Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

New electric mesh device wraps around the heart to deliver electrical impulses

A research team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Seoul National University has developed a new electric mesh device that can be wrapped around the heart to deliver electrical impulses and thereby improve cardiac function in experimental models of heart failure, a major public health concern and leading cause of mortality and disability.

29 Jun 2016

Researchers devise method to identify functional contribution of SIRT6

The enzyme sirtuin 6, or SIRT6, serves many key biological functions in regulating genome stability, DNA repair, metabolism and longevity, but how its multiple enzyme activities relate to its various functions is poorly understood.

29 Jun 2016

Canadian study reveals who benefits most from cardiac rehab program

Toronto Rehab researchers have discovered a new approach for determining which patient populations benefit most from cardiac rehabilitation.

28 Jun 2016

Pharmacotherapy reduces conduction system disease risk

Lisinopril therapy significantly reduces incident conduction system disease, indicates a post-hoc analysis of ALLHAT data.

28 Jun 2016

Epclusa drug receives FDA approval for treating adult patients with chronic HCV

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Epclusa to treat adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) both with and without cirrhosis (advanced liver disease).

28 Jun 2016

Scientists develop novel bionic cardiac patch to treat heart problems

Scientists and doctors in recent decades have made vast leaps in the treatment of cardiac problems - particularly with the development in recent years of so-called "cardiac patches," swaths of engineered heart tissue that can replace heart muscle damaged during a heart attack.

28 Jun 2016

Mathematical model helps investigate mechanisms involved in genesis of AF-related dementia

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac arrhythmia, turns out to be a potential mechanism into the genesis of AF-related cognitive impairment/dementia.

28 Jun 2016

Experimental lipid-lowering drug improves glucose control in diabetic patients

High triglycerides -- a type of fat, or lipid, in the blood -- increase the risk of heart disease and perhaps type 2 diabetes. For the first time, it has been shown that profoundly lowering triglycerides in diabetics improves their insulin sensitivity over time, which helps them maintain healthy glucose - blood sugar -- levels.

28 Jun 2016

Pioglitazone effective in diabetes patients with NASH

Pioglitazone may halt the progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in patients with prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes, a randomised trial shows.

28 Jun 2016

Elevated troponin I should not rule out donor hearts

Donor cardiac troponin I level is not associated with intermediate-term mortality, cardiac allograft vasculopathy or primary graft failure in patients receiving heart transplants, US researchers report.

28 Jun 2016

'Novel' analysis addresses antiplatelet benefits in real-world CHD patients

Researchers demonstrate a means of gauging the effects of drugs tested in randomised trials in real-world patients.

28 Jun 2016

Jefferson researchers discover alternate pathway that helps heart keep pumping

About 5.7 million Americans have heart failure, half of whom will die from the disease within 5 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

28 Jun 2016

Researchers identify exact origin of 2009 swine H1N1 flu pandemic

The 2009 swine H1N1 flu pandemic — responsible for more than 17,000 deaths worldwide — originated in pigs from a very small region in central Mexico, a research team headed by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is reporting.

28 Jun 2016

High levels of zinc may lead to kidney stone formation

David Killilea, PhD, a staff scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute- the research arm of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland - co-authored a study into the causes of kidney stones.

28 Jun 2016

Scientists explain how engineered anthrax toxin proteins could help eliminate cancerous tumors

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute all parts of the National Institutes of Health, describe how combining engineered anthrax toxin proteins and existing chemotherapy drugs could potentially yield a therapy to reduce or eliminate cancerous tumors.

28 Jun 2016

Blood levels of omega-3s fatty acids linked to lower risk of deadly heart attacks

Blood levels of seafood and plant-based omega-3 fatty acids are moderately associated with a lower risk of dying from heart attacks, according to a new epidemiological study, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, led by Liana C. Del Gobbo, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the division of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.

28 Jun 2016

Anti-anxiety medication dampens helping behavior in rats

Rats given midazolam, an anti-anxiety medication, were less likely to free trapped companions because the drug lessened their empathy, according to a new study by University of Chicago neuroscientists.

28 Jun 2016

Study shows increase in costs of hospitalization for people with private insurance

Even if you have what you might think of as good health insurance, your next hospital stay could cost you more than $1,000 out of your own pocket.

27 Jun 2016

Older adults with high LDL-C live longer than peers with low levels of same cholesterol, say experts

A University of South Florida professor and an international team of experts have found that older people with high levels of a certain type of cholesterol, known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), live as long, and often longer, than their peers with low levels of this same cholesterol.

27 Jun 2016