Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

First Edition: May 1, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports from the presidential campaign trail and from states on issues ranging from Massachusetts' payment reform to Idaho's scope-of-practices issues.

2 May 2012

Uncomfortably high rates of maternal deaths during childbirth raise concerns: Study

According to latest figures more than a 100 mothers have died in childbirth in London in the last five years. This is twice the rate in the rest of the country. There were 11 deaths in 2005-6, compared with 29 in 2010-11. Births in London have soared by 27 per cent in the last decade from 106,000 in 2001 to 134,000 in 2011, but numbers of midwives and doctors have not kept pace.

30 Apr 2012

Overweight and obese teenagers with diabetes may be difficult to treat: Study

According to a major study released Sunday, several ways to manage blood sugar in teens newly diagnosed with diabetes were tested. The researchers found that nearly half of them failed within a few years and 1 in 5 suffered serious complications. This is concerning since there is an epidemic rise of Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity.

30 Apr 2012

Antibiotic effective for plague gets FDA nod

Federal regulators – The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), have approved use of an antibiotic to treat plague, an extremely rare, sometimes-fatal bacterial infection.

30 Apr 2012

Reducing levels of SUN1 protein increases life span of mice with progeria, heart disease

Scientists have discovered that they can dramatically increase the life span of mice with progeria (premature ageing disease) and heart disease (caused by Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy) by reducing levels of a protein called SUN1.

30 Apr 2012

CR2 announces acquisition of CardioReady

CR2, LLC announced the acquisition of CardioReady, a pioneer in Cardiac Emergency Response and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) deployment since 2004. Using a patented suite of solutions, CardioReady assists organizations across the United States in protecting the lives of their customers, employees, and other visitors to their sites against Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) – the leading cause of death in America.

30 Apr 2012

FDA approves Levaquin for plague

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Levaquin (levofloxacin) to treat patients with plague, a rare and potentially deadly bacterial infection. The agency also approved the drug to reduce the risk of getting plague after exposure to Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the disease.

30 Apr 2012

Teens with high levels of uric acid at increased risk for high blood pressure

Teens with high levels of uric acid appear to be at increased risk for high blood pressure, according to results of research from scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

30 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Entitlement 'train wrecks' approaching; Collecting for health bills at the hospital

The evidence has been clear for a long time now regarding the future of those twin financial train wrecks known as Social Security and Medicare. We have known for decades that without significant reform both are on a path toward insolvency.

30 Apr 2012

New research challenges recommendation to restrict soothers in breastfeeding infants

Binkies, corks, soothers. Whatever you call pacifiers, conventional wisdom holds that giving them to newborns can interfere with breastfeeding.

30 Apr 2012

Kauffman Foundation sponsors National Conference on Value-driven Engineering

Researchers, health care engineers and medical device experts gathered this week for the inaugural National Conference on Value-driven Engineering to Improve Medical Innovation for U.S. Global Competitiveness assembled by the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) and sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

30 Apr 2012

Milner-Fenwick releases four new ‘Hospital Quality of Care’ videos

Hospitals are under fire. With heightened regulations and guidelines by the federal government and national health care organizations, the pressure to improve patient outcomes has never been greater. In response, the leading publisher of patient education videos, Milner-Fenwick, has released four new videos within its Hospital Quality of Care Series to help facilities comply with growing regulatory requirements. These videos address key hospital issues such as medication safety, infection control, fall prevention and discharge education.

30 Apr 2012

WVU Healthcare surgeon implants diaphragmatic pacemaker in young quadriplegic

A surgeon for WVU Healthcare has implanted a diaphragmatic pacemaker in a pediatric patient, making West Virginia University's medical center only the second in the country to use this device on a young patient, after Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

30 Apr 2012

LifePoint Hospitals first quarter revenues increase 12.2% to $851.0 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.

30 Apr 2012

Best and worst paid doctors: Survey

More and more U.S. doctors are regretting their career choices. According to an annual survey of physician pay called Physician Compensation Survey from Medscape/WebMD this is in spite of the hefty amounts that they make each year. However the survey reveals that some specialities may earn more than others.

29 Apr 2012

Novel liquid drug used successfully in a heart attack patient

They did the first procedure of its kind by injecting the dissolvable liquid device into a patient - a Victorian grandmother. The device flows to the damaged heart muscle and helps it repair. The liquid is derived from seaweed and was injected into Pauline Fulton's heart, a fortnight ago, two days after she suffered a major heart attack.

29 Apr 2012

Rumors, politics swirl around Supreme Court's much-anticipated health law decision

The Supreme Court this week completed the current term's last oral arguments, and now begins a waiting game for what might be its most anticipated decision in years -- the constitutionality of the health law.

27 Apr 2012

Cameron Health's subcutaneous ICD for sudden cardiac arrest receives FDA advisory panel approval

Cameron Health, Inc., a pioneer in the development, manufacture and distribution of next generation implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Circulatory System Devices Panel voted 7-1 that sufficient data exists demonstrating the efficacy and safety of the S-ICD System for the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

27 Apr 2012

Study highlights role of cellular forces in progression of cardiovascular disease

Clogging of pipes leading to the heart is the planet's number one killer. Surgeons can act as medical plumbers to repair some blockages, but we don't fully understand how this living organ deteriorates or repairs itself over time.

27 Apr 2012

Researchers define structure of key part of human obesity receptor

Medical researchers at the University of Sheffield have defined the structure of a key part of the human obesity receptor- an essential factor in the regulation of body fat- which could help provide new treatments for the complications of obesity and anorexia.

27 Apr 2012