Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

Treatment costs for diabetes care are higher in Texas than other states

The Texas Business Group on Health (TBGH), a non-profit business association, today released its annual report on the prevalence, cost and quality of care for Texans with Type 2 diabetes.

18 Sep 2009

Results from the BLOSSOM trial announced by Arena Pharmaceuticals

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) reported today positive, highly significant top-line results from the BLOSSOM (Behavioral modification and LOrcaserin Second Study for Obesity Management) trial.

18 Sep 2009

Partnership between Wellcome Trust and Merck & Co

The Wellcome Trust and Merck & Co., Inc. today announced the creation of the MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories (www.hillemanlaboratories.in), the first of its kind research and development joint venture with a not-for-profit mission to focus on developing affordable vaccines to prevent diseases that commonly affect low-income countries.

18 Sep 2009

Zargis Medical receives FDA approval for marketing Signal X6 device

Zargis Medical Corp., a spin-off from Siemens Corporate Research and a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp., announced today it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market its new Signal X6(TM) device.

18 Sep 2009

National Institutes of Health funds for thymus research

The National Institutes of Health have awarded, as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, a two-year, $2 million grant to a University of Georgia genetics researcher and her colleagues for studies on the thymus, the organ in humans that produces disease-fighting T-cells.

18 Sep 2009

Heart Institute's first LHIN program in Ontario for emergency heart attacks

Heart attack victims who live outside Ottawa's urban centre now are part of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute's (UOHI) far-reaching emergency life-saving program, ensuring urgent standardized treatment regardless of geography and, for the first time in Ontario, throughout an entire regional health district.

18 Sep 2009

Strategies for reducing tobacco use and health care costs in the U.S.

The Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which includes support for strategies to reduce tobacco use, is a smart investment in the nation's health that will save lives, prevent disease and help reduce health care costs.

18 Sep 2009

Researchers to focus on abnormal fetal growth and chronic kidney disease

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University two grants totaling $3.5 million to study epigenetic changes - chemical modifications of genes caused by stress, diet or other environmental influences - and how they contribute to human diseases and biological processes.

18 Sep 2009

Nutrient-rich powder from wine by-products

Two years ago, a group of friends were enjoying a glass of wine in the Mosel region in south-west Germany when their conversation turned to the health benefits which studies attribute to the drink.

18 Sep 2009

Study reveals that low invadolysin could reduce fat storage in lipids

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that the protein invadolysin, which is essential for healthy cell division, is present in lipid droplets - the parts of cells used to store fat.

18 Sep 2009

FDA approves Valturna tablets for treating high blood pressure

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Valturna((R)) (aliskiren and valsartan) tablets, the first and only medicine to target two key points within the renin system, also known as the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), an important regulator of blood pressure.

18 Sep 2009

Vitamin K prevents age-related conditions

An important analysis conducted by Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute scientists suggests the importance of ensuring optimal dietary intakes of vitamin K to prevent age-related conditions such as bone fragility, arterial and kidney calcification, cardiovascular disease, and possibly cancer. Vitamin K is concentrated in dark green plants such as spinach or Swiss chard, and is either not present or present in only small amounts in most multivitamin pills.

18 Sep 2009

Rising trend in youth sports-related injuries

Thirty million children and teens are busy gearing up for the fall athletic season. What they're not gearing up for is a sprained, strained or fractured ankle. However, US Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics reveal 3.5 million children and teens get hurt annually playing organized and/or school sports.

18 Sep 2009

At hearing, Kucinich bashes insurance companies

An afternoon hearing today seeks to better understand how private health insurance works. Capitol News Connection reports: "This afternoon Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) leads Day Two of a House oversight inquiry. The Ohio Democrat wants to know how private health insurance companies decide whom to cover and which claims to pay. And how those decisions translate to profit ratios" (Johnson, 9/17).

17 Sep 2009

Lantheus commences Phase 1 study evaluating novel LMI1195 heart failure imaging agent

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic imaging, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study to assess the safety, dosimetry and tolerability of LMI1195, a novel F-18 small molecule tracer for imaging cardiac neuronal function, in healthy subjects, undergoing positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

17 Sep 2009

Interim data from GORE PROPATEN Vascular Graft studies presented at the 2009 vascular meeting

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced that several physicians recently presented interim data from ongoing GORE PROPATEN® Vascular Graft studies to clinical audiences at the 2009 annual vascular meeting. The conference, the premier event hosted by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), was held in mid-June in Denver, Colorado. One physician reported primary patency rates as high as 100 percent for below-knee bypasses.

17 Sep 2009

InterMune and National Jewish Health to collaborate in the research of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) today announced that it will be collaborating with National Jewish Health(R)( )investigators in order to help further the research of inherited genetic factors that may play a role in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). InterMune will provide researchers at National Jewish with access to DNA collected from patients who participated in the Company's Phase 3 clinical trials in IPF for both pirfenidone (CAPACITY trials) and Actimmune(R) (interferon gamma-1b) (INSPIRE).

17 Sep 2009

A not-for-profit mission from Wellcome Trust and Merck to develop affordable vaccines for low-income countries

17 Sep 2009

First Edition: September 17, 2009

Today's headlines focus on two clear story lines: First, the long-awaited and much-anticipated Baucus health overhaul measure was unveiled yesterday; second, it's reception was only lukewarm.

17 Sep 2009

Pervasis Therapeutics raises funds to support clinical development programs

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it completed the initial closing of a $17 million third round of financing. The proceeds will be used primarily to support the company's ongoing clinical development programs, including PVS-10200, a biologically active therapy designed to reestablish healthy vasculature following common interventions to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and potentially other conditions.

17 Sep 2009