Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Alzheimer's patients fight for quicker Medicare coverage

NPR reports on the struggle of Alzheimer's patients who don't have health insurance trying to find ways to pay for their care and lobby for greater protections for themselves.

7 Jul 2009

U.S., Russia to cooperate on health goals

The White House announced on Monday that the U.S. and Russia have signed on to a "memo of understanding" to cooperate on several public health and medical science projects, ModernHealthcare.com reports.

7 Jul 2009

Developed countries must address global warming to prevent disease, hunger in developing world

Pollution from the world's wealthiest countries is spreading disease and hunger in developing countries, according to a new Oxfam International report, which calls on developed countries to address global warming when G8 leaders meet in Italy, the Globe and Mail reports.

7 Jul 2009

Treatment blood pressure targets for hypertension

Aiming for lower than standard blood pressure targets offers no known clinical benefit, according to a Cochrane Review. In a systematic review of the evidence, researchers found that using antihypertensive drugs to reduce blood pressure below the 140/90 mm Hg standard was not associated with any reduction in death rates or serious morbidity.

7 Jul 2009

Combining two common medical tests provides new way to screen for serious kidney disease

The combination of two common medical tests can improve a doctor's ability to predict which patients will develop serious kidney disease, a research team led by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) reports in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

7 Jul 2009

Identification of cholesterol regulating genes by targeted RNAi-screening

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have come a step closer to understanding how cholesterol levels are regulated. In a study published today in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers identified 20 genes that are involved in this process. Besides giving scientists a better idea of where to look to uncover the mechanisms that ensure cholesterol balance is maintained, the discovery could lead to new treatments for cholesterol-related diseases.

7 Jul 2009

Heart medication errors too frequent in children

Infants and young children treated with heart drugs get the wrong dose or end up on the wrong end of medication errors more often than older children, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center to be published July 6 in Pediatrics.

7 Jul 2009

Tiny heart catheter pump with air propulsion

A tiny heart catheter pump which supports the human heart in critical conditions while pumping has been developed at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna).

7 Jul 2009

New strategies to improve treatment and prevent heart failure in children

Structural cardiovascular abnormalities present at birth are the leading cause of heart failure in children. Nearly half a million children in the United States have structural heart problems ranging in severity from relatively simple issues, such as small holes between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, including complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

7 Jul 2009

For America's aged, surgery at any price?

When doctors decide whether or not to go ahead with an expensive surgery, "age is no longer the deciding factor, even for invasive treatment such as open-heart surgery," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

7 Jul 2009

The European experience: The pluses and minuses of government-run health care

As President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul health care, many look to Europe for examples of government-run health care.

7 Jul 2009

Communicable disease epidemics in developing world not being adequately addressed, IFRC says

The "crippling" and "growing burden" of communicable diseases such as dengue fever, polio, or meningitis is not being sufficiently addressed in developing countries, according to "The Epidemic Divide," a report released Monday by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), AFP/Google.com reports. According to the report, resources to deal with existing epidemics are "scarce."

7 Jul 2009

Glutamic acid linked to lower blood pressure

Glutamic acid may be one of the components responsible for the lower blood pressures of people with vegetable-rich diets, according to a study published today in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Glutamic acid is a major component of protein; vegetable protein contains higher levels of glutamic acid than animal protein.

7 Jul 2009

Muscle damage may be present in some patients taking statins

Structural muscle damage may be present in patients who have statin-associated muscle complaints, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

7 Jul 2009

Amino acid commonly found in vegetable protein may lower blood pressure

Consuming an amino acid commonly found in vegetable protein may be associated with lower blood pressure, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

6 Jul 2009

Atrial fibrillation linked to increased hospitalization in heart failure patients

Patients with atrial fibrillation, common in those with advanced chronic heart failure, have an increased risk of hospitalization due to heart failure, according to new research from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

6 Jul 2009

Delirium in hospitalized adults: Situation critical, no relief available

Every year as many as seven million adults in the United States experience delirium during hospitalization. In a systematic review of the scientific literature on delirium prevention and treatment, investigators from the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University, and Wishard Health Services found that despite the significant health and financial burdens of delirium for hospitalized adults, no effective way to prevent or treat the condition has been identified.

6 Jul 2009

MicroRNAs hold promise for treating diseases in blood vessels

A newly discovered mechanism controls whether muscle cells in blood vessels hasten the development of both atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, according to an article published online today in the journal Nature.

5 Jul 2009

Poor sleep may be more dangerous for women than men

Women who get less than the recommended eight hours sleep a night are at higher risk of heart disease and heart-related problems than men with the same sleeping patterns.

2 Jul 2009

Cerebrovascular mental stress reactivity is impaired in hypertension

Mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound, also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure.

2 Jul 2009