Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

High blood pressure may be due to excess weight in half of overweight adults

As many as 50 percent of overweight men and women with high blood pressure may have hypertension as a result of being overweight, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 61st Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research.

29 Sep 2007

FDA approves new adjustable gastric band for morbid obesity

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for marketing the REALIZE Adjustable Gastric Band, a surgical implant for weight reduction and improvement in obesity-related health conditions, such as type-2 diabetes, in individuals suffering from morbid obesity.

29 Sep 2007

FDA tackles illegal hydrocodone products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced its intention to take enforcement action against companies marketing unapproved prescription drug products containing hydrocodone, a narcotic widely used to treat pain and suppress coughs.

29 Sep 2007

Health care interventions that tackle health disparities

Studies show that minority patients generally receive a lower quality of health care compared to white patients.

29 Sep 2007

Effects of good and bad carbohydrates

The latest common wisdom on carbohydrates claims that eating so-called "bad" carbohydrates will make you fat, but University of Virginia professor Glenn Gaesser says, "that's just nonsense."

29 Sep 2007

Wine, beer and spirits all equal when it comes to breast cancer

Barcelona, Spain: One of the largest individual studies of the effects of alcohol on the risk of breast cancer has concluded that it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits (liquor) – it is the alcohol itself (ethyl alcohol) and the quantity consumed that is likely to trigger the onset of cancer.

27 Sep 2007

AKAP18 protein helps heart beat faster

A protein, known as AKAP18, could help the heart to beat faster in response to adrenaline or noradrenaline, according to a study published online this week in EMBO reports.

27 Sep 2007

Exercise might actually increase the risk of developing ovarian cancer

Barcelona, Spain: A new study adds fuel to the debate over whether being fat or inactive affects the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

27 Sep 2007

Low birth weight children may be at a greater risk of stress-related health problems as adults

Findings from this study show that low birth weight (below the 10th percentile) can lead later in life to low concentrations of cortisol, a hormone that regulates stress response by adjusting blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

27 Sep 2007

36 million Americans have never checked their cholesterol

Despite the much publicized link between cholesterol and heart disease, one in six Americans age 20 and older – almost 36 million people – have never had their cholesterol levels checked, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

27 Sep 2007

Memory tasks require more coordinated brain blood flow for people with high blood pressure

Blood flow to the parts of the brain that support memory function differs between people with high blood pressure and those with normal blood pressure, and this difference seems to increase when high blood pressure is treated with medications, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association's 61st Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research.

27 Sep 2007

New guidelines for cardiac testing and treatments

People with heart disease should take special precautions before undergoing any kind of surgery, even noncardiac surgery, to reduce their risk of a cardiac event, according to new joint guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

27 Sep 2007

Dietary fatty acids may help prevent diabetes

Omega-3 fatty acids have long been touted for their heart-healthy and brain-boosting benefits. Consider cod liver oil, fortified infant formula and enriched eggs.

27 Sep 2007

Clinical trials for diabetes drugs should measure outcomes important to patients

Most clinical trials for new diabetes drugs do not consider the impact medication will have on a patient's quality of life or other outcomes that are important to patients, such as the risk of developing complications associated with diabetes, according to a Mayo Clinic commentary in the current issue of The Lancet.

27 Sep 2007

Climate change may increase heat-related deaths by 2050

While some uncertainty does exist in climate projections and future health vulnerability, overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s, according to a recent study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and soon to be published in the November 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

27 Sep 2007

In vivo imaging of hydrogen peroxide with chemiluminescent nanoparticles

Most people think of hydrogen peroxide as a topical germ killer, but the medicine cabinet staple is gaining steam in the medical community as an early indicator of disease in the body.

27 Sep 2007

Are there times when it is better to simply give up?

Psychologists have been exploring this question, and more specifically a possible link between tenacity and both physical and mental health.

27 Sep 2007

Sandia develops portable microfluidic platform to detect biotoxins

Of all the threat scenarios facing emergency responders around the country, the release and spread of a dangerous biotoxin in a large public space is one of the most troubling.

27 Sep 2007

New molecular target in blood clot formation

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have identified a new molecular target in blood clot formation, which seems to reduce clotting without excessive bleeding, the common side-effect of anti-clotting agents.

27 Sep 2007

Call for food industry to phase trans fats out of their products

Experts on nutrition and public health are calling on leaders in the food industry to speed up the elimination of industrially produced trans fatty acids from the foods they produce and distribute, and to become partners in promoting healthy diets throughout the Americas.

27 Sep 2007