Cardiology News and Research

Latest Cardiology News and Research

The most effective anti-smoking ads scare or disgust

According to researchers in the United States, in order for anti-smoking adverts to be effective they must either scare or disgust the audience.

23 Oct 2008

Researchers downplay value of mandatory universal nasal screening of patients for MRSA

Three Virginia Commonwealth University epidemiologists are downplaying the value of mandatory universal nasal screening of patients for MRSA, arguing that proven, hospital-wide infection control practices can prevent more of the potentially fatal infections.

23 Oct 2008

New obesity drug Tesofensine may have huge potential

According to trials, a new obesity drug, Tesofensine, which may be launched on the world market in a few years, can produce weight loss twice that of currently approved obesity drugs. The Danish company Neurosearch and a number of researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen are behind the promising findings.

23 Oct 2008

Sudden cardiac death number one risk for patients on dialysis

In a 10-year study of more than a thousand kidney failure patients, sudden cardiac death emerged as the number one cause of death for patients on dialysis, according to a Johns Hopkins researcher. The study, already published online and appearing in the Nov. 2 issue of Kidney International, identified systemic inflammatory response and malnutrition as key risk factors for the fatal heart attacks.

22 Oct 2008

Medtronic launches new device to improve minimally-invasive treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms

Extending an unmatched record of innovation in the field of endovascular aortic repair, Medtronic, Inc., today announced the U.S. market launch of the Talent Thoracic Stent Graft on the Xcelerant Delivery System, which makes minimally-invasive treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms easier to perform.

22 Oct 2008

Developing depression after a heart attack increases one’s risk of death or readmission

Science has found many links between depression and other serious medical illnesses, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. For example, people who develop depression following a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or chest pain (angina) have an elevated risk of cardiac death or hospital readmission over the following year.

22 Oct 2008

Aires Pharmaceuticals signs license agreement with NIH

Aires Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced the signing of an exclusive license agreement with the U.S. National Institutes of Health for the patented use of a nitric oxide prodrug to treat cardiopulmonary conditions.

22 Oct 2008

A little exercise prolongs life expectancy for people with heart disease

Exercising once a week can help prolong life expectancy for people with heart disease according to a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway.

21 Oct 2008

Discovery of genetic switch critical for cell survival in Hypoxia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a critical metabolic "switch" in fruit flies that helps oxygen-deprived cells survive. "A transcriptional suppressor, called hairy, is crucial for reducing the mismatch between supply and demand of oxygen," said Dan Zhou, first author on the study, published October 17 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

21 Oct 2008

Beta-blockers raise the risk of a heart attack after surgery

A new study has found that for some patients undergoing surgery, beta-blockers before and around the time of the operation increases their risk of heart attack and death.

21 Oct 2008

Junk food responsible for 35% of the world's heart attacks

New research by Canadian scientists says junk food causes a third of all heart attacks and it is diets heavy in fried foods, salty snacks and meat which are the culprits.

21 Oct 2008

Gene could 'knock the sox' off cancer!

Australian scientists from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland (UQ), have identified a gene which could very well 'knock the sox' off cancer and lymphatic disorders.

21 Oct 2008

Link between erectile dysfunction and heart attacks

A link between erectile dysfunction and heart attacks will be made by Professor Mike Kirby at the University of Hertfordshire Health and Human Sciences Research Institute Showcase today.

20 Oct 2008

Chronic disease keeping older Australians out of the workforce

Chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis may be keeping more than 660,000 older Australians out of the workforce, Sydney University academics have found.

20 Oct 2008

New atlas maps geographical pattern of mortality in Great Britain

Researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Sheffield have created an 'atlas of death' which charts the geographical pattern of mortality in Great Britain. The full-colour atlas shows the wide variation in death rates from a variety of different causes, from heart attacks and cancer to suicide and murder, for over 1,000 neighbourhoods.

20 Oct 2008

Historical accounts of lovesickness

Modern lovers could learn a thing or two from their Elizabethan counterparts about the pains and pleasures of frustrated passion, according to a new book by Dr Lesel Dawson, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.

19 Oct 2008

Genes that control cell death may play role in age-related hearing loss

Several genes that play a role in how our body's cells normally auto-destruct may play a role in age-related hearing loss, according to research published online in the journal Apoptosis - a journal devoted to the topic of cell suicide, or programmed cell death.

19 Oct 2008

FDA grants orphan drug status to Reata's pancreatic cancer drug

Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that RTA 402 has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. RTA 402 is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with pancreatic cancer, and is also in Phase 2 development for chronic kidney disease.

16 Oct 2008

White wine as healthy for the heart as red

A new study will provide comfort to white wine lovers and give them a good excuse to pour themselves a glass of Sauvignon blanc because it now appears that white wine is just as healthy for the heart as red.

16 Oct 2008

New therapy for heart failure

During heart failure the body reacts to the production of the hormone aldosterone. Too much aldosterone can stiffen and damage the muscles of the heart.

15 Oct 2008