Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

CareChex releases new study on University Hospital Care in the U.S.

CareChex, a division of The Delta Group specializing in rating the quality of hospital and physician care, today released a new study, An Assessment of the Quality of University Hospital Care in the U.S., that investigates whether or not university hospitals outperform other hospitals on objective measures of quality.

2 Nov 2010

Researchers explain how adiponectin prevents stress-induced damage in heart

One of the many advantages of maintaining a normal body weight is having healthy fat, which in turn supports a healthy heart. Fat tissue is increasingly seen as more than just a storage depot - it's also an active secretory organ that normally produces high levels of a cardioprotective hormone called adiponectin. How adiponectin protects the hearts of healthy people has long been a mystery, and now a team led by Barbara Ranscht, Ph.D. and Pilar Ruiz-Lozano, Ph.D. at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) reveals that the protein T-cadherin is the receptor that anchors adiponectin to heart cells.

2 Nov 2010

Brain MRI could predict duration of stroke onset

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain could expand the number of stroke patients eligible for a potentially life-saving treatment, according to a new study, published online and in the December issue of the journal Radiology.

2 Nov 2010

Innovative lifesaving device for patients with advanced heart failure

Bradley Cantley, 41, headed home from UC San Diego Medical Center connected to a lifesaving heart machine called a left ventricular assisted device (LVAD). For patients with advanced heart failure, the mechanical pump rapidly improves circulation throughout the body and serves as a bridge to transplant. Cantley is the first of many patients, locally and globally, who will benefit from the expanded heart surgery program at UC San Diego Health System.

2 Nov 2010

Older adults are three times as likely to die following ground-level fall

While simple falls, such as slipping while walking off a curb, may seem relatively harmless, they can actually lead to severe injury and death in elderly individuals, according to a new study published in The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care.

2 Nov 2010

Eli Lilly's new research center to focus on diabetes in China

Eli Lilly and Company announced today plans to open a research center focused on diabetes in China, where the incidence of the disease has reached epidemic proportions.

2 Nov 2010

Ceremonial groundbreaking for new Children's Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center

Federal, state, and regional legislators and community leaders today join Vanguard Health System's Vice Chairman Keith Pitts, DMC President and CEO Mike Duggan, and Children's Hospital of Michigan President Herman Gray, MD at a ceremonial groundbreaking of the Children's Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center on the campus of the DMC (3950 Beaubien).

2 Nov 2010

Einstein College's new website features latest information on aging research

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has launched SuperAgers.com, a new website that features the latest information on more than a decade of aging research at Einstein.

2 Nov 2010

Fitness level, not size or weight, may be more important determinant of women's risk of death

Obesity alone may no longer be linked to a high risk of death in women, according to research published in the Nov. 2010 Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. Researchers now suggest cardiovascular fitness level, not just a woman's size, may actually be the key predictor of health level and overall risk for death.

2 Nov 2010

Arrayit sells third advanced microarray manufacturing system to UT Southwestern

Arrayit Corporation announced today that it has sold a third advanced microarray manufacturing system to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The NanoPrint LM60 Microarrayer equipped with Arrayit's Patented Microarray Manufacturing Technology (US Patent 6,101,946) is a computer-driven robotic microarray manufacturing system that enables the screening of 1.5 million lead therapeutic compounds per run, and the NanoPrint LM210 enables more than 5 million.

2 Nov 2010

Study finds increasing dosage of blood thinners can help cardiovascular disease patients with genetic defect

Cardiovascular disease patients who have a genetic defect that makes them less responsive to blood thinners may be helped with an increased dosage, according to results of an innovative pilot study led by a cardiologist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

2 Nov 2010

Most hospital patients at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea

Eighty-one percent of hospital patients are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, a Loyola University Health System study has found.

2 Nov 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim announces availability of PRADAXA in U.S. pharmacies

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its new oral anticoagulant, Pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) 150mg capsules, will be available starting Wednesday by prescription in pharmacies across the United States, including CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Walmart, Target, Kmart® and The Kroger Co. In addition, leading independents under the Health Mart®, Good Neighbor Pharmacy® and Medicine Shoppe® banners will be stocked.

2 Nov 2010

ISHIB releases new recommendations to manage hypertension in African Americans

Through the publication of its Consensus Statement on the Management of High Blood Pressure in Blacks in this week's issue of Hypertension, ISHIB today released new recommendations recognizing that high blood pressure among African Americans is a severe health problem. The consensus statement suggests that treatment should start sooner and be more aggressive among African Americans.

2 Nov 2010

MedCath completes sale of Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership

MedCath Corporation and its physician partners announced today the completion of the sale of substantially all the assets of Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership, L.P. The transaction, which was announced in February and was subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory requirements, was completed today.

2 Nov 2010

FDA approves Medtronic Talent Thoracic Stent Graft with Captivia Delivery System

Advancing the minimally invasive treatment of aortic aneurysms, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Talent Thoracic Stent Graft with Captivia® Delivery System, which features a tip capture mechanism for controlled deployment and precise placement of the implantable medical device.

2 Nov 2010

New findings pave way to improve early detection of ovarian cancer

A drug in testing to treat atherosclerosis significantly inhibited growth of ovarian cancer in both human cell lines and mouse models, the first such report of a peptide being used to fight malignancies, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

2 Nov 2010

NICE to lose its power to ban life saving drugs

Ministers have finally clarified that patients would not be denied life-extending drugs just because the NHS rationing body decides they are too expensive. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) the drug watchdog in the UK will be stripped of its powers to stop drugs being available on the NHS due to price. The arbitrary limit on the cost of new drugs – around £30,000 per year of extended high-quality life – will be scrapped from 2014.

1 Nov 2010

XXXXL suits now on the racks: UK health experts concerned

In a worrying development Britain’s largest ‘off-the-peg’ suit - the XXXXL - has gone on sale, boasting a 64 inch chest jacket and 60 inch waist trousers. Health experts fear the development and say that a record 5.5 million overweight Britons are now officially on GP registers with an eight percent rise over last year.

1 Nov 2010

Dr Sartori’s contentious alternative therapy: inquest date set

The Medical Practitioner's Board of Western Australia is looking into the case of a doctor and her role in an alternative cancer therapy program. Five cancer patients have died after apparently being given industrial solvents and dangerous minerals as a part of an alternative therapy program by Alexandra Boyd, a well-known Mosman Park breast cancer specialist. She along with two registered nurses administered the concoctions to the people in question.

1 Nov 2010