Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Latest Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Kessler Foundation investigates Ekso's new capabilities for autonomous use by people with SCI

Kessler Foundation has begun testing the upgraded Ekso in individuals unable to walk due to spinal cord injury. Ekso, a wearable, battery-powered robotic exoskeletal device, has been undergoing clinical investigation at Kessler since October 2011, when the research team received the second commercial unit distributed by Ekso Bionics.

15 Aug 2012

Online weight management programmes show promise

Computer and web-based weight management programmes may provide a cost effective way of addressing the growing problem of obesity, according to a team of seven researchers who undertook a Cochrane systematic review.

15 Aug 2012

Cathepsins may attack one another instead of the bodily proteins

Researchers for the first time have shown that members of a family of enzymes known as cathepsins - which are implicated in many disease processes - may attack one another instead of the bodily proteins they normally degrade. Dubbed "cathepsin cannibalism," the phenomenon may help explain problems with drugs that have been developed to inhibit the effects of these powerful proteases.

15 Aug 2012

Compounds in cocoa may help decrease blood pressure

Compounds in cocoa may help to reduce blood pressure, according to a new systematic review in The Cochrane Library. The researchers reviewed evidence from short-term trials in which participants were given dark chocolate or cocoa powder daily and found that their blood pressure dropped slightly compared to a control group.

15 Aug 2012

Insurance status affects survival after cardiac event

Patients admitted to hospital with an acute cardiac event have higher rates of mortality if they are underinsured compared with those who have private insurance, show US study results.

14 Aug 2012

Eating egg yolks accelerates atherosclerosis in a manner similar to smoking

Newly published research led by Dr. David Spence of Western University, Canada, shows that eating egg yolks accelerates atherosclerosis in a manner similar to smoking cigarettes.

14 Aug 2012

Nanofibers and VEGF hold promise for cardiovascular repair

A National Cheng Kung University research team has made a breakthrough in the regeneration of new blood vessels in cardiovascular therapy by using nanofibers and vascular endothelial growth factor.

10 Aug 2012

Statins: cardiovascular benefits outweigh diabetes risk

The benefits of taking statins to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease outweigh the increased risk of developing diabetes experienced by some patients who take these cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet.

10 Aug 2012

Abacus, SurePoint Medical partner to offer diabetes-care plan for employers

SurePoint Medical, provider of direct-to-consumer healthcare supplies and disease-management services, today announced a strategic partnership with Abacus Employer Health Solutions (Abacus) to offer its SurePoint Wellness diabetes-care plan to companies that use Abacus's Good Health Gateway employee health management program.

9 Aug 2012

Steroid induced Cushing’s warning

People who develop Cushing’s syndrome as a result of taking systemic glucocorticoids are at very high risk of cardiovascular disease, warn researchers.

8 Aug 2012

Strategies that encourage lifestyle modifications could help manage hypertension

While many public health officials and healthcare providers view reducing sodium intake as the primary strategy to lower blood pressure, a 2010 expert Roundtable indicates that strategies that encourage lifestyle modifications could yield better results, concludes an article published today in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition Today.

8 Aug 2012

About half of adults with type 2 diabetes experience acute and chronic pain

Almost half of adults with type 2 diabetes report acute and chronic pain, and close to one quarter report neuropathy, fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance and physical or emotional disability, according to a study of more than 13,000 adults conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the University of California, San Francisco and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA. The researchers also found significant rates of shortness of breath, nausea and constipation.

8 Aug 2012

Study examines trends in serum lipid concentrations among U.S. children and adolescents

In a study involving more than 16,000 U.S. children and adolescents, there has been a decrease in average total cholesterol levels over the past 2 decades, although almost 1 in 10 had elevated total cholesterol in 2007-2010, according to a study in the August 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Aug 2012

Calcium and vitamin D supplements do not prevent bone loss in men with prostate cancer

Prescribing calcium and vitamin D supplements for men at risk of bone loss from hormonal treatment for prostate cancer seems like good medicine.

8 Aug 2012

Underinsured CVD patients die sooner, irrespective of race

Insurance status is a better predictor of survival after a serious cardiac event than race, and may help explain racial disparities in health outcomes for cardiovascular disease. A new study by Derek Ng, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US, and his team shows that race is not linked to an increased risk of death but being underinsured is a strong predictor of death among those admitted into hospital with a serious cardiac event.

7 Aug 2012