Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

General public are worryingly medically ignorant

The general public are worryingly ignorant about the symptoms and risk factors that contribute to serious medical conditions such as stroke and HIV/AIDS, according to a study published in the online open access journal BMC Medicine.

1 Jun 2007

Study questions risks of aprotinin during heart surgery

Contrary to recent studies, proper use of a drug called aprotinin to reduce bleeding during heart surgery does not increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a study in the June issue of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

1 Jun 2007

Exercise helps maintain muscle in elderly

Why do older people tend to lose muscle mass and grow frail?

1 Jun 2007

New method for making the surface of metal stents highly nano porous

Stents are medical implants that, for example, prevent the blocking of arteries after surgery.

1 Jun 2007

New visualization technology

The dynamics of a beating heart, the turbulence surrounding the fuselage of an airplane, or the field of forces inside a molecule.

1 Jun 2007

Simple exercise test predicts mortality risk in heart failure patients

A simple exercise test may help predict mortality risk in patients with heart failure and help doctors to better tailor treatment strategies, according to new research from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

1 Jun 2007

Cytomegalovirus exacerbates atherosclerosis through an autoimmune mechanism

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Verona and the Institute G. Gaslini in Genova, Italy, confirms the pivotal role played by Cytomegalovirus infection in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

1 Jun 2007

Virus widely used in gene therapy research yields important clues to genomic instability

Genomic instability, the rearrangement of chromosomes or an abnormal number of chromosomes, is a hallmark of many human cancers.

1 Jun 2007

More complete understanding of lactic acid production in muscle

In a paper published in The Journal of Physiology, Frank de Paoli and colleagues, working at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, add to the growing literature leading to a more complete understanding of the physiological role of lactic acid production in muscle.

1 Jun 2007

All pain medications may raise risk of heart attack or stroke

Not long ago, choosing a pain reliever meant finding one that eased your pain without being too hard on the stomach.

1 Jun 2007

Mass-media advertising encourages people with stroke symptoms to go to hospital more quickly

Mass-media advertising can encourage more people experiencing stroke symptoms to go to the hospital more quickly, according to a study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Jun 2007

Encouraging people to walk more

People can be encouraged to walk for up to 30-60 minutes more per week if they are given the right kind of help, finds a study published on bmj.com.

1 Jun 2007

Overdiagnosis of congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS)

Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) can be lethal if not diagnosed -- yet recent increased awareness of the disorder may lead to diagnosing patients when they don't have the syndrome and then prescribing treatments that restrict patients' lifestyles, a new Mayo Clinic study shows.

1 Jun 2007

Obese patients are at higher risk for pancreatic surgery complications

Obesity may contribute to a greater likelihood of post-operative complications for patients having pancreatic surgery, a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has found.

1 Jun 2007

Mercury's link to heart disease

Heavy metals and other toxins have been linked to many human diseases, but determining exactly how they damage the body remains a mystery in many cases.

1 Jun 2007

Human stem cell treatment restores motor function in paralyzed rats

Rats paralyzed due to loss of blood flow to the spine returned to near normal ambulatory function six weeks after receiving grafts of human spinal stem cells (hSSCs), researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine report.

1 Jun 2007