Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Latest Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Study finds racial disparities in weight-related counseling

When it comes to advising obese patients, blacks receive less weight reduction and exercise counseling from physicians than their white counterparts. This is according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who examined the impact of patient and doctor race concordance on weight-related counseling.

14 Jan 2011

New study finds prevalence of hypertension in older Mexican-Americans

A new study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston reveals that the prevalence of hypertension in older Mexican-Americans living in the Southwest region of the United States has increased slightly in the last decade.

14 Jan 2011

Merck announces changes in vorapaxar clinical studies

Merck today provided the following statement on the changes to the clinical studies for vorapaxar, one of the Company's investigational cardiovascular medicines, following an announcement from the two academic centers leading the studies of vorapaxar.

14 Jan 2011

American Heart Association proposes new metrics to monitor quality of stroke care

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has proposed metrics that healthcare professionals can use to monitor the diagnosis and treatment of patients at stroke centers to help improve the quality of care stroke patients receive.

14 Jan 2011

Researchers discover molecular mechanism behind coffee's protective effect

Coffee, that morning elixir, may give us an early jump-start to the day, but numerous studies have shown that it also may be protective against type 2 diabetes. Yet no one has really understood why.

14 Jan 2011

Good cholesterol efficiency more important than quantity: Study

According to a new study the amount of good cholesterol a person has is not as important as how well that good cholesterol works to stop heart disease. Good cholesterol or High-Density Lipoprotein—also known as HDL is known to be healthy for the heart with people having high blood levels of HDL being at a lower risk of developing heart disease than people with low levels.

13 Jan 2011

BP-lowering medications provide long-term benefit of reducing death risk from cardiovascular disease

In a study published in December 2010, in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, investigators have shown that early treatment with blood pressure-lowering medications provides a long-term benefit of reducing the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

13 Jan 2011

Cholesterol efflux capacity is more closely associated with protection against heart disease: Study

The discovery that high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease has fostered intensive research to modify HDL levels for therapeutic gain. However, recent findings have called into question the notion that pharmacologic increases in HDL cholesterol levels are necessarily beneficial to patients.

13 Jan 2011

NSAIDs raise risk of heart disease: Study

A new study published online in the British Medical Journal explores the relative safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs), commonly used to treat joint and muscle aches and pain and concludes that NSAIDs significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular events in patients who take them regularly.

12 Jan 2011

UH, Case Western University commence clinical trial for bipolar disorder

The Mood Disorders Program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, along with the Bipolar Trials Network, is launching Bipolar CHOICE.

12 Jan 2011

Plenty of breaks from sitting at the desk are good for hearts and waistlines: Study

It is becoming well accepted that, as well as too little exercise, too much sitting is bad for people's health. Now a new study has found that it is not just the length of time people spend sitting down that can make a difference, but also the number of breaks that they take while sitting at their desk or on their sofa. Plenty of breaks, even if they are as little as one minute, seem to be good for people's hearts and their waistlines.

12 Jan 2011

Herpes zoster vaccine reduces risk of developing shingles by 55%

Receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 300,000 people that appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

12 Jan 2011

Patients who consume painkillers may face cardiovascular risk

The drugs include traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as well as new generation anti-inflammatory drugs, known as COX-2 inhibitors. The researchers say that doctors and patients need to be aware that prescription of any anti-inflammatory drug needs to take cardiovascular risk into account.

12 Jan 2011

Amarin completes public offering at $7.60 per ADS

Amarin Corporation plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cardiovascular disease, today announced that it has completed its previously announced underwritten public offering of American Depositary Shares at a price to the public of $7.60 per ADS.

11 Jan 2011

Genzyme provides update on discussions with Sanofi-Aventis

Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) reported today that discussions between its financial advisors and financial advisors for Sanofi-Aventis are continuing and have expanded to include representatives of both companies.

11 Jan 2011

Teenagers who consume excess sugar may face risk of developing heart disease

Teenagers who consume a lot of added sugars in soft drinks and foods may have poor cholesterol profiles — which may possibly lead to heart disease in adulthood, according to first-of-its-kind research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

11 Jan 2011

Breathing tobacco smoke increases blood pressure of pre-school children

If you smoke around your children, they could have high blood pressure or be headed in an unhealthy direction before learning their ABC's, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

11 Jan 2011

MSU researcher believes pregnancy unmasks predispositions to cardiovascular disease

As the rate of preterm delivery rises - accounting for 12.5 percent of all U.S. births - a Michigan State University epidemiologist is using a $3.7 million federal grant to uncover why some mothers who deliver babies early are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

11 Jan 2011

Baylor Hamilton offers Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system treatment for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Physicians at Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital are the first in North Texas to offer the Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system, the first and only cryoballoon in the United States indicated to treat drug refractory recurrent symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), a serious heart rhythm disorder that affects millions of Americans.

11 Jan 2011

Genetics Squared to change corporate name to Everist Genomics

Genetics Squared, a prognostics company focused on developing gene-based molecular assays for the prediction of cancer recurrence, today announced that it will change its corporate name to Everist Genomics and has appointed Prasad Sunkara, Ph.D. as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

10 Jan 2011