosis and the treatment that follows is yet another challenge that unfortunately many women need to accommodate in their already busy schedules. That's why Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center offer technologies that provide expert care and streamline the process of treating breast cancer.

14 Dec 2013

Possible mechanism behind elevated risk of cardiovascular disease discovered in HIV-infected women

A Massachusetts General Hospital research team has discovered a possible mechanism behind the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in women infected with HIV, a risk even higher than that of HIV-infected men. In the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases the investigators report finding that HIV-infected women had a greater prevalence of the type of coronary artery plaque most vulnerable to rupture than did uninfected women.

14 Dec 2013

Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

First Edition: December 17, 2013

SynCardia Systems raises $14M to fund the rapid growth of Total Artificial Heart

Doctors urge people to take advantage of Christmas gatherings to tackle ill-health

New report shows death rates for lung cancer dropping at a faster pace

Affordable Care Act may help strengthen trauma systems

Poland's entry into EU may have led to consequence of increasing allergies in rural villages

Minorities who are at highest risk of diabetes may benefit from beverage sugar tax

Alnylam initiates Phase II study with ALN-TTRsc for treatment of ATTR

Mayo Clinic researchers develop specialized catheter for transplanting stem cells into beating heart

Study: Health care costs increase in parallel with body mass measurements

Moderate consumption of alcohol can improve immune response to vaccination

Study explores how blood sugar levels during pregnancy influence children’s fat

Potential dual benefits to tackling LUTS progression risk factors

Chest wall resection effective for recurrent mesothelioma

Low vitamin D a consequence not a cause of ill health

Two UTHealth professors elected fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Better to fat finger a text than to lose a finger due to the cold

Researchers identify new method to predict outcomes in heart failure patients

New technologies unveiled to provide expert care and streamline the process of treating breast cancer

Possible mechanism behind elevated risk of cardiovascular disease discovered in HIV-infected women

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Obesity, GLP-1s, and metabolic care

Automation in cell-based workflows

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Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Obesity, GLP-1s, and metabolic care

Automation in cell-based workflows

Data management challenges in scientific research

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