Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

ESRD patients with diabetes may benefit from Baxter’s low-glucose PD regimen

Baxter International Inc. today announced results from two large, international multicenter trials demonstrating that a low glucose peritoneal dialysis (PD) regimen favorably impacted metabolic measures important for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with diabetes, including blood glucose (sugar) control and selected lipids.

From Baxter International Inc. 28 May 2012

New, more accurate test for paralytic shellfish poisons

For decades, U.S. fisheries have tested the algal toxin levels of shellfish caught for human consumption by processing a sample of the shellfish in a blender and injecting the resulting slurry into the abdomen of live mice, causing them to suffer seizures, paralysis, and death by suffocation.

25 May 2012

Research roundup: Do mandatory screening laws affect disparities?; Mass. health law, 6 years later

Since Massachusetts passed its own expansive health law, the state's uninsured rate has dropped and access to care has dramatically improved. But as this brief notes, two major issues remain. Massachusetts will have to find ways to contain health care costs -- now under discussion in the state legislature -- as well as align itself with the federal health law. In the process, other states "can draw on some of the state's early successes and challenges"

25 May 2012

Hearing loss linked to several chronic diseases

The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) is raising awareness of the link between hearing loss and some chronic diseases during National Men's Health Week (June 11 – 17).

25 May 2012

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Pfizer’s axitinib to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma

Pfizer announced today that the Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion regarding the marketing authorization of axitinib in the European Union (EU), for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a type of advanced kidney cancer, after failure of prior treatment with sunitinib or a cytokine.

25 May 2012

Single-port laparoscopy bimanual robot abdominal surgery

Millions of Europeans undergo abdominal surgery each year to treat a range of different disorders, from cancer and heart disease to obesity. EU-funded researchers are developing innovative micro-robotics and micro-system technologies to make such surgeries less complicated, invasive and costly.

25 May 2012

Aetna's IOE Transplant Network to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

Aetna announced today that UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital has been designated as a participating facility in Aetna's Institutes of Excellence Transplant Network.

25 May 2012

RUB researchers gain new insights into mechanisms of cardiovascular disease

Malformed desmin proteins aggregate with intact proteins of the same kind, thereby triggering skeletal and cardiac muscle diseases, the desminopathies. This was discovered by researchers from the RUB Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen led by PD Dr. Hendrik Milting in an interdisciplinary research project with colleagues from the universities in Karlsruhe, Würzburg and Bielefeld. They report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

25 May 2012

Philips, GE Healthcare applaud FCC for Medical Body Area Networks

GE Healthcare and Royal Philips Electronics applaud the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today for its action allocating protected spectrum for wireless medical devices, called Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs), which could revolutionize the way patients are monitored and help eliminate the restrictive cables that tether patients to hospital beds.

25 May 2012

Viewpoints: Politics of the Medicare debate; Measuring the impact of Catholic bishops' legal challenge

So don't expect the Obama administration to agree to any cuts in Medicare between now and Election Day. And don't expect them to show any support for Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare. Holding strong on Medicare is the silver bullet for Obama. It may offset some of seniors' concerns about low interest rates on their savings.

25 May 2012

Researchers identify two gene mutations that cause neuromuscular disorder

Research into how carbohydrates are converted into energy has led to a surprising discovery with implications for the treatment of a perplexing and potentially fatal neuromuscular disorder and possibly even cancer and heart disease.

25 May 2012

Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of kidney damage after heart surgery

Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of developing kidney damage after heart surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

25 May 2012

Alpha-2 agonists decrease postoperative consumption of opioid drugs

A study from researchers at Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, provides evidence that use of alpha-2 agonists alongside opioids in surgical patients decreased opioid use by 25-30 percent. Even though opioid use was less, these patients reported slightly less pain after surgery.

25 May 2012

Poor cardio-pulmonary function may be strong predictor of survival in women with breast cancer

Women receiving care for breast cancer have significantly impaired cardio-pulmonary function that can persist for years after they have completed treatment, according to a study led by scientists at Duke University Medical Center.

25 May 2012

IUDs and implants effectively reduce risk of unintended pregnancy

A study to evaluate birth control methods has found dramatic differences in their effectiveness. Women who used birth control pills, the patch or vaginal ring were 20 times more likely to have an unintended pregnancy than those who used longer-acting forms such as an intrauterine device (IUD) or implant.

24 May 2012

Positive Results for Pulsar Stent in Clinical Study – BIOTRONIK announces

The six-month results from the prospective, multicenter, single-arm 4EVER study demonstrate efficacy and safety of BIOTRONIK's Pulsar Stent System in 120 superficial femoral artery (SFA) patients. Analysis of the 120 patients showed excellent device performance, very promising patency rates and convincing evidence of the benefits of lower limb intervention on a 4F platform. Although only the interim results were presented at the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC 2012) in Leipzig, Germany, analysis of the full cohort has recently been made available.

24 May 2012

Halo Healthcare acquires assets of NeoMatrix

Halo Healthcare, Inc. announces it has acquired the assets of NeoMatrix, LLC and has restructured the Company, including engaging a new CEO and management team, appointing a new Board of Directors, and relaunching the HALO diagnostic device for breast cancer risk assessment.

24 May 2012

Optimi prototype effectively predicts people at risk of depression

The computing tool, developed by researchers at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, the Universitat Politècnica of València and the Universitat de València, along with professionals from the company everis, is able to predict if a person with a high-stress level is at risk of becoming depressed, based on the study of a series of physiological and psychological variables in which artificial intelligence techniques are used.

24 May 2012

Number of Americans with kidney stones nearly doubled since 1994

The number of Americans suffering from kidney stones between 2007 and 2010 nearly doubled since 1994, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and RAND.

24 May 2012

Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack

Calcium supplements might increase the risk of having a heart attack, and should be “taken with caution,” concludes research published in the online issue of the journal Heart.

24 May 2012