Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Medtronic plans IN.PACT Global drug-eluting balloon SFA clinical study

In conjunction with the Charing Cross International Symposium (CX34), which concludes today in London, Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Inc. announced its plans for the imminent start of the IN.PACT Global SFA clinical study, an international research program to evaluate the treatment of peripheral artery disease using the company's IN.PACT Admiral drug-eluting balloon.

From Medtronic 18 Apr 2012

Hidden sugar in “healthy” fruit drinks often underestimated

The Glasgow University study asked more than 2,000 people in the UK to estimate how much sugar was in a range of drinks. While many overestimated the amount in fizzy beverages, they underestimated levels in ‘smoothies’ and fruit juices. The research also found soft drinks could be accounting for a large chunk of their recommended calorie intake.

17 Apr 2012

Flu outbreak at veterans home

State Veterans' Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz told The Associated Press that the veterans were taken to Hartford Hospital after a number began complaining of flu-like symptoms. The 18 men live at the Connecticut State Veterans Home in either the Sgt. John L. Levitow Veteran's Health Center or a residential facility.

17 Apr 2012

Novel system for 3D reconstruction and examination of tissues at microscopic resolution

Researchers have developed a novel, easy-to-use system for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and examination of tissues at microscopic resolution, with the potential to significantly enhance the study of normal and disease processes, particularly those involving structural changes. The new approach, using conventional histopathological methods, is described in the May issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

17 Apr 2012

Inadequate sleep can increase risk of obesity

Can lack of sleep make you fat? A new paper which reviews the evidence from sleep restriction studies reveals that inadequate sleep is linked to obesity. The research, published in a special issue of the The American Journal of Human Biology, explores how lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, impair glucose metabolism and increase blood pressure.

17 Apr 2012

Coronary stents do not increase risk of heart attack, death in people with metal allergies

Cardiologists have long grappled with how to best manage patients with coronary artery disease who report skin hypersensitivity to nickel or other metal components found in stents -- small tubes placed in narrowed or weakened arteries to help improve blood flow to the heart. But new Mayo Clinic research, published in the April 16, 2012, issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, may help allay these concerns.

17 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: The missing debate on women; The true cost of care; Fair wages for home health aides

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported that the nation's teen pregnancy rate is at an all-time low. Increased contraceptive use appears to have played a significant role in the decline. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that without Title X services, hundreds of thousands more teenagers would become pregnant every year. Why does GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney think eliminating the federal money for family planning - $327 million annually - is wise?

17 Apr 2012

UCSF scientists assemble high-value genetic resource to help researchers

One of the ultimate ways of understanding what impact any particular gene has in human health or disease is to disrupt it-knocking it down or wiping it out in a worm, fly or mouse and gauging what happens next. Now scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Diabetes Center and the Gladstone Institute for Cardiovascular Disease have assembled a large publicly available resource to help researchers determine the importance of genes in mice and better gauge what roles they might play in disease.

17 Apr 2012

UTHealth researcher studies novel cell therapy to prevent GVHD

A researcher at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is studying a novel cell therapy that could help avoid autoimmune problems after stem cell transplantation, as well as potentially treat other autoimmune diseases.

17 Apr 2012

Metformin associated with reduced risk of Parkinson's in patients with diabetes

A major 12-year study based on a Taiwanese population cohort has demonstrated that not only does diabetes increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than 2-fold, the use of sulfonylureas, commonly used as treatment for diabetes, increases the risk further by about 57%. This study also found that by including metformin in the therapy, no increased risk in developing Parkinson's disease was recorded.

17 Apr 2012

ONO-4641 reduces number of lesions in people with MS

An investigational oral drug called ONO-4641 reduced the number of lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the results of a phase two clinical trial to be presented as Emerging Science at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

17 Apr 2012

High-fibre diet protects women from cardiovascular disease

Foods high in fibre provide good protection against cardiovascular disease, and the effect is particularly marked in women. This is shown in a new study from Lund University in Sweden.

17 Apr 2012

Osprey Medical closes IPO raising of A$20 million

Osprey Medical Inc, has today announced that its Initial Public Offer (IPO) raising of A$20 million has closed. Osprey Medical’s Offer was well supported by institutional and retail investors in Australia, including founding investors CM Capital and Brandon Capital. The Initial Public Offer was underwritten by Shaw Corporate Finance.

17 Apr 2012

Novasep’s outstanding results in scale-up and biomanufacturing of Apo-A1 acknowledged by Cerenis at BioProcess International Conference

Novasep, a provider of purification-based manufacturing solutions for lifescience molecules, has announced that Cerenis Therapeutics has been invited by BioProcess International to present its major project CER – 001 ApoA1 - HDL mimetic drug candidate, and describe how Novasep played a critical role in the project by successfully achieving the transfer and scale up of Apo-A1 production.

16 Apr 2012

British doctors tackle the obesity epidemic

According to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges the approach of using voluntary agreements with industry is “failing to have a significant impact” on obesity. Obesity, says the organization is a “huge crisis waiting to happen”.

16 Apr 2012

St. Jude Medical's Ellipse ICD receives CE Mark Approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced CE Mark Approval of the Ellipse implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Designed with feedback from more than 200 physicians from around the world, the Ellipse ICD provides the benefits of advanced features and power in the industry's smallest high-energy ICD.

16 Apr 2012

Men more likely to experience complications after brain or spinal surgery

Men are twice as likely as women to experience complications after brain or spinal surgery, reports a study in the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

16 Apr 2012

TGF-β molecule ramps up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others

Loyola researchers are reporting surprising findings about a molecule that helps ramp up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others.

16 Apr 2012

High blood sugar in combination with high insulin levels causes fatty deposits in the heart

The impaired substrate metabolism of diabetes patients is often expressed in an increase in fatty deposits in the cells of the heart muscle. Until now, the exact cause of this was unknown. Now, researchers at the MedUni Vienna in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism of MedUni Vienna in cooperation with the MR Centre of Excellence Vienna have shown that high blood sugar in combination with high levels of insulin - not an influx of fats - results in such deposits within a few hours.

16 Apr 2012

Changes in thromboxane synthase may lead to hypertension in women with preeclampsia

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that changes in the gene expression of a key enzyme may contribute to high blood pressure and increase susceptibility to forming blood clots in pregnant women with preeclampsia.

16 Apr 2012