Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

FSU researchers achieve significant benchmarks in alpha-tropomyosin study

Florida State University researchers led by physics doctoral student Campion Loong have achieved significant benchmarks in a study of the human cardiac protein alpha-tropomyosin, which is an essential, molecular-level component that controls the heart's contraction on every beat.

3 Sep 2012

Potential new COPD drug

A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has shown that a compound used in some skin creams may halt the progression of emphysema and reverse some of the damage caused by the disease. When the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) was applied to lung cells from patients with emphysema, normal gene activity in altered cells was restored and damaged aspects of cellular function were repaired.

1 Sep 2012

Justice department asks for review of questionable defibrillator surgeries

In what experts say is a novel legal tactic to resolve hundreds of ongoing investigations simultaneously, the Justice Department is e-mailing hospitals across the country today with instructions to examine questionable implantable defibrillator surgeries on Medicare patients and estimate potential penalties under the False Claims Act.

1 Sep 2012

Democrats plan attack on GOP Medicare plan

The Wall Street Journal reports the Obama campaign will offer counter arguments to Republican proposals to revamp Medicare at the Democrats' convention next week.

1 Sep 2012

Some smaller clots may not require potentially risky treatment

Men and women who undergo joint replacement procedures, as well as those who have significant fractures, tend to be at an increased risk of developing pulmonary emboli (PE), blood clots that travel to the lungs where they may cause serious complications and even death.

1 Sep 2012

Study assesses post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery atrial fibrillation and long-term survival

Atrial fibrillation is a common complication of cardiac surgery, occurring in 10 percent to 40 percent of patients. Recent studies show it to be associated with poorer health following surgery and poorer long-term survival. Furthermore, development of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery leads to average additional health care costs of $15,000 to $20,000.

1 Sep 2012

Stanford engineers demonstrate feasibility of super-small, implantable cardiac device

A team of engineers at Stanford has demonstrated the feasibility of a super-small, implantable cardiac device that gets its power not from batteries, but from radio waves transmitted from outside the body. The implanted device is contained in a cube just eight-tenths of a millimeter in radius. It could fit on the head of pin.

1 Sep 2012

Dysfunctional RyRs play a role in stress-induced cognitive dysfunction

ARMGO Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative small molecule drugs known as "Rycals™," which act on the ryanodine receptor calcium-release channel (RyR), announced that a study published today in the prestigious scientific journal Cell reveals the underlying role of calcium leak through the RyR as an important contributor to stress-induced cognitive dysfunction.

1 Sep 2012

Roundup: Flurry of health bills as Calif. legislature winds down; Kansas City health data exchange opens up

The window to save the Healthy Families program is narrowing to a small slit, with just a single day left to pass bills. ... Today -- until midnight tonight -- is the last day for legislation to be passed this year. The governor has until the end of September to veto or approve bills.

1 Sep 2012

Research roundup: Readmission risks after surgery; Assessing Medicaid applicants' eligibility; Satisfaction among health plan types

General Surgeons Identify Postoperative Complications Posing Strongest Readmission Risks -- Researchers found that about 11 percent of patients in a study of 1,442 individuals who underwent general surgery were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days.

31 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 31, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations examine Mitt Romney's speech last night and the messages on health care at the Republican convention.

31 Aug 2012

Doubt cast on LABA withdrawal in combination asthma therapy

Researchers have urged doctors to be cautious over withdrawal of long-acting beta-2 agonist therapy in patients with asthma controlled by this type of bronchodilator in combination with an inhaled corticosteroid, after finding the approach often results in destabilization of their condition.

31 Aug 2012