Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Parental job type influences risk for birth defects

Certain professions increase the likelihood for men having children with birth disorders, shows research published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

25 Jul 2012

Reprieve for intraoperative nitrous oxide

A large analysis challenges the view that intraoperative nitrous oxide use should be avoided.

25 Jul 2012

ANCA-associated vasculitis not a single clinical entity

Study findings show distinct subtypes of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, distinguished by the target of autoantigen reactivity.

25 Jul 2012

Brain response to emotion altered in BD youth

Results from a US study show that adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) have altered activation in certain brain regions in response to facial expressions of emotion.

25 Jul 2012

bluebird bio completes $60 million Series D financing

bluebird bio, a leader in the development of innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders, today announced the successful completion of a $60 million Series D financing. In this round, new investors Deerfield Partners, RA Capital, Ramius Capital Group, and two undisclosed blue chip public investment funds joined existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Third Rock Ventures, TVM Capital, and Forbion Capital Partners. In addition, Shire plc joined the round as a strategic investor.

25 Jul 2012

NIH grants aim at creating 3-D tissue chips to help identify drug safety signals

Seventeen National Institutes of Health grants are aimed at creating 3-D chips with living cells and tissues that accurately model the structure and function of human organs such as the lung, liver and heart. Once developed, these tissue chips will be tested with compounds known to be safe or toxic in humans to help identify the most reliable drug safety signals - ultimately advancing research to help predict the safety of potential drugs in a faster, more cost-effective way.

25 Jul 2012

Scientists use inactive, fat rats to study juvenile obesity

Childhood obesity has nearly tripled in the past three decades, and by 2009, 17 percent of those 2-19 years of age were classified as obese. If actions against childhood obesity do not take place it is likely that today's children could be the first generation in over a century to experience a decline in life expectancy due to the epidemic of childhood obesity which leads to complications in later life.

25 Jul 2012

WASC accredits Cedars-Sinai PhD program in biomedical sciences and translational medicine

The Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine at Cedars-Sinai has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, an affirmation that the PhD-awarding educational effort meets the most rigorous standards of higher learning.

25 Jul 2012

Study uses photodynamic therapy to ablate cardiac myocytes responsible for arrhythmias

University of Michigan heart researchers are shedding light on a safer method for steadying an abnormal heart rhythm that prevents collateral damage to healthy cells.

25 Jul 2012

Study uncovers pathways by which yoga impacts biological processes

Six months ago, researchers at UCLA published a study that showed using a specific type of yoga to engage in a brief, simple daily meditation reduced the stress levels of people who care for those stricken by Alzheimer's and dementia. Now they know why.

25 Jul 2012

Pennsylvania Hospital to participate in Best Fed Beginnings

Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH) has been selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to significantly improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest.

25 Jul 2012

LSDF announces $570,000 in awards to support commercialization of new health-related products

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) today announced nearly $570,000 in awards in its inaugural corporate grant program to support commercialization of new health and health-care products by four early-stage Washington-based companies.

25 Jul 2012

New algorithm can help scientists predict gene and drug interactions

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have developed a new computational method that will make it easier for scientists to identify and prioritize genes, drug targets, and strategies for repositioning drugs that are already on the market. By mining large datasets more simply and efficiently, researchers will be able to better understand gene-gene, protein-protein, and drug/side-effect interactions. The new algorithm will also help scientists identify fellow researchers with whom they can collaborate.

25 Jul 2012

Views on AIDS: The benefits of male circumcision; A more optimistic battle; The need to focus on high-impact prevention strategies

A selection of editorials and op-eds from around the country that focus on the campaign to eradicate HIV.

25 Jul 2012

South Asians have higher levels of blood sugar than Europeans: New diabetes study

A new diabetes study at the University of Leicester has discovered that South Asians (people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lanka origin) have higher levels of blood sugar than white Europeans independent of risk factors that influence sugar levels.

24 Jul 2012

Jersey Shore continues to provide outstanding cardiac surgery services

The 2012 Cardiac Surgery in New Jersey report, recently released by the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services (NJDHSS), shows Jersey Shore University Medical Center continues to provide outstanding cardiac surgery services, building on its exceptional track record in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery mortality rates.

24 Jul 2012

Latest polypill trial yields largest improvements yet

The results of the first trial to administer the polypill on the basis of age alone has shown the largest reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol level of any polypill trial to date, researchers report.

24 Jul 2012

Paramedics could up their game to meet reperfusion guidelines

Researchers say that Canadian guidelines for reperfusion in ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction can only be met if electrocardiograms are administered by paramedics.

24 Jul 2012

BD youth show altered frontal lobe bioenergetic metabolism

Results from a US study suggest that depressed unmedicated adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) have altered frontal lobe mitochondrial function.

24 Jul 2012

Blood flow in blocked arteries to extremities improved by new angioplasty procedure

Patients with blocked arteries to their extremities, known as peripheral artery disease (PAD) or critical limb ischemia (CLI), may now find relief from lower leg pain and wounds caused by impaired leg artery circulation with the previously unproven therapy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).

24 Jul 2012