Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

3 million Australians to develop diabetes by 2025

According to the latest figures, one in three of today's young Australians will go on to develop diabetes. A new assessment of national health data released by Diabetes Australia today shows 1.5 million Australians currently have diabetes. It says the diabetes rate is likely to at least double in Australia over the next decade, and predicts 3 million people will have type 2 diabetes by 2025.

18 Mar 2012

FDA approves IDE for HeartWare 'ADVANCE' bridge-to-transplant clinical trial

HeartWare International, Inc., a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies that are revolutionizing the treatment of advanced heart failure, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an IDE Supplement that allows HeartWare to enroll a fourth allotment, of 54 additional patients, in its "ADVANCE" bridge-to-transplant clinical trial under a Continued Access Protocol.

17 Mar 2012

Japan's MHLW provides reimbursement coverage for MTWA test

Cambridge Heart, Inc., a developer of non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, today announced that its Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) test received reimbursement coverage from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW).

17 Mar 2012

Sanofi enters definitive agreement to acquire Pluromed

Sanofi and Pluromed Inc. announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sanofi is to acquire Pluromed Inc., a medical device company based in Woburn, Massachusetts.

17 Mar 2012

Researchers use standard inkjet printer to print live cells

Researchers from Clemson University have found a way to create temporary holes in the membranes of live cells using a standard inkjet printer. The method will be published in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, on March 16.

17 Mar 2012

Kensey Nash to resolve Angio-Seal license disputes with St. Jude Medical

Kensey Nash Corporation today announced that the Company has entered into a settlement agreement with St. Jude Medical which resolves all disputes between the two companies relating to the Angio-Seal vascular closure device licenses, as well as other related claims.

17 Mar 2012

WASM, Philips partner to raise awareness of sleep disorders

Royal Philips Electronics will join with the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) as an official sponsor of World Sleep Day 2012, held on Friday, March 16. This year's theme– 'Breathe Easily, Sleep Well' – centers on raising awareness of sleep disorders that affect a person's breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea.

17 Mar 2012

PFO closure device no better than drugs alone in preventing recurrent strokes or TIAs

Loyola University Medical Center is one of the major enrollers in a landmark clinical trial that found that plugging a hole in the heart works no better than drugs in preventing strokes.

17 Mar 2012

Kips Bay Medical fourth quarter net sales decrease to $94,000

Kips Bay Medical, Inc. today announced financial results for fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

17 Mar 2012

Adalimumab may decrease vascular inflammation in patients with psoriasis

A clinical study co-led by the Montreal Heart Institute and Innovaderm Research Inc., which was presented today at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, shows that a new treatment for psoriasis could be associated with a significant decrease in vascular inflammation, a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease.

17 Mar 2012

Positive data from VBL Therapeutics' VB-201 Phase 2 study on psoriasis, atherosclerosis

VBL Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company committed to the development of novel treatments for immune-inflammatory diseases and cancer, today announced that a Phase 2 sub-study of VB-201 in moderate to severe psoriasis patients with cardiovascular risk has successfully achieved its primary endpoint demonstrating a statistically significant reduction in vascular inflammation associated with atherosclerotic lesions as measured by PET-CT imaging.

17 Mar 2012

Obesity appears to increase risk of mortality tied to sleeping pills

Obesity appears to significantly increase the risk of death tied to sleeping pills, nearly doubling the rate of mortality even among those prescribed 18 or fewer pills in a year, researchers reported Friday.

17 Mar 2012

Dental hygiene critical for preventing endocarditis in patients with congenital heart disease

Poor dental hygiene behaviours in patients with congenital heart disease are increasing their risk of endocarditis. Teens with congenital heart disease floss, brush and visit the dentist less than their peers. But they have healthier behaviours when it comes to alcohol, cigarettes and illicit drugs.

16 Mar 2012

Warming climate may increase risk from Chagas disease

In the spring of 1835, Charles Darwin was bitten in Argentina by a "great wingless black bug," he wrote in his diary. "It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over one's body," Darwin wrote, "before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards round & bloated with blood."

16 Mar 2012

Unconscious racial attitudes affect positive interactions leading to the detriment of patient health

Primary care physicians who hold unconscious racial biases tend to dominate conversations with African-American patients during routine visits, paying less attention to patients' social and emotional needs and making these patients feel less involved in decision making related to their health, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

16 Mar 2012

Serious climate change-related health problems will affect the world's population

Worldwide increases in the incidences of asthma, allergies, infectious and cardiovascular diseases will result from a variety of impacts of global climate change, including rising temperatures, worsening ozone levels in urban areas, the spread of desertification, and expansions of the ranges of communicable diseases as the planet heats up, the professional organization representing respiratory and airway physicians stated in a new position paper released today.

16 Mar 2012

More than 250 Montefiore physicians named Top Doctors by Castle Connolly

More than 250 doctors from Montefiore Medical Center have been named in the Top Doctors: New York Metro Area 2012 guide, by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. The doctors selected were among thousands who had been nominated by their peers and judged on various criteria including medical education, training, hospital appointments and disciplinary histories.

16 Mar 2012

Introducing art into nursing care improves stroke survivors' QOL

Stroke survivors who like art have a significantly higher quality of life than those who do not, according to new research. Patients who appreciated music, painting and theatre recovered better from their stroke than patients who did not.

16 Mar 2012

Experts highlight latest advances in use of biomarkers in various diseases

Over the last few decades there has been an explosion in the discovery of biomarkers for diagnosis, disease monitoring, and prognostic evaluation. In the April issue of Translational Research, entitled "Biomarkers: New Tools of Modern Medicine," an international group of medical experts explores the promise and challenges of biomarker discovery and highlights the latest advances in the use of biomarkers in various diseases.

16 Mar 2012

Depression increases risk of death in PCI patients

Depression increases the risk of death in patients who have a coronary stent implanted. After seven years of follow up, depressed patients were 1.5 times more likely to have died than non-depressed patients. The findings were independent of age, gender, clinical characteristics, anxiety and the distressed (Type D) personality.

16 Mar 2012