Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

International researchers make crucial discovery on formation, growth of blood vessels

As blood vessels grow, the cells that compose them must make a choice between forming side-branches or expanding the vessel surface and increasing its diameter. Now Prof. Holger Gerhardt at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association and his international research teams have made a crucial disovery about this process: the cells can behave as a collective, moving in the same direction together.

27 Apr 2016

Endocrine Society urges physicians to increase screening for primary aldosteronism

The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline calling on physicians to ramp up screening for primary aldosteronism, a common cause of high blood pressure.

27 Apr 2016

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may not reduce colorectal cancer risk

Long-term use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins does not appear to decrease a patient's risk of colorectal cancer, suggests a new, large case-control study from Penn Medicine researchers published this week in PLOS Medicine.

27 Apr 2016

Innovations in pre-clinical MRI: an interview with Priv. Doz. Dr. Dominik von Elverfeldt

To me the most exciting aspect of pre-clinical imaging is its broad range, from very basic science up to applied science. You deal with a range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology and of course medicine, as the aim is the translation of research to humans.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 27 Apr 2016

Low levels of vitamin D, methylation in black teens may increase cancer risk

Low levels of vitamin D in black teens correlates with low activity of a major mechanism for controlling gene expression that may increase their risk of cancer and other disease, researchers report.

26 Apr 2016

Post-mortem toxicology screening has many phases

Prince's autopsy was conducted by A. Quinn Strobl, MD, FCAP, a member of the College of American Pathologists. The results are expected to take at least two weeks, perhaps as many as six full weeks. This tragedy has people asking again "Why do toxicology results take so long?"

26 Apr 2016

Hydrocortisone drug can also prevent lung damage in premature babies

Research from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago conducted in mice shows the drug hydrocortisone -- a steroid commonly used to treat a variety of inflammatory and allergic conditions -- can also prevent lung damage that often develops in premature babies treated with oxygen.

26 Apr 2016

Transforming MR images into body composition measurements: an interview with Olof Leinhard

Today's medical science utilizes relatively simple anthropometric measures that describe the body, such as body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. All of these measures are approximations of the body with the intention to characterize what's inside reflecting underlying phenomena that underpin the risk for different diseases.

26 Apr 2016

GLP-1 receptor agonist may benefit high-risk diabetes

Research shows that using a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist instead of a rapid-acting insulin analogue at mealtimes can reduce glycaemic variability in high-risk patients with Type 2 diabetes.

26 Apr 2016

Exposure to laundry detergent packets more dangerous to young children, study finds

A new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center found that exposure to laundry detergent packets is more dangerous to young children than exposure to other types of laundry and dishwasher detergent.

25 Apr 2016

New dietary supplement may offer hope to combat heart disease

Combining marine fish oil, cocoa extract and phytosterols into a dietary supplement could offer new hope in the fight against heart disease, a new study suggests.

25 Apr 2016

Mediterranean diet reduces risk of recurrent heart attacks or strokes

A "Mediterranean" diet, high in fruit, vegetables, fish and unrefined foods, is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease, according to a study of over 15,000 people in 39 countries around the world. The research also showed that eating greater amounts of healthy food was more important for these people than avoiding unhealthy foods, such as refined grains, sweets, desserts, sugared drinks and deep-fried food - a "Western" diet.

25 Apr 2016

Fructose common in western diet can damage brain genes

A range of diseases -- from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and from Alzheimer's disease to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- are linked to changes to genes in the brain. A new study by UCLA life scientists has found that hundreds of those genes can be damaged by fructose, a sugar that's common in the Western diet, in a way that could lead to those diseases.

25 Apr 2016

Sleep loss influences cholesterol metabolism, study finds

Lack of sleep has previously been found to impact the activation of the immune system, inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism and the hormones that regulate appetite. Now University of Helsinki researchers have found that sleep loss also influences cholesterol metabolism.

22 Apr 2016

Cancer survivors at risk of death after organ transplant

People who had cancer before receiving an organ transplant were more likely to die of any cause, die of cancer or develop a new cancer than organ recipients who did not previously have cancer, a new paper has found. However, the increased risk is less than that reported in some previous studies.

22 Apr 2016

Under-expressed miR-9 gene may contribute to schizophrenia risk

By turning skin cells into brain neurons, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified that certain tiny molecules aiding in gene expression, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), are under-expressed in the brains of the 14 schizophrenia patients they studied. Their findings, published online today in the journal Cell Reports, show that one of these molecules, a miRNA known as miR-9, is a risk factor that controls the activity of hundreds of genes.

22 Apr 2016

Unmet nursing care may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in AMI readmissions

Why are black older adults at higher risk of repeat hospital admission after a heart attack? Treatment at hospitals with higher rates of missed nursing care may be a contributing factor, reports a study in the May issue of Medical Care.

22 Apr 2016

Wellderly study finds link between cognitive decline genes and healthy aging

An eight-year-long accrual and analysis of the whole genome sequences of healthy elderly people, or "Wellderly," has revealed a higher-than-normal presence of genetic variants offering protection from cognitive decline, researchers from the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) reported today in the journal Cell.

22 Apr 2016

Assessing body composition may help predict cardiovascular and total mortality

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA found that cardiovascular disease patients who have high muscle mass and low fat mass have a lower mortality risk than those with other body compositions. The findings also suggest that regardless of a person's level of fat mass, a higher level of muscle mass helps reduce the risk of death.

22 Apr 2016

Scientists identify critical biological factor for transforming adult somatic cells into stem cells

In a new Cell Reports paper, a team led by John P. Cooke, M.D., Ph.D., of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, has identified and characterized a biological factor critical to the transformation of adult somatic cells (cells that are not sperm or egg cells) into stem cells.

22 Apr 2016