Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

EMA, FDA endorse use of biomarkers in Alzheimer's drug trials

A news feature in Alzforum explains the impact of new guidelines for selecting volunteers in clinical trials of Alzheimer's drugs. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European counterpart to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has endorsed the use of biomarkers—substances in the body or measurements that serve as indicators of disease—to select patients to be included in drug trials.

20 Oct 2011

Winter health and safety tips

Winter is a special time for celebration. It should also be a time for added caution if you or someone in your family is an older adult. It is the season for falls, slips on icy streets, and other dangers that can be especially harmful for older adults. "Something as simple as a fall can be devastating for older men and women," says Dr. Evelyn Granieri, director of the Division of Geriatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Hospital. "Before the cold weather arrives, it is important to prepare."

20 Oct 2011

CJC publishes paper on safety of cardiac imaging methods

Canadian Journal of Cardiology has published a paper on the safety of cardiac imaging methods. This study is important for patients worried about radiation exposure during X-ray based studies of the heart. X-ray based methods have greatly improved the diagnosis of heart disease, but they can produce significant levels of radiation exposure.

20 Oct 2011

CJC publishes paper on the timing of coronary stenting

The Canadian Journal of Cardiology has published a paper on the timing of coronary stenting, a thought-provoking paper that challenges one of the dogmas of acute heart attack management today.

20 Oct 2011

Breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigates pain in preterm neonates

Poorly managed pain in the neonatal intensive care unit has serious short- and long-term consequences, causing physiological and behavioral instability in preterm infants and long-term changes in their pain sensitivity, stress arousal systems, and developing brains. In a study published in the November issue of PAIN-, researchers report that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigated pain in preterm neonates with mature breastfeeding behaviors.

19 Oct 2011

St. Jude Medical third quarter net sales increase 12% to $1.383 billion

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today reported sales and net earnings for the third quarter ended October 1, 2011.

19 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 19, 2011

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Capsules, Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: "Medicare might fare better than other health care programs if the congressional super committee fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package and automatic cuts kick in, but even 2 percent is a big problem when it comes on top of other recent hits, warn Rick Pollack, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, and Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans."

19 Oct 2011

SomaLogic, Novartis enter multi-year research agreement

SomaLogic, Inc., announced today that it has entered into a multi-year research agreement with Novartis to use its unique proprietary proteomics technology to accelerate Novartis' drug discovery and development efforts.

19 Oct 2011

Acute HCV screening strategy for HIV-infected individuals

Researchers at The Miriam Hospital demonstrated a practical strategy for regularly screening HIV-infected patients for acute hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), a "silent epidemic" that is rising undetected in this population and can lead to serious health complications.

19 Oct 2011

Mayo Clinic introduces heart health awareness campaign

Mayo Clinic today is launching a heart health awareness campaign featuring a parody of the 1982 hit song "867-5309/Jenny" at the third annual Social Media Summit, produced by Mayo Clinic in conjunction with Ragan Communications.

19 Oct 2011

U.S. News ranks Meridian Health among 2011-2012 Best Hospitals

Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center, all members of Meridian Health, are included in the 2011-2012 Best Hospitals metro area rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

19 Oct 2011

Young adults born prematurely show multiple biological signs of risks to future health

Young adults who were born prematurely show multiple biological signs of risks to future health, research from Imperial College London has found. The scientists, reporting their findings tomorrow in the journal Pediatric Research, say that the research indicates that urgent work is now needed to monitor preterm babies into adulthood to improve the detection of early signs of disease.

19 Oct 2011

UCSD unveils Center for the Future of Surgery

Every year, millions of patients undergo lifesaving surgeries. The outcome of each procedure is driven by dynamic factors such as the patient's health, drugs and instruments used, team communication, and the wisdom of the surgeon's hand. To advance safety and innovation in today's operating rooms, the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego has unveiled the Center for the Future of Surgery (CFoS) ─ the largest state-of-the art facility in the nation dedicated to catalyzing novel surgical technologies, techniques and teaching methods.

19 Oct 2011

Jersey Shore completes first procedure with Abiomed's Impella 2.5 heart pump

Jersey Shore University Medical Center announces the completion of its first procedure with Abiomed's Impella 2.5 heart pump. Jersey Shore is the first and only regional hospital to include the World's Smallest Heart Pump in their portfolio of treatment options to assist critically ill heart patients.

19 Oct 2011

Study finds 30% decline in heart failure hospitalization rate

Being hospitalized for heart failure (HF) was about 30 percent less likely in 2008 than in 1998, according to a study by Yale physicians in the Oct. 19 issue of JAMA. The team also found that the rate of hospitalization for black men dropped at a lower rate, and that one-year mortality rates declined slightly during this period, but remained high.

19 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: CLASS decision ends fear of government bailout; the strengths and failings of U.S. health care

The problem, as numerous experts warned at the time, was whether the program could be run, as the law required, in a way that made it financially solvent for at least 75 years. The difficulty with the CLASS Act was ensuring that premiums could be set low enough to attract widespread participation but high enough to pay tbenefits. The risk was that the program would attract the sickest participants, who thought they might need its protections, and thereby drive premium prices ever higher in a spiral of dysfunctionhe promised.

19 Oct 2011

Heart-failure related hospitalizations has declined substantially among Medicare patients

Between 1998 and 2008, heart-failure related hospitalizations declined substantially among Medicare patients, but at a lower rate for black men, according to a study in the October 19 issue of JAMA. Also, 1-year mortality rates declined slightly during this period, but remain high.

19 Oct 2011

Effective liability reform could reduce hospital admissions

Visits to emergency departments climbed nearly 10 percent in one year to a new high of more than 136 million visits in 2009, according to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just as emergency physicians are releasing new studies showing an association between medical liability concerns and rising hospital admissions from the emergency department.

18 Oct 2011

UTA technology could reduce time and cost to finding a cure for Alzheimer's

Technology developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin could significantly reduce the time and cost to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease and help answer one of the greatest biological questions: why do we age?

18 Oct 2011

Commercialization strategies for next-generation medicines

The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, in collaboration with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors, and key opinion leaders from the biotech and biopharmaceutical industries, academia, medical research foundations, and investment community, has organized a two-day event to forge partnerships to accelerate the development of new treatments for some of the world's most devastating diseases affecting millions.

18 Oct 2011