Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

ECMO can be used on neonates with severe respiratory failure until lung transplantation, say scientists

Adults with end-stage respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension requiring ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) have been "bridged" toward lung transplantation with novel lung assist devices such as the Novalung.

7 May 2013

Biomedical engineers grow 3D human heart muscle that acts just like natural tissue

Duke University biomedical engineers have grown three-dimensional human heart muscle that acts just like natural tissue. This advancement could be important in treating heart attack patients or in serving as a platform for testing new heart disease medicines.

7 May 2013

New gene implicated in Parkinson can delay onset of aging, extend life span

UCLA life scientists have identified a gene previously implicated in Parkinson's disease that can delay the onset of aging and extend the healthy life span of fruit flies. The research, they say, could have important implications for aging and disease in humans.

7 May 2013

Kinase inhibitors: an interview with Jan Hoflack, CSO of Oncodesign

Kinase inhibitors are molecules that block the activity of kinases. Kinases are a specific class of enzymes. They are extremely important in signal transduction processes in the human body meaning that they actually regulate most of the physiological processes that take place in the body.

7 May 2013

Study offers new hope to patients suffering from laminopathies

Laminopathies are hereditary diseases that affect mainly the muscle tissue. These diseases include for example Emery-Dreifuss Muscular dystrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy and Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome.

7 May 2013

Implantation of new mechanical heart valve reduces anticoagulation therapy in AVR patients

For more than 40 years, patients under 65 years of age requiring heart valve replacement have had to choose between a mechanical valve that offers life-long durability but requires aggressive warfarin anticoagulation or a biological (cow or pig) valve that will wear out in 10-20 years but does not require anticoagulation.

7 May 2013

Patients with faulty heart valves can benefit from Valve-in-Valve technique

When a biologic aortic valve prosthesis fails, the patient often faces a high risk valve replacement through repeat open heart surgery. A new technique, known as Valve-in-Valve, uses minimally invasive techniques to introduce a collapsible aortic heart valve into the damaged valve in order to restore function.

7 May 2013

Aerobic exercise can help reduce breast cancer risk

Changes in estrogen breakdown, or metabolism, may be one of the mechanisms by which aerobic exercise lowers a woman's breast cancer risk, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

7 May 2013

Toshiba offers InfinixTM-i cardiovascular X-ray system for EP procedures

Electrophysiology (EP) clinical teams require a unique set of technologies to perform accurate and safe exams. Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. offers these clinicians an InfinixTM-i cardiovascular X-ray system tailored for EP procedures with a new package of features, accessories and technologies. This package maximizes room utilization, improves workflow and enhances safety.

7 May 2013

Scientists identify causative factor behind lung edema

New research has found that in cases of lung edema, or fluid in the lungs, not only do the lungs fail to keep water out as previously believed, but they are also allowing water to pump in.

7 May 2013

Prior administration of erythropoietin reduces need for blood transfusions

Anemia increases operative mortality and morbidity in non-cardiac and cardiac surgical procedures. Anemic surgical patients may require more blood transfusions, raising the risk of transfusion-related complications and increasing costs.

7 May 2013

Menus at fast food restaurants still lack nutritional quality

More than 25 percent of American adults chow down on fast food two or more times each week. Known for menu items containing high amounts of fat, sugar, and salt, fast-food restaurants have contributed to America's poor diets and increased risk of diet-related chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.

7 May 2013

Tipsheet of story ideas from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

In an effort to better protect women from heart disease, Irene Pollin, a widely respected public health advocate who founded the nation's first organization dedicated to preventing heart disease in women, has donated $10 million to the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.

6 May 2013

Program on Medicine and Religion selects faculty scholars

The University of Chicago Medicine's Program on Medicine and Religion has selected its second round of faculty scholars whose focus will be on the relationship between a physician's spirituality and their ability to deal with the pressures of practicing medicine.

6 May 2013

Prompt use of AED can increase the survival rates of people who suffer cardiac arrest

Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest.

6 May 2013

Rare mutation confers high risk of osteoporosis and certain cancers

deCODE genetics (an Amgen subsidiary) and Illumina, global leaders in analyzing and understanding the human genome, together with scientists from the National Hospital of Iceland and the University of Iceland reported today in the journal Nature the identification of a rare nonsense mutation that confers high risk of osteoporosis and osteoporosis related traits.

6 May 2013

Study: Combination of chemotherapy and nerve-protecting agents can prevent anemia

Cancer chemotherapy can cause peripheral neuropathy-nerve damage often resulting in pain and muscle weakness in the arms and legs. Now, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered that chemo also induces an insidious type of nerve damage inside bone marrow that can cause delays in recovery after bone marrow transplantation.

6 May 2013

Metallurgists use microwave oven to produce nanocrystal semiconductors

University of Utah metallurgists used an old microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor rapidly using cheap, abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors. They hope it will be used for more efficient photovoltaic solar cells and LED lights, biological sensors and systems to convert waste heat to electricity.

6 May 2013

New protocol for reducing the use of SPECT SPI is found to be diagnostically safe

A new stress test protocol that investigates reducing the use of perfusion imaging in low risk patients undergoing SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging for possible angina symptoms was found to be diagnostically safe, revealed a US retrospective analysis.

6 May 2013

Exposure to violent video games affects teens' heart rate responses

Teenagers who are highly exposed to violent video games—three or more hours per day—show blunted physical and psychological responses to playing a violent game, reports a study in the May issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

5 May 2013