Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Athersys signs agreement with RTI Biologics for MAPC technology access

RTI Biologics Inc., a leading provider of orthopedic and other biologic implants, and Athersys Inc. a leader in regenerative medicine and cell therapy research and development, announced today an agreement under which Athersys will provide RTI access to its Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cell (MAPC) technologies.

13 Sep 2010

Amorcyte receives patent for chemotactic hematopoietic stem cell product

Amorcyte, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing cell therapy products to treat cardiovascular disease, today announced that it has been granted United States Patent number 7,794,705 titled "Compositions and Methods of Vascular Injury Repair." The patent contains both composition of matter and method claims surrounding therapeutic chemotactic hematopoietic stem cell products used in treating or repairing a vascular injury following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and delivery of the cell therapy.

13 Sep 2010

Dr. Siegal & Son introduces CalciOs cookies to relieve heartburn

Dr. Siegal & Son, LLC, a new Vienna, Virginia based company launched by renowned physician and author Sanford Siegal, D.O., M.D., and his son, Matthew Siegal, the duo behind the internationally popular Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET brand, has introduced CalciOs cookies, a snack food that's enriched with calcium carbonate, a common source of dietary calcium supplementation that also neutralizes stomach acid and relieves occasional heartburn. U.S. and international patents are pending.

13 Sep 2010

Leukemia survivor to meet donor of bone marrow transplant

Ann Marie Del Fiacco, a 38-year-old Berwyn mother of two, owes her life to a stranger who volunteered to be a donor for her life-saving bone marrow transplant.

13 Sep 2010

Non-invasive brain stimulation helps paralysed stroke patients regain motor function

Stroke patients who were left partially paralysed found that their condition improved after they received a simple and non-invasive method of brain stimulation, according to research in the September issue of the European Journal of Neurology.

13 Sep 2010

Health risk assessments

At various points in our lives, we're curious about our health risks, wondering about our susceptibility for everything from high cholesterol to a deadly inherited disease. We might want to learn more about our risks when we reach a certain age or experience a bout of bad health; when we hear about a friend or co-worker coping with a dreaded illness; or read the latest headlines about disease research.

13 Sep 2010

Scientists discover SNP association with primary open-angle glaucoma risk

Scientists at deCODE genetics and academic colleagues from Iceland, China, Sweden, the UK and Australia today report the discovery of the most important single-letter variation (SNP) in the sequence of the human genome yet associated with risk of primary open-angle glaucoma. This is the most common form of glaucoma and a major cause of blindness worldwide.

13 Sep 2010

PCRI to host educational event on prostate cancer therapy

Dean Ornish MD, recognized for establishing the impact of diet on prostate cancer (and heart disease), along with over a dozen internationally recognized prostate cancer experts will meet with over 800 prostate cancer survivors and their significant others at the Los Angeles Marriott near LAX on September 11th and 12th to discuss the latest thinking on prostate cancer treatment.

13 Sep 2010

Oral health impacts systemic diseases: Report

It's not news that there is a significant link between one's oral health and overall health. Though studies are ongoing, researchers have known for quite some time that the mouth is connected to the rest of the body.Your mouth is the entry point of many bacteria,said Dr. Steven Grater, Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) member and general dentist from Harrisburg. To keep this bacteria from going into your body, cleaning your mouth (brushing, flossing and rinsing) is necessary.

13 Sep 2010

FDA approves CorMatrix ECM for Pericardial Closure

CorMatrix Cardiovascular, Inc., a medical device company developing and delivering unique extracellular matrix (ECM) biomaterial devices that harness the body's innate ability to repair damaged cardiovascular tissue, announced today that FDA has granted conditional approval for the start of a multi-center, prospective, randomized clinical trial to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the CorMatrix ECM for Pericardial Closure to reduce the incidence of new onset postoperative atrial fibrillation.

13 Sep 2010

Victoria tightens smoking bans

The Monash City Council will decide this week whether to start community consultation on a ban on smoking in alfresco dining areas, shopping strips, and sports clubs. Cr Micaela Drieberg said more public areas would be covered. She added that Eaton Mall in Oakleigh would be one of the areas. She said, “I think people want to be able to enjoy a meal or a coffee or just sitting outside with friends and family, especially as the weather is getting warmer, and not have to be exposed to second-hand smoke… They have just as much right to fresh air as a smoker has the right to smoke in certain places.”

12 Sep 2010

Resverlogix announces key changes to Phase 2 ASSURE trial

Resverlogix Corp. announces that the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial, called ASSURE (ApoA-1 Synthesis Stimulation in Acute Coronary Syndrome patients), has made important modifications to the design of the trial which have the potential to demonstrate a more powerful endpoint for the planning of future clinical trials for RVX-208.

10 Sep 2010

McGill researchers pioneer anesthetics via videoconferencing

Videoconferences may be known for putting people to sleep, but never like this. Dr. Thomas Hemmerling and his team of McGill's Department of Anesthesia achieved a world first on August 30, 2010, when they treated patients undergoing thyroid gland surgery in Italy remotely from Montreal. The approach is part of new technological advancements, known as 'Teleanesthesia', and it involves a team of engineers, researchers and anesthesiologists who will ultimately apply the drugs intravenously which are then controlled remotely through an automated system.

10 Sep 2010

Doctor works to measure outcomes of provider care

Forbes profiles "the most powerful doctor you never heard of," a Yale cardiologist who does "outcomes research" in which he measures "how well doctors are doing in the real world, outside of controlled trials--what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong and what they are forgetting to do entirely."

10 Sep 2010

IASIS Healthcare signs agreement to acquire Brim Holdings

IASIS Healthcare today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Brim Holdings, Inc., which operates Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, and Pikes Peak Regional Hospital in Woodland Park, Colorado, in a cash-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $95 million, subject to customary closing conditions and working capital adjustments. Combined revenue of the two facilities is approximately $120 million.

10 Sep 2010

Zargis enters agreement with OTN for testing of telemedicine stethoscope system

Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp., today announced that it has signed an agreement with the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) providing for the delivery and testing of Zargis' award-winning telemedicine stethoscope system.

10 Sep 2010

Mexican-American stroke survivors with atrial fibrillation at increased risk for second stroke

Mexican-American stroke survivors with a heart rhythm disorder have more than twice the risk for another stroke compared to non-Hispanic whites, according to a study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Sep 2010

VCU Pauley Heart Center to investigate portable, mechanical driver for powering artificial hearts

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center is the lead institution in a national clinical trial of technology that will allow artificial heart patients to recuperate, rehabilitate and wait in the comfort of their own homes until a donor heart becomes available for transplant.

10 Sep 2010

Study finds misclassification of risk groups for heart diseases

The widespread use of a simplified clinical tool to estimate future coronary risk could lead to the classification of millions of Americans into different risk groups than when using the original, "gold-standard" tool. Millions of patients may have been misclassified into higher-risk groups and therefore potentially over-treated, while others may have ended up in lower-risk groups and therefore potentially under-treated for heart disease. The study-, led by William Gordon from Weill Cornell Medical College in the US and colleagues, is published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine-, published by Springer.

10 Sep 2010

GE Healthcare to showcase molecular imaging portfolio at WMIC

Reinforcing its commitment to researchers and clinicians, GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company is showcasing a comprehensive molecular imaging portfolio—encompassing tracer development, pre-clinical imaging and highly advanced imaging equipment— to provide insight into the origins of disease, at the World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC), Booth #212, September 8 through 11 in Kyoto, Japan.

10 Sep 2010