Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Researchers find medication for diabetes, smoking cessation

The script for two research teams inducted today into the American Chemical Society (ACS) scientific "hall of fame" the ACS Heroes of Chemistry is a tale of two pills. One team invented a medication that helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels. The second team invented a medicine that helps people stop smoking, an addiction that experts regard as today's single greatest preventable cause of death worldwide.

23 Aug 2010

Scientists discover new ways to boost antioxidant levels in potatoes

Scientists today reported discovery of two simple, inexpensive ways of boosting the amounts of healthful antioxidant substances in potatoes. One involves giving spuds an electric shock. The other involves zapping them with ultrasound, high frequency sound waves.

23 Aug 2010

Bottled tea contains less antioxidants, high sugar content

The first measurements of healthful antioxidant levels in commercial bottled tea beverages has concluded that health-conscious consumers may not be getting what they pay for: healthful doses of those antioxidants, or "poylphenols," that may ward off a range of diseases.

23 Aug 2010

Noninvasive monitoring of cardiac allograft vasculopathy with fast MR imaging

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), also known as chronicle rejection, is a leading cause of graft (foreign heart) loss and death in patients who survive the first year after heart transplantation. The typical pathological change of CAV is gradually thickening of coronary wall in "foreign" heart due to continuous immunological reaction between donated heart and the host. In some cases, undetected CAV may silently cause graft failure with global myocardial ischemia without any documented infarction signs. Thus, continually monitoring development of asymptomatic CAV is important for selecting prophylactic strategies to get better prognosis. However, most current examinations of detecting CAV are invasive and with certain risks.

22 Aug 2010

NBA player Alonzo Mourning uses celebrity fame to fight kidney disease

In October 2000, Mourning was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS), a kidney disease that causes scarring in the glomeruli, the blood vessels in the kidneys that filter the blood to make urine.

21 Aug 2010

Perry Ellis International launches corporate "Healthy Heart" initiative

Perry Ellis International today unveiled the first in a full roster of community involvement efforts scheduled for this fall.

21 Aug 2010

Abt Associates to evaluate program to encourage healthier eating among lower-income Americans

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service has selected Abt Associates to lead a team evaluating a ground-breaking pilot program aimed at encouraging healthier eating among lower-income Americans. The Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP) will enroll households in Hampden County, Massachusetts that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program).

21 Aug 2010

Pharma-Nutrition conference to highlight latest research on medical nutrition

Pharma-Nutrition, the new international scientific conference organised by Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, aims to discuss the latest research, concepts and practical applications of medical nutrition in patient treatments, disease management and patient outcomes.

21 Aug 2010

Warner Bros recording artist to donate concert profits to BC Children's Hospital

Warner Bros. recording artist Michael Bublé announced during his August 20 concert in his hometown that all profits from the show would go to BC Children's Hospital Foundation's Campaign for BC Children, a $200-million initiative to support the construction of a new BC Children's Hospital and to enhance medical services for children throughout the province.

21 Aug 2010

Low testosterone levels to blame for low libido, fatigue and weight gain

While most frequently associated with women's health, age-related hormone changes, often dubbed menopause, can occur in men as well, causing symptoms of fatigue, mood swings, decreased desire for sex, hair loss, lack of concentration and weight gain. Experts estimate that more than 5 million men are affected, yet worry the number may be considerably higher since symptoms are frequently ignored.

21 Aug 2010

Scientists identify compound to treat Chagas' disease

A new compound may offer an effective drug candidate against the deadly tropical infection, Chagas' disease say researchers from Brazil. They report their findings in the August 2010 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

21 Aug 2010

What hospital consolidation means for the cost of an MRI

An MRI for a skier's torn ligament at Sutter Davis Hospital near Sacramento cost $1,271, while an identical scan at a nearby imaging center run by Radiological Associates of Sacramento runs only $696, Bloomberg reports. Why? Insurers say it's because Sutter has monopolized the regional hospital market and can essentially demand whatever prices it wants — often between 40 and 70 percent higher than competitors.

21 Aug 2010

Female sexual offenders often unrecognised and underreported

Sexual offenses committed by women, while often unrecognised and underreported, have become the subject of a new book by a University of Montreal professor. Female Sexual Offenders: Theory, Assessment and Treatment (Wiley), is the first volume of its kind to provide an overview of female-perpetrated sexual abuse, statistics on the crime, as well as treatment options for offenders.

21 Aug 2010

ASIR coronary CTA technique reduces radiation dose by 27%

A new low-dose coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) technique called adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) can reduce the radiation dose associated with coronary CTA by 27 percent, according to a study in the September issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). Coronary CTA is a common heart imaging test that helps determine if fatty or calcium deposits have narrowed a patient's coronary arteries.

21 Aug 2010

Report says developing countries remain unprepared for cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment

"Developing countries will bear 60 percent of the world's cancer burden by 2020 and 70 percent by 2030," according to a report released Thursday during the World Cancer Congress in Shenzhen, China, Reuters reports. These countries also lack the necessary "infrastructure … to prevent cancer, diagnose it early or provide long-term treatment, according to CanTreat International, which comprises experts from leading international cancer organizations," the news service writes.

20 Aug 2010

HealthPartners receives grant to study primary care clinics' transformation to health care homes

The HealthPartners Research Foundation has received an US Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant to study the transformation of traditional primary care clinics in Minnesota to "health care homes," also known as "medical homes."

20 Aug 2010

Study links obesity rates with walking and cycling rates

A study authored by Professor David Bassett Jr. from the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and three other researchers was published in the American Journal of Public Health, concluding that communities with more walkers and cyclists are healthier than those where people must rely on cars to get around.

20 Aug 2010

NIAID's renewed 'Centers for Countermeasures Against Radiation' program to support research at 7 institutions

A major research effort to develop medical products to diagnose, prevent and treat the short- and long-term consequences of radiation exposure after a radiological or nuclear terrorist attack has been renewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

20 Aug 2010

NSF issues award to develop techniques for analyzing children's behavior

A team led by the Georgia Institute of Technology has received a $10 million "Expeditions in Computing" award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop novel computing techniques for measuring and analyzing the behavior of children.

20 Aug 2010

Tasigna receives approval for chronic myeloid leukemia in Canada

Tasigna (nilotinib) capsules have been approved with conditions in Canada as a new therapy for patients with CML, in the chronic phase (first phase) of the disease. Patients must be resistant to or intolerant of at least one prior therapy, including (Pr)Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), an established standard of care.

20 Aug 2010