Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

Recent Southern California wildfires caused hospital visits for respiratory illnesses to spike

Raging wildfires that engulfed Southern California earlier this decade not only destroyed neighborhoods laying in their path, they also caused significant health problems for many who lived outside the fires' reach.

18 Nov 2008

Ginkgo biloba does nothing for dementia, Alzheimer's

One of the most widely used herbal supplements for improving memory and cognition has no impact on the development of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to new results from a $30 million, multi-center study.

18 Nov 2008

Why HIV treatment makes people more susceptible to metabolic complications

Clinicians have known for some time that people treated for HIV also become much more susceptible to diabetes and heart disease.

17 Nov 2008

Scientists use patient's own stem cells to treat heart failure

Researchers at the University of Utah are enrolling people in a new clinical trial that uses a patient's own stem cells to treat ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure.

17 Nov 2008

Optical frequency-domain imaging provides 3-D view of human coronary arteries

For the first time researchers are getting a detailed look at the interior of human coronary arteries, using an optical imaging technique developed at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

17 Nov 2008

Ethnic disparities in treatment of trauma patients

The initial evaluation and management of injured patients from minority ethnic groups nationwide appears to be similar to that of non-Hispanic white patients, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery.

17 Nov 2008

Financial incentives motivates doctors to reduce ethnic differences in heart disease treatments

Financial incentives for doctors can improve the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) and reduce ethnic differences in quality of and access to care, according to Dr. Christopher Millett, Consultant in Public Health at Imperial College Faculty of Medicine in London in the UK, and his colleagues.

17 Nov 2008

Vitamin D deficiency may be a culprit in heart disease, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome

The temperature might not be the only thing plummeting this winter.

17 Nov 2008

Intervention program boosts survival in breast cancer patients

A new study provides the best evidence to date that a psychological intervention program designed for breast cancer patients not only improves their health - it actually increases their chance of survival.

17 Nov 2008

Hypertension may develop undetected in young African-American men

Young and healthy African-American men have higher central blood pressure and their blood vessels are stiffer compared to their white counterparts, signs that the African American men are developing hypertension early and with little outward sign, according to a new study.

17 Nov 2008

Expert calls on government to increase recommended daily vitamin D intake

Today, the Indoor Tanning Association (ITA) asked Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, why he is suing a local tanning salon owner for claiming that tanning provides vitamin D, when Vitamin D experts at the University of California Riverside are saying the same thing?

17 Nov 2008

Drops in blood oxygen levels may be key to sudden death in some epilepsy patients

A new study by researchers at UC Davis Medical Center suggests that the sudden unexplained deaths of some epilepsy patients may be a result of their brains not telling their bodies to breathe during seizures.

17 Nov 2008

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sending more people to hospital

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a higher hospitalization rate and a higher hospital readmission rate than heart failure, angina, and other serious chronic diseases.

17 Nov 2008

Canadian women unaware of their vitamin D levels

A new survey, conducted by Ipsos Reid, reveals Canadian women are unaware of their vitamin D levels. According to the survey sponsored by Marc Sorenson, Ed.D, 97 per cent of the 516 Canadian women surveyed didn't know their vitamin D levels.

17 Nov 2008

Sports fans may engage in riskier health related behaviors than non-sports fans

Ball park hot dogs may be putting sports fans at elevated health risk, researchers at UALR -- the University of Arkansas at Little Rock -- said in research presented last week.

16 Nov 2008

Community-based physical activity interventions found to be cost-effective

Community-based physical activity interventions designed to promote more active lifestyles among adults are cost-effective in reducing heart disease, stroke, colorectal and breast cancers, and type 2 diabetes, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

16 Nov 2008

Negative thinking may play a bigger role in heart failure than previously thought

Researchers at the University of Kentucky found that patients who had negative thinking patterns, such as thoughts about not being able to justify their own existence, were at higher risk for developing depression.

16 Nov 2008

Aspirin lowers PSA levels

The use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is significantly associated with lower PSA levels, especially among men with prostate cancer, say researchers at Vanderbilt University.

16 Nov 2008

Higher levels of blood phosphate may be a previously unidentified and modifiable cardiovascular risk factor

Healthy adults with higher levels of phosphate in the blood are more likely to have increased levels of calcium in the coronary arteries-a key indicator of atherosclerosis and future cardiovascular disease risk, reports a study in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

16 Nov 2008

No clear evidence that depression screening improves cardiovascular patients' health

Results of a new study call into question recent clinical guidelines issued by leading cardiovascular groups, including the American Heart Association, which recommend patients with cardiovascular disease be screened for signs of depression and treated accordingly.

16 Nov 2008