Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller to campaign for Stemcyte

StemCyte, Inc., one of the world's preeminent cord blood banks, today announced that Shannon Miller, a 7-time Olympic Medalist and 9-time World Medalist, has signed an endorsement partnership agreement and will appear in a series of advertising and public awareness campaigns for the company.

5 Sep 2009

MSMC's revenue bonds affirmed as BB+ by Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings affirmed the 'BB+' rating on approximately $260 million of the City of Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority Hospital Revenue Bonds, series 1998, 2001A and 2004 issued on behalf of Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida (MSMC). The Rating Outlook is revised to Stable from Negative.

5 Sep 2009

MRF announces winners of six 2009 research grants

The Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), the only nonprofit organization devoted solely to funding migraine research, today announced the winners of the 2009 research grants. This year's grantees will explore such important areas as pediatric migraine, the genetic association between migraine and cardiovascular events, and why opioids enhance migraine pain.

5 Sep 2009

FDA notifies PDUFA action date for Cell Therapeutics' NDA for pixantrone

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. ("CTI") (Nasdaq and MTA: CTIC) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified CTI that a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of April 23, 2010 under standard review has been established regarding CTI's NDA for pixantrone as potential treatment for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

5 Sep 2009

Insomnia increases blood pressure

Can't sleep at night? A new study published in the journal Sleep has found that people who suffer from insomnia have heightened nighttime blood pressure, which can lead to cardiac problems. The investigation, which measured the 24-hour blood pressure of insomniacs compared to sound sleepers, was conducted by researchers from the Universit- de Montr-al, its affiliated H-pital du Sacr--C-ur de Montr-al Sleep Disorders Centre and the Universit- Laval.

5 Sep 2009

Study reveals elevated cTnT levels in post-CABG patients

Levels of a biomarker used in the diagnosis of heart attacks are almost universally elevated in patients who have undergone coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) and, when markedly elevated, are powerfully prognostic, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center has found.

5 Sep 2009

Researchers discover the causes for the severity of RSV illness

Approximately one-half of all infants are infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year of life, and almost all children have been infected at least once by the time they reach their second birthday. Researchers at West Virginia University have discovered what makes RSV such a severe and persistent illness.

4 Sep 2009

Takeda receives FDA response regarding NDA for fixed-dose combination of alogliptin and ACTOS

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited ("Takeda") today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc. (U.S.), received on September 2 (U.S. TIME), a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the New Drug Application (NDA) for the fixed-dose combination (FDC) of alogliptin and ACTOS(R) (pioglitazone HCl).

4 Sep 2009

The 2009 Heart and Stroke Foundation Report on health of Ontario's kids

In 1998, the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Report Card on Canada's Kids took a hard look at the heart health of Canadian children aged 6-12. More than 10 years later, the Foundation shines the spotlight on Ontario's kids - and will be issuing its own Report Card on the heart health of this young cohort.

4 Sep 2009

94-year-old crusader seeks ban on trans fats in the American diet

Fred Kummerow, a 94-year-old University of Illinois veterinary biosciences professor emeritus who still conducts research on the health effects of trans fats in the diet, filed the petition with the FDA last month. The petition is now posted on the FDA Web site, and public comments are invited. (See below for information on viewing the petition and making a comment.)

4 Sep 2009

Americans' health perceptions contradict national statistics

We think we’re healthier than we actually are, suggests a new survey from market research leader Mintel. Surveying Americans about their health, Mintel found people’s perceptions strongly contradict national statistics about obesity, illness and wellness.

4 Sep 2009

Insects may guide in building better artificial tissues and organs

Insects are about to be analyzed in a new way by a host of Virginia Tech engineering faculty. They will be using some fancy state-of-the-art equipment, such as a kilometer-long synchrotron x-ray light source, which might be enough to scare any bug. And first up will be beetles, grasshoppers and silk moths because they have some endearing characteristics.

4 Sep 2009

Top cancer hospitals have Elekta solutions for information management

Sodium chloride for treating head lice

At just 31 years of age, and with a first grader in tow, single mom Wendy Langley set out to take on the giants in the head lice industry. The reason? She couldn't, as she says, stand putting a popular but potentially toxic head lice treatment that "smelled like bug spray" on her kid's head to kill lice. Plus, she was constantly terrified the runny liquid would seep into her daughter's eyes.

4 Sep 2009

New treatment for vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell patients

GlycoMimetics, Inc. (GMI), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing a new class of glycobiology-based therapies for a broad range of indications, today announced that a pilot study of the company’s lead candidate, GMI-1070, is underway in sickle cell patients. The first patients in this pilot study were treated at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland in California.

4 Sep 2009

First artificial heart implant successfully performed by a AUBMC medical team

A medical team at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) has successfully performed the first artificial heart implant in Lebanon, saving the life of a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

4 Sep 2009

Covidien's Sleep Diagnostic business acquired by Embla

Embla and Covidien have entered into a definitive agreement under which Embla will acquire Covidien's Sleep Diagnostic business. This includes the sleep diagnostic products sold under the Sandman(TM) brand name. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Completion of the sale is subject to customary closing conditions.

4 Sep 2009

Type 2 diabetic people not consuming healthy diets

People with type 2 diabetes are not consuming sufficiently healthy diets and could benefit from ongoing nutritional education and counseling, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

4 Sep 2009

Reliable and relevant information needed to rein in the costs of federal health-care programs, says study

For economists and policy-makers to understand the true value of the costs and savings of preventive health programs for chronic disease, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) should incorporate long-term clinical outcomes data and look beyond the 10-year window when making cost estimates, says a team of University of Chicago researchers in today's issue of Health Affairs.

3 Sep 2009