Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Comprehensive review article on baroreflex sensitivity after SCI

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can disrupt the body's sensitive signaling mechanisms that control blood pressure, breathing, and oxygen delivery to the heart and other organs during changes in body position. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is a leading cause of illness and death following SCI, and changes in baroreflex sensitivity-the body's ability to detect and respond to changes in blood pressure-may be predictive of a CV event.

6 Nov 2012

Probiotic formulation can reduce cholesterol esters

Two daily doses of a probiotic lowered key cholesterol-bearing molecules in the blood as well as "bad" and total cholesterol, in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

6 Nov 2012

ECG analysis may predict risk of death from all causes

Research by Johns Hopkins cardiologists suggests that electrocardiograms (ECGs), which are widely used tests to assess the heart’s electrical activity, may have a greater and more profound future role in predicting the risk of death from any cause, not just heart problems.

6 Nov 2012

Sorin Group’s Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit now available in the U.S.

Sorin Group, a global medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, announced today the U.S. commercial launch of the Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit, the only Valsalva conduit graft approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in combination with an aortic tissue valve.

6 Nov 2012

Low-dose aspirin effective at preventing serious blood clots

Low-dose aspirin is a cheap and effective way to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in the leg or the lungs in patients who have had a previous blood clot a new study shows.

6 Nov 2012

New tool helps prevent hospital readmission among heart attack patients

Some heart attack patients end up back in the hospital just weeks after going home. It can happen for a variety of reasons, but doctors haven't had a reliable way to predict which patients will return - until now.

6 Nov 2012

Peptide-enhanced tomatoes reduce atherosclerosis in mice

For the first time, genetically engineered tomato plants produced a peptide that mimics the actions of good cholesterol when eaten, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

6 Nov 2012

Patients with diabetes, multi-vessel coronary artery disease can benefit from bypass surgery

An international, clinical research trial has shown that patients with diabetes whose multi-vessel coronary artery disease is treated with bypass surgery live longer and are less likely to suffer severe complications like heart attacks than those who undergo angioplasty.

6 Nov 2012

Lifetime risks for total CVD are high regardless of index age

Even in men and women with an optimal cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor profile, the lifetime risk estimate for CVD is greater than 30 percent, and is more than 50 percent for men and women overall, according to a study appearing in November 7 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease.

6 Nov 2012

Alnylam third quarter 2012 revenues decrease to $16.8 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the third quarter 2012, and company highlights.

6 Nov 2012

ICD use can combat sudden death in pediatric patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

A multicenter registry has demonstrated that the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to combat sudden cardiac death in high-risk pediatric patients suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The study is being presented Nov. 5 at the 2012 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association (AHA) in Los Angeles.

6 Nov 2012

Latinos, Hispanics in the U.S. more likely to develop major cardiovascular diseases

Hispanics and Latinos living in the U.S. are highly likely to have several major cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and smoking, according to a new, large-scale study. Risks vary among the diverse Hispanic/Latino groups, but individuals who were born in the U.S. are more likely to have multiple risk factors.

6 Nov 2012

Keeping cardiovascular disease risk factors low may lead to a longer, healthier life

If you have optimal heart health in middle age, you may live up to 14 years longer, free of cardiovascular disease, than your peers who have two or more cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

6 Nov 2012

Intravenous infusion of HDL cholesterol could reduce risk of subsequent heart attack

An intravenous infusion of good cholesterol could reduce the risk of a subsequent heart attack, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

6 Nov 2012

Adenovirus detection not uncommon among children with Kawasaki disease

Clinicians should take caution when diagnosing a child who has a high fever and whose tests show evidence of adenovirus, and not assume the virus is responsible for Kawasaki-like symptoms. According to a new study from Nationwide Children's Hospital appearing in Clinical Infectious Diseases, adenovirus detection is not uncommon among children with Kawasaki disease.

5 Nov 2012

Study: Many Hispanic/Latino adults in the U.S. are at high risk for heart attack or stroke

A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicated that many Hispanic/Latino adults living in the United States are at high risk for heart attack or stroke. This risk is highest in men and in older people, born in the US or that have lived in the US more than 10 years, that prefer to speak English, are lower income, or never finished high school.

5 Nov 2012

No link between daily multivitamin use and reduction of major cardiovascular events in men

In a randomized study that included nearly 15,000 male physicians who were middle-aged or older, daily multivitamin use for more than 10 years of treatment and follow-up did not result in a reduction of major cardiovascular events, heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease, according to a study appearing in November 7 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease.

5 Nov 2012