Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Efforts to standardize heart care are working

People who suffer a heart attack or severe chest pain today are much less likely to die, or to experience long-lasting effects, than their counterparts even a few years ago, according to a new international study in the May 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2 May 2007

Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke increases the risk of developing dementia

Based on preliminary results, the study authors found that elderly people with high lifetime exposure to secondhand smoke were approximately 30 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with no lifetime secondhand smoke exposure.April 28, May 5, 2007.

2 May 2007

Levosimendan compared to dobutamine for decompensated heart failure

The drug levosimendan did not improve survival for patients with decompensated heart failure when compared with a more widely-used treatment for this condition, dobutamine, according to a study in the May 2 issue of JAMA.

2 May 2007

Why do some people get fat even when they eat relatively little?

What creates that irresistible urge for a bag of potato chips or a hunk of chocolate cake, as opposed to a nice crisp apple? Can food urges be irresistible?

2 May 2007

New class of nontoxic cancer treatments

A new class of compounds developed by two University of Kentucky researchers shows promise as a nontoxic treatment of some cancers previously treated with toxic chemotherapy, the researchers report today.

2 May 2007

A mobile medical care approach targeting underserved populations in post-hurricane Katrina Mississippi

They packed what they needed for a disaster - equipment for trauma treatment and IV fluids - and headed south to Mississippi.

2 May 2007

New assessment model gauges lung cancer risk

Clinicians may be one step closer to having a critical tool in identifying which smokers are at higher risk for developing lung cancer, the deadliest of all cancers, thanks to an assessment model generated by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

2 May 2007

Traditional African medicines may hold potential for treating high blood pressure

Medicinal plants are an integral part of African culture, one of the oldest and most diverse in the world.

2 May 2007

Pistachio nuts protect the heart against disease

Experts already consider nuts to be rich in the nutrients that reduce hardening of the arteries, one of the main causes of heart attacks and strokes and they are regarded as a desirable part of a healthy diet.

2 May 2007

Silicone wires in newer defibrillators less reliable than older polyurethane-insulated leads

German researchers say the newer wire leads now used in implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are not as reliable as first thought.

2 May 2007

When hospitals follow the guidelines deaths from heart attack are halved

A study by an international team of researchers say they have found that deaths from severe heart attacks after hospital admission have almost halved in six years.

2 May 2007

Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis and early diabetes

Glucose homeostasis, the appropriate balancing of blood sugar levels, is impaired early in patients who become diabetic, causing life-threatening complications such as kidney failure and heart attacks.

1 May 2007

More chronically ill children dying in intensive care

The proportion of chronically ill young children dying in intensive care after being admitted to other hospital wards has steadily risen year on year since the end of the 1990s, reveals a study in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

1 May 2007

Pistachios for stress

Eating pistachios may reduce your body's response to the stresses of everyday life, according to a Penn State study.

1 May 2007

Pistachios may decrease a person's cardiovascular disease risk

A handful of pistachios may lower cholesterol and provide the antioxidants usually found in leafy green vegetables and brightly colored fruit, according to a team of researchers.

1 May 2007

Macadamia nuts can reduce cardiovascular disease risks

Incorporating macadamia nuts into a heart healthy diet can reduce cardiovascular disease risks according to Penn State researchers.

1 May 2007

Nanoparticles found near plaque-filled arteries

Scientific evidence increasingly links arterial calcification to the presence of nanosized particles so small that some scientists question whether a nanoparticle can live and, if so, play a viable role in causing disease.

1 May 2007

RNA analysis can identify rejection in lung transplant patients

Recent data from the Lung Allograft Rejection Gene expression Observational (LARGO) study provides compelling evidence that profiling gene expression in peripheral blood can detect organ rejection in lung transplant patients.

1 May 2007

Identifying cardiorespiratory neurocircuitry involved in central command during exercise in humans

For almost one hundred years the brain's ,central command, system , whose charge includes controlling the body's cardiorespiratory response to exercise , has been pursued. Animal experiments and functional imaging studies have provided clues to the location of this system, but the underlying electrophysiological activity has never been measured.

30 Apr 2007

Scientists discover pathway that promotes muscle cell survival in mice

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified an enzyme that pumps up a cell's ability to maintain healthy muscle and restores normal muscle function in genetically engineered mice with weak muscles.

30 Apr 2007