Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Fluid dynamics and mechanics to simulate stent design and coating

Suncica "Sunny" Canic was good at math in school, so that's what she pursued as a career. But she always liked medicine, too. When she moved to Houston, Texas, and met some cardiologists at a party, she started talking with them about what they do-and knew she could help them.

23 Aug 2010

Genzyme announces publication of phase 2 clinical trial results of eliglustat tartrate for Gaucher disease

Genzyme Corporation announced today that the two-year follow-up results from the phase 2 clinical trial of its investigational therapy known as eliglustat tartrate have been accepted for publication in the journal Blood. The results have been pre-published on the journal's website and are available to subscribers.

23 Aug 2010

Novo Nordisk reaches exclusive agreement to market Vagifem 10 mcg

Novo Nordisk Inc. today announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. to market Vagifem (estradiol vaginal tablets) 10 mcg. Under the terms of the agreement, Upsher-Smith will exclusively market Vagifem 10 mcg to physicians in the U.S. beginning August 2 through the company's existing field sales force.

23 Aug 2010

Svelte Medical Systems secures CE Mark to distribute Acrobat SOAW stenting system in the European Union

Svelte Medical Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has officially received the CE Mark to market its Acrobat Stent-on-a-Wire Bare Metal Coronary Stent System in the European Union. The Acrobat SOAW stenting system has been shown in clinical trials to facilitate direct stenting and has the potential to provide substantial procedural time and cost savings.

23 Aug 2010

NextGen Healthcare collaborates with clients for Primary Care Information Project

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced its successful collaboration with clients that received assistance through the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), a bureau of the NYC Health Department.

23 Aug 2010

Getinge's vascular graft production unit receives warning letter from FDA

Getinge's production unit in Wayne, New Jersey, US, has received a warning letter from the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration). The warning letter originates from an inspection performed by the authority on the Wayne plant during the spring of 2010. The FDA's observations and remarks relate to the manufacture of vascular grafts

23 Aug 2010

Scientists report global shortage of radioactive isotopes for medical scans

Twenty million medical scans and treatments are done each year that require radioactive isotopes and scientists today described a global shortage of these life-saving materials that could jeopardize patient care and drive-up health care costs.

23 Aug 2010

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