Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

Latest Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

Skipping meals to lose weight

Foregoing food for a day each month stood out among other religious practices in members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormons), who have lower rates of heart disease than other Americans, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

6 Nov 2007

Preventing, detecting, and treating coronary artery disease

A woman who has heart disease is 50% more likely to die from it than a man who has it.

6 Nov 2007

New comorbidity index helps predict post-transplant survival

Patients awaiting liver transplantation who also suffer from other medical problems may face poorer survival after transplantation.

6 Nov 2007

64-slice CT scans a good test for clogged arteries

A study by an international team of cardiac imaging specialists, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, concludes that sophisticated computed tomography (CT) scans of the heart and its surrounding arteries are almost as reliable and accurate as more invasive procedures to check for blockages.

6 Nov 2007

Women with implantable cardioverter defibrillators fare less well than men

While ICDs—implantable cardioverter defibrillators—are the device of choice to manage abnormal heart rhythms, a new study led by cardiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine suggests that women with ICDs fare less well than their male counterparts.

6 Nov 2007

Smaller heart pump bridges time to transplant for more women

A small, implantable device that helps the heart pump blood works equally well for men and women but may benefit twice as many women awaiting transplants, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

5 Nov 2007

Prevalence of asymptomatic peripheral artery disease steadily increasing among American adults

The prevalence of asymptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is steadily increasing among American adults, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

5 Nov 2007

Anticoagulant bivalirudin following angioplasty in heart attack patients reduces adverse events and bleeding

Late-breaking data presented at TCT 2007, the scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), show that the use of the anticoagulant bivalirudin following angioplasty in heart attack patients reduces net adverse clinical events by 24 percent compared to the standard treatment, and significantly reduces major bleeding that occurs after angioplasty by 40 percent.

24 Oct 2007

SPIRIT III trial shows fewer major adverse cardiac events

Late breaking results from the SPIRIT III trial, presented at TCT 2007, the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, show that after 12 months, there were significantly fewer major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as heart attacks, deaths from cardiac causes or repeat procedures (angioplasty or surgery) to clear the original vessel blockage after using a Xience V everolimus-eluting coronary stent than a Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent.

24 Oct 2007

Phase II map of human genetic variation

The International HapMap Consortium today published analyses of its second-generation map of human genetic variation, which contains three times more markers than the initial version unveiled in 2005.

18 Oct 2007

Cardiac stents may cause tingling in some patients

Coronary stents are commonly used to open blocked arteries of patients with coronary artery disease.

18 Oct 2007

Bypass surgery more likely than angioplasty to relieve coronary artery disease pain

Patients with mid-range coronary artery disease are more likely to get relief from painful angina and less likely to have repeat procedures if they get bypass surgery rather than balloon angioplasty with or without a stent, according to a new report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

17 Oct 2007

Little difference in risk rates for angioplasty, bypass procedures

Patients with heart disease who undergo coronary angioplasty have an equivalent risk of death and heart attack as patients who undergo coronary bypass surgery, according to Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

17 Oct 2007

Landmark stent trial to be presented at TCT 2007

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) will release results of its landmark research study, HORIZONS AMI (Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction) at the nineteenth annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C.

16 Oct 2007

Depression among patients with coronary artery disease

Depression has long had a popular link to cardiovascular disease and death. However, only during the last 15 years scientific evidence supporting this common wisdom has been available (Glassman et al., 2007a).

16 Oct 2007

Statins cut heart attacks by more than a quarter

A study into the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs has found they reduce heart attacks by more than 25 per cent.

12 Oct 2007

Picking the right stress test for heart disease risk analysis

Stress tests are good front-line tests indicators of heart disease, but just how good depends on ordering the right one, researchers say.

12 Oct 2007

Research shows how stem cells decide to become either skeletal or smooth muscle

Researchers have discovered a key protein that controls how stem cells "choose" to become either skeletal muscle cells that move limbs, or smooth muscle cells that support blood vessels, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

11 Oct 2007

Stress is a contributing factor in human disease

In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, Carnegie Mellon University psychologist Sheldon Cohen has found that stress is a contributing factor in human disease, and in particular depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS.

10 Oct 2007

Androgen deprivation therapy linked to increased risk of heart disease death

The use of androgen deprivation therapy to treat localized prostate cancer is associated with an increased risk of death from heart disease, according to a study published online October 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

10 Oct 2007