Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

What do marathoners and heart failure patients have in common?

The new study shows that the fatigue that marathoners and other extreme athletes feel at the end of a race is caused by a tiny leak inside their muscles that probably also saps the energy from patients with heart failure.

12 Feb 2008

Disability does not necessarily follow disease in living to old age

Researchers from Boston Medical Center's (BMC) New England Centenarian Study report that for a substantial proportion of their centenarian subjects, avoiding age-related diseases (i.e. stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) may not be the key to their longevity; rather, the avoidance of disability may be a key feature in their exceptional survival.

12 Feb 2008

Coronary disease may be on the rise

A Mayo Clinic analysis of two decades of autopsy results shows a long-term decline in the prevalence of coronary disease has ended and the disease may be on the upswing.

12 Feb 2008

New non-invasive imaging method for diagnosing osteoarthritis

Researchers at New York University and Tel Aviv University have developed a non-invasive imaging method that can be used to diagnose and monitor a number of diseases, including osteoarthritis and inter-vertebral disc degeneration, in their early stages.

12 Feb 2008

Hypertension worsening in all states for women; stagnates for men

Uncontrolled hypertension rates in men and women vary across the country, but all states - especially in the south and including the nation's capital - should boost blood pressure control efforts, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

12 Feb 2008

Major improvement in aortic valve surgery with new procedure

A study published recently in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery shows a 45% reduction in operative mortality in high risk patients requiring aortic valve replacement when Least Invasive Valve techniques are used compared to the conventional approach.

12 Feb 2008

Doctors uncertain about approaches to care for heart failure patients

Less than one fourth of physicians specializing in geriatrics, internal or family medicine or cardiology believe they can accurately predict the whether patients with heart failure are at risk of dying, new Saint Louis University research found.

12 Feb 2008

Hostility plus depression elevates risk for heart disease

Researchers led by Jesse Stewart, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, report that hostility and depression appear to act together in a complex way to elevate inflammatory proteins in the human body, possibly putting hostility plus depression on the list of risk factors for heart disease along with high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and smoking.

12 Feb 2008

Public smoking ban decreases acute coronary events in Italy

The number of acute coronary events such as heart attack in adults dropped significantly after a smoking ban in public places in Italy, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

12 Feb 2008

Baxter's multiple-dose vial Heparin linked to severe allergic reactions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that Baxter Healthcare Corporation has temporarily stopped manufacturing multiple-dose vials of the injectable blood-thinning drug heparin due to reports of serious allergic reactions and hypotension (low blood pressure) in patients who receive high "bolus" doses of the drug.

11 Feb 2008

Researchers find new U.S. trend in antibiotic resistance

A research team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, examining bacterial isolates obtained in hospital and non-hospital clinical settings between 2000 and 2006, has identified drug-resistant strains of E. coli and Klebsiella bacteria in more than 50 blood, urine and respiratory samples.

11 Feb 2008

Staging mock cardiac and respiratory arrests expose weaknesses in hospital emergency response for children

Staging mock cardiac and respiratory arrests - "code" situations in hospital parlance - easily expose common failures in rapid response with CPR and other life-saving care for children and also set up powerful incentives to sharpen emergency skills and move fast to use them, suggests a study from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

11 Feb 2008

First reported acute asthma death associated with work-related environmental tobacco smoke

A young asthmatic woman who collapsed and died shortly after arriving for her shift as a waitress at a bar may be the first reported death to be reported nationally from acute asthma associated with environmental tobacco smoke.

11 Feb 2008

WHO warns of one billion death toll from tobacco

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a stark warning about smoking saying that unless urgent action is taken, by the year 2100 tobacco could kill one billion people.

11 Feb 2008

More doctors prescribe exercise to treat depression

A mental health charity in Britain says increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing exercise for people with depression.

11 Feb 2008

Scientists reveal a new target to fight bad cholesterol

Scientists have uncovered a new region in the genome that is responsible for the body's ability to regulate bad cholesterol which is linked to heart attack and stroke.

8 Feb 2008

Ranbaxy receives tentative approval for Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed-release capsules

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited has announced that it has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Esomeprazole Magnesium Delayed-Release Capsules, 20 mg (base) and 40 mg (base).

8 Feb 2008

Scientists find how PARP-1 protein binds to genes and regulates human genome

Out of chaos, control: Cornell University molecular biologists have discovered how a protein called PARP-1 binds to genes and regulates their expression across the human genome.

8 Feb 2008

Novel drug shows promise in limiting heart attack damage

A novel drug designed to lessen muscle damage from a heart attack has passed initial safety tests at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

8 Feb 2008

Merck to pay over $650 million for fraudulent price reporting and kickbacks claims

Merck & Company has agreed to pay more than $650 million to resolve allegations that the pharmaceutical manufacturer failed to pay proper rebates to Medicaid and other government health care programs and paid illegal remuneration to health care providers to induce them to prescribe the company's products, the Justice Department has announced.

8 Feb 2008