Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Breast cancer hope with new drug and new combination regimens

last week at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers announced encouraging results from studies of two cancer medications that appeared to keep breast cancer from advancing.

11 Dec 2011

Abbott commences Absorb-XIENCE PRIME comparative clinical trial

Abbott today announced the initiation of ABSORB II, the first randomized, controlled, multi-center clinical trial to evaluate the safety, efficacy and performance of the Absorb™ bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) compared to the company's XIENCE PRIME™ Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System.

9 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Obama's lessons from LBJ; Plan B positions; Choosing Gingrich

In 2005, for example, the United States devoted only 29 percent of gross domestic product to health and social services combined, while countries like Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark dedicated 33 percent to 38 percent of their G.D.P. to the combination.

9 Dec 2011

Study: Tart cherry juice improves overall sleep efficiency

Americans seeking a better night's sleep may need to look no further than tart cherry juice, according to a new study in the European Journal of Nutrition. An international team of researchers found that when adults had two daily glasses of tart cherry juice, they slept 39 minutes longer, on average, and had up to 6 percent increase in overall sleep efficiency (significantly less non-sleep time in bed), compared to when they drank a non-cherry, fruit cocktail.

9 Dec 2011

Menarini, Moberg Derma partner to distribute Emtrix in Italy

Moberg Derma AB has entered into a distribution agreement with Menarini Group for Emtrix - for discolored and damaged nails caused by nail fungus (onychomycosis) or nail psoriasis.

9 Dec 2011

Longer looks: Romney and abortion politics

The heart attacks never came. Four days later, Chris woke up. It was not the awakening of Hollywood movies in which the patient comes to, just as he was, speaking full sentences and completely mobile. Three years later, Chris still cannot talk. Although he breathes on his own, his lungs battle a steady barrage of infections; a feeding tube provides all his sustenance, and his muscles have contracted into short, twisted knots. He can move only the slightest bit. … Still, Wayne and Judy say that his cognition is improving.

9 Dec 2011

VIVUS announces results of Qnexa clinical study on cardiometabolic disease

VIVUS, Inc. today announced that results from the SEQUEL study were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a peer-reviewed journal with broad, multidisciplinary readership.

9 Dec 2011

Electromechanical wave imaging can diagnose non-periodic arrhythmias

Thanks to a new study from Columbia Engineering School, doctors may now be able to diagnose in their offices non-periodic arrhythmias-noninvasively and at low cost-within a single heartbeat. Non-periodic arrhythmias include atrial and ventricular fibrillation, which are associated with severely abnormal heart rhythm that can in some cases be life-threatening.

9 Dec 2011

Combination of MEK inhibitors and nilotinib can overcome CML resistance to targeted drug

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) have revealed a technique to kill chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) cells that have stopped responding to a targeted drug, according to research published in Cancer Cell today.

9 Dec 2011

FDA committee votes against CardioMEMS' Champion Heart Failure Monitoring System

CardioMEMS announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Circulatory Systems Devices advisory panel voted against the Champion Heart Failure Monitoring System, the first wireless, permanently implantable device that allows cardiologists to monitor heart failure patients from their homes.

9 Dec 2011

Breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body

Scientists from the University of Leicester and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have announced a breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body.

9 Dec 2011

FDA advisory panel OKs anemia drug peginesatide

Once approved by the FDA, the once-monthly injection could capture a share of the $3 billion U.S. market for anemia drugs used for kidney dialysis patients, currently dominated by Amgen Inc's blockbuster Epogen. Affymax, which developed the drug with partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, is also expected to price its product below Epogen.

8 Dec 2011

Working night shifts may raise risk of diabetes: Study

About 26% percent of the American workforce, including health-care workers and sanitation staff, need to work night shifts. Earlier research has shown that regular night shifts may disrupt the circadian rhythm, raising the risk of heart disease, obesity, ulcers and even depression.

8 Dec 2011

Race, ethnicity, and insurance status influence follow-up care

According to the results of a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, African-Americans, Hispanics and uninsured patients use fewer post-hospitalization services after traumatic injury, including home health care, skilled nursing care, and rehabilitation.

8 Dec 2011

Mystery of unpleasant tough texture in vegetable oil-cooked hot dogs

In part of an effort to replace animal fat in hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers and other foods with healthier fat, scientists are reporting an advance in solving the mystery of why hot dogs develop an unpleasant tough texture when vegetable oils pinch hit for animal fat. A report on their study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

8 Dec 2011

Heart patients may experience fewer traumas with new invention

Heart patients may experience "a lot less" trauma with a new invention to mend leaky valves with minimum cutting, says inventor James Gammie, MD, an associate professor at the University of Maryland (UM) School of Medicine.

8 Dec 2011

Montefiore recognized among Leapfrog's 2011 Top Hospitals list

Montefiore Medical Center was recognized yesterday as one of the nation's 2011 Top Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group, a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage dedicated to improving healthcare safety, quality and affordability. Of the 65 hospitals chosen from nearly 1200 nationwide that participated in the annual survey, Montefiore was one of only two hospitals named from New York State.

8 Dec 2011

Simple mindful eating, stress-reduction techniques help prevent weight gain in obese women

Many dread gaining weight during the holiday season, but there may be hope for those who find that stress causes them to reach for yet another helping of holiday goodies. In a study by UCSF researchers published online in the Journal of Obesity, mastering simple mindful eating and stress-reduction techniques helped prevent weight gain even without dieting.

8 Dec 2011

Positive results from Genentech's pertuzumab plus Herceptin Phase III study on HER2-positive mBC

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced results from CLEOPATRA, the first randomized Phase III study of the investigational HER2-targeted medicine pertuzumab.

8 Dec 2011

Arsenic in rice worrisome

Studies have shown that rice takes up more arsenic from soil than other crops. Now a new study shows that higher arsenic levels are ingested by women who eat as little as half a cup of cooked rice in a day. Currently, there are no limits on the amount of allowable arsenic in rice in the United States. But the Environmental Protection Agency has set arsenic limits in water of 10 parts per billion.

7 Dec 2011