Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Scientists develop highly efficient approach for cardiac imaging

Scientists of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch have developed a highly efficient approach for imaging the beating human heart.

19 Apr 2011

Obese patients may face high risk of complications after non-cardiac surgery

Obese patients with high blood pressure and diabetes are at much higher risk for major complications following non-cardiac surgery compared to otherwise healthy obese patients and patients of normal weight.

19 Apr 2011

New research: 56% of Canadians with AF do not fear having fatal stroke

New research reveals more than half of Canadians living with atrial fibrillation do not fear having a stroke, despite AF-related strokes being more severe, debilitating and twice as likely to be fatal.

19 Apr 2011

Abiomed to present new data from PROTECT II study in PCI at SCAI meeting

Abiomed Inc., a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, today announced that new data from the PROTECT II study will be presented by William O'Neill, M.D., executive dean for clinical affairs at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and principal investigator for the PROTECT II study, during the late-breaking clinical trials session at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions 2011 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore, Maryland.

19 Apr 2011

Mother's diet during pregnancy can influence child's risk of obesity

Scientists have discovered that a mother's nutrition during pregnancy can strongly influence her child's risk of obesity many years later.

19 Apr 2011

Well-controlled blood sugar levels linked to low risk of diabetic complications

A new study of older diabetes patients has found that well-controlled blood sugar levels were associated with a lower risk of major complications such as heart attacks, amputation and kidney disease, but the very lowest blood sugar levels were associated with a small but significant increased risk of death.

19 Apr 2011

Single antibody injection limits tissue and organ destruction after ischaemic events

Medical researchers today held out promise that a simple injection is being developed to limit the devastating consequences of heart attacks and strokes.

19 Apr 2011

New biomarker-based test more effective for early acute kidney injury detection

A new biomarker-based diagnostic test is more effective than the current best practice for early detection of adverse outcomes after acute kidney injury, which can be fatal for an estimated 50 percent of the critically ill patients who get the condition.

19 Apr 2011

First bypass surgery to restore lost brain tissue performed at Krembil Neuroscience Centre

Neurosurgeons at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, have for the first time, initiated the restoration of lost brain tissue through brain bypass surgery in patients where blood flow to the brain is impaired by cerebrovascular disease. The study, which involved 29 patients, was published online in the journal Stroke.

19 Apr 2011

Drospirenone doesn't carry any risk of gall bladder disease

Drospirenone, the top-selling oral contraceptive marketed as Yaz or Yasmin in the U.S. and Canada, doesn't carry any more risk of gall bladder disease than the older generation of birth control pills, despite claims by some consumers and lawyers in both countries, according to a new study by University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Mahyar Etminan.

19 Apr 2011

Forehead scanning comparable to under arm temperature readings in newborns

Measuring the body temperatures of newborns with temporal artery thermometry (forehead scanning) provides readings comparable to results obtained by axillary (under arm) thermometry, the clinically recommended method for this patient population, but causes less discomfort, according to a new study reported in Advances in Neonatal Care.

18 Apr 2011

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease linked to coronary artery disease

Because of the prevalence of obesity in our country, many Americans are expected to develop a serious condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can lead to cirrhosis, fibrosis, and in some cases liver failure. It is also one of the best predictors for coronary artery disease.

18 Apr 2011

ARCA biopharma to sell $3 million of common stock and warrants in registered direct offering

ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically-targeted therapies for atrial fibrillation, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced that it has agreed to sell approximately $3 million of its common stock and warrants to institutional investors in a registered direct offering.

18 Apr 2011

Scientists identify networks of genes critical in embryonic-heart development

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified networks of genes that play an important role in embryonic-heart development, advancing knowledge of how healthy hearts develop-and offering clues about how to combat a common birth defect known as congenital heart disease.

18 Apr 2011

Baxter enters definitive agreement to acquire Prism

Baxter International Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Prism Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in King of Prussia, PA. Prism Pharmaceuticals has developed and received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for multiple presentations of NEXTERONE® (amiodarone HCl), an antiarrhythmic agent.

From Baxter International Inc. 18 Apr 2011

St. Jude Medical's Accent MRI pacemaker and Tendril MRI lead system receives European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced that it has received European CE Mark approval for its Accent MRI™ pacemaker and Tendril MRI™ lead. The system, designed and tested for safe use in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment and approved as MR-Conditional, allows patients to undergo full-body, high-resolution MRI scans.

18 Apr 2011

Top-line results from Amarin's AMR101 Phase 3 trial in patients with high triglycerides

Amarin Corporation plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cardiovascular disease, today reported positive, statistically significant top-line results from its ANCHOR trial for the Company's lead product candidate, AMR101.

18 Apr 2011

Parents may chose predictive genetic tests for their children

Parents offered genetic testing to predict their risks of common, adult-onset health conditions say they would also test their children. That is the finding of a new study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.

18 Apr 2011

Blue Cross launches 'The Human Do.ing' project to improve communities' health

He danced. He grooved. He walked. He sweated. And in the end, he did something he wasn't sure was possible. He got healthy. On Saturday, Twin Cities man Scott Jorgenson, 45, ended his 30 days as "The Human Do.ing," a project developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota as part of the company's do. Campaign to "groove your body every day" to achieve better health.

18 Apr 2011

Non-Hispanic black infants born with heart defects more likely to die within five years

Non-Hispanic black infants born with heart defects are more likely to die within the first five years of life than their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic peers. For certain types of congenital heart abnormalities, Hispanic children as well as non-Hispanic black children fare worse than non-Hispanic white children.

18 Apr 2011