Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Stenting for Stroke Prevention is More Effective Than Surgery in Keeping Blood Vessels Open

Research presented in a six-hour symposium on carotid artery disease at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology showed carotid artery stenting to be safe and effective for highrisk patients. Currently, the standard of care for stroke prevention in patients with moderate to severely blocked carotid arteries is carotid endarterectomy surgery. The ARCHeR trials treated patients who were high-risk surgical candidates with carotid artery stenting with and without embolic protection, a device to capture debris that may break off during the procedure.

25 Mar 2004

Approval for FOSRENOL (lanthanum carbonate), which controls phosphate levels in renal dialysis patients

Sweden's MPA has today granted the first regulatory approval in the world for FOSRENOL (lanthanum carbonate), a non-calcium, non-aluminium phosphate binding medicine developed to control phosphate levels in renal dialysis patients. Sweden will now become the Reference Member State in the EU Mutual Recognition Procedure for FOSRENOL, and this is the first step in securing marketing approval throughout Europe. A submission has also been made by Shire to gain marketing approval for FOSRENOL in the United States.

25 Mar 2004

Bone marrow stem cells do not help regenerate heart muscle tissue, UW study finds, contradicting earlier study

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have found that bone marrow stem cells do not convert into heart muscle cells in mice. These results contradict a study conducted elsewhere that had prompted human clinical trials for such stem cell therapy in the treatment of heart attack.

23 Mar 2004

Oregon Stem Cell Center Hunt for Human Disease Therapies

Oregon Health & Science University's fast-growing stem cell research program, which already has made significant strides in the hunt for human disease therapies, now has a place to call home.

23 Mar 2004

Alcohol Consumption Decreases Risk of Heart Disease in Men

Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the United States. To help combat this epidemic, studies throughout the United States pinpoint dietary guidelines to reduce risk including a recent release from the American Heart Association which stated that hypertensive patients should avoid alcoholic beverages.

23 Mar 2004

Walnuts prevent heart disease

A new clinical study shows that substituting walnuts for monounsaturated fat in a Mediterranean diet improves, and even restores, endothelial function (the property of arteries to dilate in order to meet an increased demand of blood, for instance due to a physical effort). Walnuts also reduce harmful cell adhesion molecules which are associated with atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries. These dual effects enhance the circulatory system, therefore aiding in the prevention of heart disease.

23 Mar 2004

70% of Americans not aware of their blood glucose (sugar) level

A new national survey conducted by the American Diabetes Association reveals that 7 out of 10 Americans are not aware of their blood glucose (sugar) level, critical information for determining the presence of diabetes or pre-diabetes. This awareness level is considered extremely low, especially as it relates to individuals' knowledge of blood pressure and cholesterol.

23 Mar 2004

Stem cell research that could help diabetics

University of Florida adult stem cell experts have restored normal blood sugar levels in diabetic mice for three months by chemically coaxing bone marrow cells to produce insulin, a hormone normally made in the pancreas.

22 Mar 2004

Youth obesity provides food for thought

With heart disease developing among children from the age of 10 through poor diet and low activity, young Australians are part of what the World Health Organisation has already termed an "international epidemic of childhood obesity".

22 Mar 2004

New computer program accurately estimates chance of developing breast cancer

CANCER Research UK scientists have devised a user-friendly computer program, called the IBIS risk evaluator, which can give the most accurate estimate yet of a woman's chance of developing breast cancer.

22 Mar 2004

Anti-blood clotting OJ from University of Liverpool

An anti-blood clotting drink has been developed by an up-and-coming biotechnology business based at the University of Liverpool’s Business Incubator, MerseyBIO. Provexis, a medical food company, is in the final stages of its large-scale trial on the new orange juice drink that has been shown to lower the chance of blood clots and thereby reduce risk of heart attack, stroke and the development of deep vein thrombosis.

22 Mar 2004

New pill for post-traumatic stress disorder

Every day, people suffer traumatic experiences that scar their minds. Combat, rape, bombings, burns, beatings, and horrific car accidents haunt them with memories impossible to suppress. Such day- and nightmares are part of a problem known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

22 Mar 2004

Research provides better understanding of lipodystrophies disorders

More than a decade of work conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers has led to a better understanding of the underlying causes of lipodystrophies - disorders characterized by the selective loss of fat tissues, resulting in metabolic complications, such as severe diabetes and high blood cholesterol levels.

22 Mar 2004

Study of three treatments of type 2 diabetes in children and teens has begun in US

A clinical study comparing three treatments of type 2 diabetes in children and teens has begun in 12 medical centers and their affiliated sites around the country, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today.

22 Mar 2004

Government, industry, and academia focus on obesity

Amid shifting scientific data on nutrition and obesity, experts from government, industry, and academia converged on Harvard Medical School last week to discuss obesity's causes and how to craft a coherent public nutritional message.

22 Mar 2004

Largest marketing campaign for a single drug to date

The cardiovascular market, one of the most hotly contested therapeutic areas of the pharmaceutical industry, continues to expand. Together, drugs that lower blood pressure and cholesterol treat 303 million potential patients worldwide. Nevertheless, companies that develop fourth or fifth to market drugs will struggle to compete, according to research by business intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information.

22 Mar 2004

New treatment for heart attacks

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has developed a potential new treatment for heart attacks. The therapy inhibits fluid leakage from cardiac blood vessels following a heart attack and thereby significantly prevents long-term heart damage and improves survival.

22 Mar 2004

£76 million research centre to make the UK a global centre of excellence for clinical imaging

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Imperial College London today announce a unique research collaboration in medical imaging. GSK will contribute funding of £28m for the construction of a new Clinical Imaging Centre, next to Hammersmith Hospital in West London, UK. Research will focus on cancer, stroke, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis and psychiatric diseases. In association with the Clinical Imaging Centre, GSK and Imperial have entered into a 10-year research agreement for medical imaging.

22 Mar 2004

New Computer-Aided Approach Helps Doctors Tailor The Dosage of Abciximab

A computer-aided approach -- based on software-that-learns, promises to provide a new tool that helps doctors tailor the dosage of abciximab, a medicine frequently used before angioplasty to lessen the chance of heart attack.

22 Mar 2004

New Theory About Alzheimer's Disease

A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has proposed a new theory about the cause of Alzheimer's disease, the progressive neurodegenerative disorder that currently afflicts some 4.5 million Americans. According to the hypothesis, the disease arises as a consequence of inflammation, which creates abnormal metabolites out of normal brain molecules.

22 Mar 2004