Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Los Angeles Magazine declares LA BioMed physicians as 2011 Southern California Super Doctors

A select 40 physician-researchers at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center were named 2011 Southern California Super Doctors in the January issue of Los Angeles Magazine.

4 Jan 2011

Fondation Leducq awards Penn Medicine researcher $6M grant for cardiovascular disease study

An international team of researchers led by Daniel J. Rader, MD, associate director of Penn Medicine's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, has received a $6 million grant from the Paris-based Fondation Leducq to study the molecular genetics of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The team's proposal, "Molecular Mechanisms of Novel Genes Associated with Plasma Lipids and Cardiovascular Disease," was selected to receive the award through the Fondation's Transatlantic Networks of Excellence Program.

4 Jan 2011

Study: Multitude of genes are linked to adult height

As much as 90 percent of variation in adult height may be caused by genetic inheritance, but a multitude of genes are involved. Most of these have yet to be discovered.

4 Jan 2011

Flu worries continue

The flu season continues to affect more people. Experts have warned the Britons are still at risk as the surge in flu cases has still not yet peaked. The cases would increase they warn, over the next two to four weeks. World Health Organization released figures that show the rate of influenza-like illnesses is still low across continental Europe but has risen dramatically in Britain since the flu season began in October.

3 Jan 2011

Brits get free healthy food vouchers in 2011

As the festive season comes to a close the British government has announced a £250 million ($390 million) industry-financed plan to promote healthy eating. Now millions of people will receive vouchers offering discounts on healthy foods. It is a part of the coalition government’s ‘Change4Life’ programme that is targeting Britain’s growing rates of obesity. The Change4Life campaign was initially begun in 2009 by the previous Labour government, which said that if the plan failed to reduce obesity within three years it might look at regulating the food industry. Now the eight month old Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition feels regulations do not do the job but a gentle push towards healthy habits may help.

3 Jan 2011

Fear of the fat promoted to curb obesity

The Australian Medical Association has recommended the use of graphic television advertisements in Victoria to warn people about the risks of eating fatty foods. Rising rates of obesity has prompted these extreme measures. The proposed ads in television and newspaper would cost $25 million and would show the effects of fat on the body’s internal organs. The AMA’s proposals are part of a submission calling for $63 million to fight obesity.

3 Jan 2011

Deceptive food labels lead to increased risk of deadly diseases

Did you know that when you pick up a product promoted as trans fat free, you may still be ingesting a significant amount of this potentially harmful substance? An article by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine student Eric Brandt, published in the January/February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, reveals that misleading labeling practices can result in medically significant intake of harmful trans fat, despite what you read on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labels.

3 Jan 2011

FDA authorizes Juventas' JVS-100 Phase II clinical trial for critical limb ischemia

Juventas Therapeutics, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular disease, announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized commencement of a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of its lead product, JVS-100, for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI).

3 Jan 2011

MedCath completes sale of TexSan Heart Hospital to Methodist Healthcare System

MedCath Corporation announced today the completion of the sale of substantially all the assets of TexSan Heart Hospital, owned by MedCath and its physician investors, to Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio. The transaction, which was announced in November, and was subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory requirements, was completed effective December 31, 2010.

3 Jan 2011

MEDNAX acquires Neonatal Medical Associates

MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of a neonatal physician group in Long Beach, CA.

3 Jan 2011

Celera seeks FDA premarketing approval for KIF6 Genotyping Assay

Celera Corporation today announced that it has submitted a Premarket Approval Application (PMA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its KIF6 Genotyping Assay, a new molecular In Vitro diagnostic (IVD) test designed to detect a marker for risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) independent of traditional risk factors and aid clinical evaluation when statin treatment is being considered.

3 Jan 2011

Tips to prevent a hangover

Dr. Andrew Yacht, director of the division of general medicine and vice chair of medicine for education at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City said, “Alcohol clearly causes hangovers, but why it causes hangovers isn’t very well understood…Part of the suspected cause is dehydration and an electrolyte and hormonal imbalance. Some of the symptoms may be caused by low blood sugar. Or, it may be that the direct toxic effects of alcohol are causing the symptoms.”

2 Jan 2011

Flu worries continue

As number of cases of flu rise in the UK, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is under pressure to strengthen the flu vaccination campaign. He reinstated a public health “Catch It, Bin It, Kill It” advertising campaign after he was warned by government advisers of the need to improve immunization rates which are at their lowest this winter for many years. It had been discontinued despite helping educate the public to adopt good hygiene habits during last year’s H1N1 swine flu epidemic at a cost of just £609,000. There were 12 more deaths in the last week from flu, bringing the total this winter to 39, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said today. Thirty-six were killed by H1N1 swine flu, which is the most virulent of the two main flu strains currently circulating. The others died after contracting Influenza B, the other strain. All except one of the 39 were under 65 and four were under five.

2 Jan 2011

Mediterranean diet helps more than one chronic condition

In a study that was published in the Oct 13, 2001 issue of Diabetes Care, authors had reported that Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes significantly. Those on this diet were 52 percent less likely to develop diabetes, compared with those who adhered least to the diet. Salas-Salvadó J. of Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain and colleagues compared two groups of subjects following two Mediterranean diets, one with nuts at 30 grams per day and the other with olive oil at 1 liter per week, with those on a low-fat diet.

2 Jan 2011

Team care to help multiple chronic conditions

According to a new study patients with multiple chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus and heart disease are at higher risk of depression that can render medication ineffective. Lead researcher Dr. Wayne J. Katon and colleagues at University of Washington in the study found that patients who received care from nurses who worked with patients and physicians to manage the care for depression and diabetes and heart disease had better outcomes. The study was published in the Dec 30, 2010 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jan 2011

World’s first organ donor dies at 79

On December 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph Murray performed the world’s first kidney transplant removing a kidney from Ronald Herrick and implanting it in his identical twin Richard. Years later, Murray shared a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work. For the Herrick twins, the results were more immediate and personal. Richard lived for about eight more years because of Ronald’s donation.

30 Dec 2010

Children more likely to suffer from appendicitis in areas with few pediatricians

Children who live in areas with fewer pediatricians are more likely to suffer life-threatening ruptures of the appendix than those in areas with more pediatricians, even when accounting for other factors such as the number of hospitals, imaging technology, insurance coverage and the number of surgeons in an area, according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

30 Dec 2010

General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

The use of general anesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world, but the precise biological mechanisms that underlie anesthetic drugs' effects on the brain and the body are only beginning to be understood. A review article in the December 30 New England Journal of Medicine brings together for the first time information from a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine, to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive investigations of processes underlying general anesthesia.

30 Dec 2010

Heart researchers find no evidence of toxicity in Longevinex

It was Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician who first said "the dose makes the poison." So, you can drink too much wine, or ingest too much resveratrol, but in an unprecedented study, heart researchers report they couldn't find a toxic dose for Longevinex-, a resveratrol-based dietary supplement.

30 Dec 2010

Omega-3 fatty acids may reduce inflammation, disease symptoms and cartilage degeneration

Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood may reduce inflammation, symptoms of gum disease and risk of abnormal heartbeats early after cardiac surgery. One type of omega-3, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), may also have lasting benefits in visual function for years in children whose mothers consume sufficient prenatal DHA.

30 Dec 2010