Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

CVBT seeks FDA 'fast track' designation for CVBT-141B to treat ischemic diabetic wounds

CardioVascular BioTherapeutics, Inc. today announced it has submitted an application to the U.S. FDA to obtain "fast track" designation for CVBT-141B, its biological therapy to treat ischemic diabetic wounds based on the active ingredient fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1).

4 Feb 2011

Cardiac team implants pulmonary valve in children without open-heart surgery

The pediatric cardiac team at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital is the first in the region and one of a handful in the nation to implant a pulmonary heart valve without open-heart surgery.

4 Feb 2011

Women's risk of getting breast cancer increases from one in nine to one in eight

The lifetime risk of getting breast cancer has risen from one woman in nine to one in eight - according to Cancer Research UK.

4 Feb 2011

Study: Pistachios may help reduce risk of heart disease

It's no coincidence that National Pistachio Day – February 26, 2011 – occurs during American Heart Month. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in America, and promising nutrition research shows that pistachios are a heart healthy snack choice. In honor of American Heart Month, TheGreenNut.org is offering simple tips encouraging all Americans to go green for a healthy heart this February.

4 Feb 2011

FDA approves Hospira's topotecan for SCLC

Hospira, Inc., the world leader in generic injectable pharmaceuticals, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Topotecan Injection, the first solution formulation of the oncology drug approved in the United States.

3 Feb 2011

Rare new disease identified – calcium accumulates in blood vessels

A new rare disease has been identified. Louise Benge’s started having difficulty in walking when she was 25. She developed hardening and pain over her calves and hands. She worsened over the next 20 years. Her family physician in Mount Vernon, Ky., was at a loss, as were a vascular specialist, a hand specialist and a kidney specialist. Her two sisters and two brothers had the problem too, but no doctor could understand why.

3 Feb 2011

Innovative Heart Attack Rapid Response Team for snow shoveling heart attacks

Loyola's innovative Heart Attack Rapid Response Team (HARRT) is on staff 24/7 to perform emergency surgery on patients who have experienced heart attacks from shoveling snow or other causes.

3 Feb 2011

Consumer Reports Health unveils ratings of nine common screenings for heart disease

Consumer Reports Health unveils Ratings of nine common screenings for heart disease based on systematic review of evidence; some screenings work well while others deemed not worth the risk for healthy individuals

3 Feb 2011

MEDNAX fourth quarter net income increases to $53.8 million

MEDNAX, Inc., the national medical group specializing in neonatal, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, other pediatric subspecialty and anesthesia physician services today reported earnings per share of $1.12 for the three months ended December 31, 2010, that were driven by the Company's successful acquisition efforts throughout the year.

3 Feb 2011

Chances of surviving cardiac arrests high in large public venues having AEDs

A study of more than 14,000 men and women whose hearts stopped suddenly suggests that the chances of survival are very high if such cardiac arrests are witnessed in large public venues, including airports, sports arenas or malls. The reasons, researchers say, are that almost four out of five such cases appear to be due to a survivable type of heart rhythm disruption and that big places with lots of people are more likely to have an automated external defibrillator, or AED device, handy, along with those who can apply it as well as CPR.

3 Feb 2011

PanCare Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivor Care and Follow-up Studies to kick off in Lund, Sweden

By learning more about these late effects of treatment, the health care services can, on the one hand, improve and reduce the intensity of the treatment, and, on the other hand, find appropriate ways to care for those suffering from side-effects of the treatment in adolescence and adulthood.

3 Feb 2011

Scientia Advisors: Unmet need for new medical technologies to treat CVI and blood clots

In light of an aging population and increasing chronic vascular disease, there is a tremendous unmet need for new medical technologies to treat potentially dangerous chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and blood clots, according to a Scientia Advisors review of the vascular device market released today. Both the CVI and the thrombosis segments present significant opportunities for medical device innovators.

3 Feb 2011

New device to treat heart hiccups

"It took off to about 160 beats per minute and then dropped to 50. It seemed confused. Then it went back to normal," recalled Tsuji, 47, an avid cyclist, of that day in 2003. "I didn't notice any symptoms at that point, so I blew it off. I figured there was something wrong with it."

3 Feb 2011

Generic drugs to treat hypertension, heart failure could help NHS save £200 million

Using a generic drug to treat hypertension and heart failure, instead of branded medicines from the same class, could save the UK National Health Service (NHS) at least £200 million in 2011 without any real reduction in clinical benefits.

3 Feb 2011

Lead exposure can lead to high blood pressure in pregnant women: Study

Even minute amounts of lead may take a toll on pregnant women, according to a study published by Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., Dean of George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services in D.C., and colleagues, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

3 Feb 2011

Losartan improves effectiveness of nanotherapeutics against cancer

Low doses of an inexpensive, FDA-approved hypertension medication may improve the results of nanotherapeutic approaches to cancer treatment. In a report in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators describe experiments showing that the generic drug losartan, by modifying the network of collagen fibers that characterizes most solid tumors, improved the effectiveness of two nanotherapeutics against several types of cancer.

3 Feb 2011

Merck announces publication of GARDASIL pivotal Phase III study data in NEJM

Merck announced today that data from the pivotal Phase III study with GARDASIL in males were published in the February 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Feb 2011

FDA disallows obesity drug Contrave pending further large-scale testing

In its latest blow to obesity medication development efforts, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday notified Orexigen Therapeutics that it would need to conduct an extremely large-scale study of the long-term cardiovascular effects of its drug, Contrave, before approval could be considered.

3 Feb 2011

AMCs should adjust and adapt to new health care reform laws: New England Journal

Academic Medical Centers must adjust and adapt to the new health care reform laws or risk marginalization in the new health care arena, according to a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article published online February 2.

3 Feb 2011

New replacement valve can help patients to avoid multiple open-heart surgeries

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of major birth defects in the U.S., affecting about 34,000 babies each year. Twenty percent of these patients are born with a malformation of the pulmonary valve, which is a flap-like opening on the right side of the heart that is responsible for regulating the blood flow to the lungs. Now, a new replacement valve being used at Rush University Medical Center can help patients with damaged heart valves delay or avoid multiple open-heart surgeries.

3 Feb 2011