Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Grapes may aid a bunch of heart risk factors

Could eating grapes help fight high blood pressure related to a salty diet? And could grapes calm other factors that are also related to heart diseases such as heart failure? A new University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests so.

29 Oct 2008

Protein in urine could be a predictor of heart disease

Scientists at the George Institute for International Health say urine tests should be incorporated into analysing heart disease risk.

29 Oct 2008

Tiny hearts may have big problems with complementary medicine

Giving supplement such as herbs, vitamins, and other natural health products to children taking Warfarin for congenital heart defects could increase their risk of clots, bleeding, and other complications, nurse practitioner Mary Bauman and Dr. Patti Massicotte told the 2008 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

28 Oct 2008

FDA warns Bayer HealthCare on over-the-counter aspirin product

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today sent Warning Letters to Bayer HealthCare concerning two unlawful, over-the-counter (OTC) aspirin products - Bayer Women's Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium (Bayer Women's) and Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage (Bayer Heart Advantage).

28 Oct 2008

Selenium and vitamin E supplements do not prevent prostate cancer

Initial, independent review of study data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health shows that selenium and vitamin E supplements, taken either alone or together, did not prevent prostate cancer.

28 Oct 2008

Systems biology and glycomics used to study human inflammatory diseases

An innovative systems biology approach to understanding the carbohydrate structures in cells is leading to new ways to understand how inflammatory illnesses and cardiovascular disease develop in humans. The work was described in two recent publications by University at Buffalo chemical engineers.

28 Oct 2008

Review of health benefits of grape polyphenols

A growing body of research data suggests that consuming foods rich in polyphenols from grapes - including red wine - helps reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a review article in the November issue of Nutrition Research.

28 Oct 2008

A blood test for pre-eclampsia could be in the pipeline

A condition in pregnancy which costs the lives of thousands of babies each year may soon be identified by a simple blood test long before symptoms develop.

28 Oct 2008

Expensive new diabetes drugs don't necessarily produce better outcomes

The annual cost of prescription diabetes drugs nearly doubled to $12.5 billion between 2001 and 2007, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago. The researchers say the findings raise questions about whether the higher cost actually translates into improved care and better outcomes.

28 Oct 2008

Cholesterol-lowering statins associated with lower risk of death from pneumonia

Individuals who take cholesterol-lowering statins before being hospitalized with pneumonia appear less likely to die within 90 days afterward, according to a report in the October 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

28 Oct 2008

Sedative propofol could be fatal

Patients treated for their prolonged seizures with the sedative propofol may be at high risk for complications and even death. New research presented at CHEST 2008, the 74th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that the use of propofol as an antiepileptic agent in patients with refractory status epilepticus (RSE), prolonged seizures that do not respond to initial treatment, was associated with significant mortality and morbidity.

28 Oct 2008

Lots of neighborhood greenness linked to lower children's body mass

In the first study to look at the effect of neighborhood greenness on inner city children's weight over time, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Washington report that higher neighborhood greenness is associated with slower increases in children's body mass over a two year period, regardless of residential density.

28 Oct 2008

New research could be the 'holy grail' for predicting pre-eclampsia

New research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) could pave the way for developing a test to predict pre-eclampsia in pregnant women and save the lives of mothers and babies across the world.

27 Oct 2008

Improved communication about medications reduces complications among patients using common blood thinner

Patients who report receiving written and verbal instructions on the proper way to take the blood thinner warfarin are significantly less likely to suffer the serious gastrointestinal and brain bleeding problems that are associated with misuse of the drug, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

27 Oct 2008

Discovery of new gene responsible for puberty disorders

A new gene responsible for some puberty disorders has been identified by Medical College of Georgia researchers.

27 Oct 2008

Anxiety disorders latest worry in high blood pressure

Family doctors and psychiatrists should carefully monitor the heart health of patients with anxiety disorders, Dr. Simon Bacon told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2008, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. "People with anxiety disorders are four times more likely to develop high blood pressure (hypertension) over one year than those of us who are anxiety free," says Dr. Bacon, a Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute. "Hypertension is a leading risk factor for stroke and heart disease."

27 Oct 2008

Eating whole grains lowers heart failure risk

About 5 million people in the United States suffer from heart failure (HF). While some reports indicate that changes to diet can reduce HF risk, few large, prospective studies have been conducted.

27 Oct 2008

Bisphosphonates for osteoporosis increase risk for heart problems

People who take bisphosphonates for osteoporosis may be at risk for serious atrial fibrillation (AF), or irregular heartbeats, according to a new study.

27 Oct 2008

Healing process found to backfire in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients

A mechanism in the body which typically helps a person heal from an injury, may actually be causing patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to get worse, researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their collaborators have found.

27 Oct 2008

The sooner the better when it comes to HIV/AIDS treatment

New research into HIV/AIDS therapy has found that starting treatment with drugs for the AIDS virus may be better sooner than later as victims are more than 70% less likely to die when they started taking cocktails of HIV drugs earlier than currently recommended.

27 Oct 2008