Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Kindstar, Mayo Clinic enter multiyear agreement to offer specialized laboratory support

Mayo Clinic today announced that it has entered into a multiyear agreement with Wuhan Kindstar Globalgene Technology, Inc. (Kindstar) to provide specialized laboratory support based on provision of knowledge from Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and its reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories.

28 Jun 2011

Vitamin D supplements safe for healthy pregnant women

Use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy has long been a matter of concern but now researchers writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research report that even a high supplementation amount in healthy pregnant women was safe and effective in raising circulating vitamin D to a level thought by some to be optimal. The study also found no adverse effects of vitamin D supplementation, even at the highest amount, in women or their newborns.

27 Jun 2011

Mayo Clinic signs agreement with Kindstar

Mayo Clinic today announced that it has entered into a multiyear agreement with Wuhan Kindstar Globalgene Technology, Inc. (Kindstar) to provide specialized laboratory support based on provision of knowledge from Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and its reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories.

27 Jun 2011

Diabetes numbers on the rise: Experts worried

According a new international study more than 350 million in the world now have diabetes. The analysis, published online by the Lancet on Saturday, adds several tens of millions to the previous estimate of the number of diabetics and indicates that the disease has become a major global health problem.

27 Jun 2011

HIV drug linked to accelerated and early aging

New research published this Sunday reveals that a class of generic AIDS drugs often used to treat HIV in Africa and other poor regions can cause premature aging and lead to age-related illnesses such as heart disease and dementia.

27 Jun 2011

FDA directive on anemia drug in kidney disease patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new warnings for anemia drugs for patients with kidney disease after studies suggested such drugs could increase stroke risks. The new warnings are the latest to hit the widely used medications since 2007, when the FDA first said they could cause fatal side effects.

27 Jun 2011

Lean gene and heart disease risk

According to a new study published Sunday, being lean may not always lead to a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes. The researchers have successfully identified a gene linked both to having a lean body and to a higher risk of metabolic diseases.

27 Jun 2011

Nile completes dosing in Part B of cenderitide Phase I study for ADHF

Nile Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops novel therapeutics for heart failure patients, today announced that it has completed dosing the first patient in Part B of the ongoing Phase I study.

27 Jun 2011

Cardium to purchase Transdel's business assets

Cardium Therapeutics today announced that it had entered into an agreement with Transdel Pharmaceuticals to acquire substantially all of Transdel's business assets including a Phase 3 product candidate Ketotransdel (TDLP-110), which is a topically-administered analgesic for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain.

27 Jun 2011

Problems of unrecognized alcohol misuse among the elderly

The Royal College of Psychiatrists of London has published a report related primarily to problems of unrecognized alcohol misuse among the elderly. The report provides guidelines for psychiatrists and family physicians on how to find and how to treat elderly people with misuse of alcohol and drugs.

27 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Supreme Court drug decisions; Medicaid's burden; Concierge medicine questioned

The image of Justice blindfolded, holding her scales, is familiar from courthouses all over the United States and the world. Sadly, in its Thursday ruling in the case of PLIVA v Mensing, the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision that makes one wonder if that blindfold made the court unable to see the right thing to do.

27 Jun 2011

Omeros identifies compounds that interact with orphan GPCRs associated with leukemia

Omeros Corporation today reported that it has identified compounds that interact with orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) P2Y8 and OPN4. P2Y8 (also known as P2RY8) is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells.

27 Jun 2011

Cardiovascular Systems included in latest Russell 2000 Index

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., a medical device company developing and commercializing innovative interventional treatment systems for peripheral and coronary artery disease, has been added to the Russell 2000® Index.

27 Jun 2011

Redefinition of cardiac hypertrophy term needed

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Myocardial Function is calling for a redefinition of the term cardiac hypertrophy which is currently used to describe changes to the morphology (structure) of the heart. Instead the position paper, published online today in the European Journal of Heart Failure, suggests that use of the general term myocardial remodelling should be preferred.

27 Jun 2011

New guide indicates when and how genetic testing is useful for inherited cardiac conditions

While genetic inheritance is known to play a role in the multifactorial development of most diseases of the heart, there are also a number of clearly diagnosed cardiac conditions which owe their development to quite specific genetic abnormalities. When these genetic disorders affect the integrity of the heart's muscle they are known as a "cardiomyopathy"; when the disorder affects the heart's "excitability", it is known as a "channelopathy".

27 Jun 2011

Positive data from Lyxumia study on type 2 diabetes presented at ADA 2011

Sanofi announced today data from four studies of its once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist Lyxumia that is in Phase III clinical development, including data that demonstrates positive results in type 2 diabetes patients not at goal on oral therapies or with basal insulin.

27 Jun 2011

New data from JANUMET clinical study on type 2 diabetes presented at ADA 2011

In a new post-hoc analysis based on the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE/ACE) diabetes algorithm presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 71st Annual Scientific Sessions, significantly more patients with type 2 diabetes treated with JANUMET-tablets achieved blood sugar goals after 18 weeks compared to metformin as initial therapy.

27 Jun 2011

Transcatheter valve replacement safe and effective alternative to open-heart surgery

An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered at Rush University Medical Center to patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high-risk or not suitable candidates for open heart valve replacement surgery.

27 Jun 2011

Anticholinergic medications linked to risk of cognitive impairment, death in older population

A large, long-term study confirms that medications with anticholinergic activity, which include many drugs frequently taken by older adults, cause cognitive impairment. The research is also the first to identify a possible link between these drugs - which include over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments - and risk of death.

27 Jun 2011