Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Survey reveals that cardiologists are seeing more patients than ever before

The healthcare crisis that has affected millions of Americans has hit the nation's cardiologists as well, according to a new survey: they are seeing more patients than ever and performing more tests on those patients. But they are being reimbursed less for those services by Medicare and insurance firms, in what one cardiologist called "a revenue roller coaster of uncertainty," even as their costs continue to increase steadily.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers to use Intravenous Immune Globulin for slowing AD progression

Researchers from the Memory and Cognition Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center will begin testing an intriguing new approach to slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using Intravenous Immune Globulin (IGIV), also known as gammaglobulin.

25 Sep 2009

Research to improve the targeting of chemotherapeutic drugs to specific cells

Kenneth Longmuir, associate professor of physiology & biophysics, and Richard Robertson, professor of anatomy & neurobiology, used liposomes, small spheres (less-than 100 nanometer in diameter) of naturally-occurring lipid molecules, as "packages" for the cancer chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin, and a small peptide molecule to "address" the package to the targeted tissue.

25 Sep 2009

Research to develop small-molecule drug that blocks excess iron absorption

Excess iron in the body, if left unchecked, can form toxic deposits in major organs leading to serious conditions including heart failure, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, arthritis, and even infertility. Iron overload can be a consequence of a genetically mutated gene known as hereditary hemochromatosis, or a consequence of red blood cell transfusions, required as life saving treatments, for patients with diseases such as thalassemia.

25 Sep 2009

Results from COGENT clinical trial presented at TCT symposium

Results from a late breaking clinical trial called COGENT demonstrate that the combination of giving patients clopidogrel, a blood thinner commonly prescribed to patients with cardiovascular disease, and stomach medicines such as omeprazole, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), did not lead to adverse events, as some prior studies had suggested.

25 Sep 2009

PROSPECT clinical trial results announced

Abbott today announced primary results from its groundbreaking PROSPECT (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree) clinical trial.

25 Sep 2009

Dems court Snowe for key 60th vote

Democrats are courting Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Me., the Republican most likely to provide the key 60th vote that Democrats need to pass a health care overhaul package without the use of budget reconciliation.

25 Sep 2009

Investment in preventative healthcare is vital during recession: Experts

In these economically challenging times, many experts say it is vital to invest in preventative healthcare. Better overall health means lower medical bills.

25 Sep 2009

Webcast on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

On September 24th at 7:00pm EDT, Dr. Holly Andersen, Director of Education and Outreach at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will host a live webcast exploring the advances and innovations in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The air live on ORLive.com from the Hospital's new Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute.

25 Sep 2009

Tooth cell banking for the treatment of future diseases

Pioneered by BioEDEN, tooth cell banking is a safe, natural and wholly non-invasive method of collecting and preserving precious stem cells which could hold the key to children's health.

25 Sep 2009

Diabetes prevalence highest in the Southern and Appalachian states

Diabetes prevalence is highest in the Southern and Appalachian states and lowest in the Midwest and the Northeast of America. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Population Health Metrics have used two public data sources to investigate the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus at the State level.

25 Sep 2009

Pakistan cardiology institute purchases Positron's Pulse compact digital cardiac camera

Positron Corporation a molecular imaging solutions company focused on Nuclear Cardiology, announces the sale of a Pulse CDCC camera to CPE Institute Of Cardiology in Multan, Pakistan.

25 Sep 2009

Social disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

Since the introduction of statins to treat high cholesterol, the decline in lipid levels experienced by the wealthy has been double that experienced by the poor. While statins are highly effective in reducing cholesterol and improving heart health, their use may have contributed to expanding social disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, according to research by Virginia W. Chang, MD, PhD, of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania, and Diane S. Lauderdale, PhD, of the University of Chicago, published in the September issue of Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

25 Sep 2009

Matrix metalloproteinase-8 enzyme increases the risk of heart diseases

Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have made an important discovery in understanding what causes arteries to clog up. They have discovered that an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase-8 plays a crucial role in raising blood pressure and causing abnormal build-up of cells in the arteries - both of which increase the risk of heart disease.

25 Sep 2009

Combination drug to limit the dangerous side effects of morphine

University of Michigan scientists have developed a combination drug that promises a safer, more precise way for medics and fellow soldiers in battle situations to give a fallen soldier both morphine and a drug that limits morphine's dangerous side effects.

25 Sep 2009

Multi-modality imaging to identify plaque

Late-breaking results from the PROSPECT clinical trial shed new light on the types of vulnerable plaque that are most likely to cause sudden, unexpected adverse cardiac events, and on the ability to identify them through imaging techniques before they occur.

25 Sep 2009

Interim results of a pilot study using BACE cardiac device released

Mardil, Inc. today announced positive interim data from a pilot study investigating the safety and efficacy of its novel cardiac device - BACE (Basal Annuloplasty of the Cardia Externally) -- in treating mitral valve regurgitation. The condition arises when the heart's mitral valve leaks blood backward into the heart, causing a range of severe and debilitating symptoms.

25 Sep 2009

Athera Biotechnologies and ALPCO sign distribution agreement

Athera Biotechnologies AB, an atherosclerosis R&D company developing novel products for treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and ALPCO, a company providing high quality research immunoassays, announced today that they have signed a distribution agreement.

25 Sep 2009

Oxygen Biotherapeutics submits a patent application for its heart attack treatment device

Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced that the company has submitted a patent application for a new invention that uses Oxycyte(R) perfluorocarbon to deliver oxygen as a first aid treatment for victims of heart attacks and strokes. Oxycyte is the Company's perfluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier.

24 Sep 2009

Karo Bio announces clinical phase II results of thyroid hormone analog eprotirome

The Swedish biotech company Karo Bio today announced that results from a clinical phase II study of the company’s thyroid hormone analog eprotirome, and its additive effects on dyslipidemia in ezetimibe-treated patients, are subject to a scientific presentation.

24 Sep 2009