Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Daylight-saving time may increase risk of heart attack

Daylight-saving time this year begins March 11, and while we all might look forward to another hour of sunshine a University of Alabama at Birmingham expert says the time change is not necessarily good for your health.

8 Mar 2012

Metformin drug appears to prevent growth of atherosclerosis in patients with HIV

Treatment with the common diabetes drug metformin appears to prevent progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients infected with HIV.

8 Mar 2012

Queen's receives NICH&S grant to create vaccine against Pseudomonas

Queen's University Belfast scientists working on a vaccine to combat Pseudomonas have received a financial boost from Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke.

8 Mar 2012

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects. The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients.

8 Mar 2012

New minimally invasive procedure can treat resistant hypertension

A radically different approach to treating high blood pressure - using a minimally invasive procedure- is being evaluated as part of a Pivotal Phase III 90-site national trial that includes The Carl H. and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital.

8 Mar 2012

Roundup: Calif. county mum on probe of Medicaid managed care firm; Suit alleges substandard care for Ariz. prisoners

A Ventura County commission is trying to keep secret the details of a state-ordered investigation into the management and claims procedures of a healthcare plan designed to serve the county's neediest residents. Complaints about alleged late payments and poor management prompted the Department of Health Care Services to request that auditors step in and examine the plan's financial condition and claims practices. Gold Coast Health Plan was launched last year to switch an estimated 110,000 Ventura County Medi-Cal beneficiaries into an HMO-style healthcare plan.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries.

8 Mar 2012

NMR techniques shed new light on how pharma molecules adopt different polymorphic forms

Scientists at the University of Warwick have used state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to shed new light on how pharmaceutical molecules pack together in the solid state.

8 Mar 2012

Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim announce availability of Jentadueto tablets

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced Jentadueto (linagliptin/metformin hydrochloride) tablets are now available by prescription in many leading chain and independent pharmacies across the U.S.

8 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 7, 2012

Reporting for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, Susan Jaffe writes: "In the latest effort to enlist seniors in the fight against Medicare fraud, federal officials have overhauled Medicare billing statements to make it easier to find bogus charges without a magnifying glass."

7 Mar 2012

Transgenomic fourth quarter total revenue increases 68% to $8.6M

Transgenomic, Inc. today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011 and provided a business update.

7 Mar 2012

New clinical trial: Pycnogenol improves signs and symptoms of menopause

Half the population experiences menopause, and for those women, it is a condition they will experience for approximately one third of their lifetime. Alternative or natural remedies are an easy, effective way to improve signs and symptoms linked to the menopausal transition, without side effects.

7 Mar 2012

Ivabradine could save thousands of heart failure patients

Researchers behind a major trial of Procoralan believe the pill could save 10,000 lives a year in Britain alone. Ivabradine works by slowing the beating of the heart, helping it to pump blood more efficiently.

7 Mar 2012

Smoking and lung cancer notice turns fifty but 20% Britons still smoke: Report

According to health experts, it has been five decades after doctors issued their first warning about the dangers of cigarettes. Still more than 20 percent of Britons still smoke - and unless they quit, half of them will die from the habit. Smoking has killed more than six million people in Britain since 1962, when the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) published a landmark report about the health risks of tobacco.

7 Mar 2012

Are Americans overdosing on cholesterol lowering statins?

Eric Topol, Chief Academic Officer for Scripps Health and cardiologist, wrote an ‘op-ed’ in the New York Times Opinion Page addressing the risk of cholesterol-reducing statins such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor.

7 Mar 2012

Nitrogen balance occurs with a precise 24-hour rhythm in mammals

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine demonstrated that nitrogen balance, the process of utilizing amino acids and disposing of their toxic byproducts, occurs with a precise 24-hour rhythm - also known as circadian rhythm - in mammals. Disruption of this cycle has a direct impact on survival of organisms, and may predispose one to life altering diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

7 Mar 2012

Pten gene can also fight against obesity, ageing process

This result, obtained after five years' research, is published in leading journal Cell Metabolism. The authors, led by Manuel Serrano (CNIO), believe it will open the door to new therapeutic options not only against cancer, but against obesity and even the ageing process.

7 Mar 2012

Supreme Court swing votes; The Medicaid challenge; And how other rulings might help handicap the action

On the last of three days of arguments on the Affordable Care Act later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will turn to the sleeper issue that could have the biggest impact on federal power -- Congress' authority under its spending power to require a big expansion of state Medicaid programs.

7 Mar 2012

Shire to commence two Vyvanse and Concerta Phase 4 comparison trials for ADHD

As part of its continued commitment to ADHD research, Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced it is initiating two Phase 4 clinical trials to compare Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) Capsules, (CII) to Concerta (methylphenidate HCl) Extended-Release Tablets.

7 Mar 2012

Tree nut consumption may reduce weight and health risks

March is National Nutrition Month and as the spotlight shines on all things healthy, celebrate with a mindful snack that loves you back-California pistachios.

7 Mar 2012