Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Research shows how stem cells decide to become either skeletal or smooth muscle

Researchers have discovered a key protein that controls how stem cells "choose" to become either skeletal muscle cells that move limbs, or smooth muscle cells that support blood vessels, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

11 Oct 2007

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome likely caused by genetic factors

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a severe cardiovascular malformation that is difficult to treat and often lethal, is caused primarily by genetic factors, according to a new study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

11 Oct 2007

Obese people six times more likely to develop oesophageal cancer

Rates of oesophageal cancer have been rising rapidly, and in some countries, they have risen faster than those of every other major cancer, say the authors.

10 Oct 2007

Trial of repeated antibiotic therapy for Lyme diseases

Findings from the first placebo-controlled study of chronic cognitive impairment after treated Lyme disease (also known as chronic Lyme encephalopathy) demonstrate that patients report moderate cognitive impairment, physical dysfunction comparable to patients with congestive heart failure, and fatigue comparable to patients with multiple sclerosis.

10 Oct 2007

Folic acid supplements dramatically lower blood arsenic levels in those exposed to contaminated water

A new study conducted in Bangladesh finds that folic acid supplements can dramatically lower blood arsenic levels in individuals chronically exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water.

10 Oct 2007

Public misled and confused about exercise

The researchers from Exeter and Brunel Universities found in a survey of nearly 1,200 people that half of the men and three quarters of the women involved thought moderate exercise conferred the greatest health benefits.

10 Oct 2007

Heart drug perindopril helps seniors get active

According to scientists from Dundee University in Scotland, when seniors were given a drug commonly prescribed for heart conditions they were able to do more exercise.

10 Oct 2007

Women with high or increasing blood pressure more likely to develop diabetes

One of the largest studies to investigate the relationship between blood pressure and type 2 diabetes has found that women who have high blood pressure levels are three times more likely to develop diabetes than women with low blood pressure levels.

10 Oct 2007

Stress is a contributing factor in human disease

In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, Carnegie Mellon University psychologist Sheldon Cohen has found that stress is a contributing factor in human disease, and in particular depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS.

10 Oct 2007

Stress and disease likely linked

A new commentary in the Oct. 10 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association explores whether psychological stress leads to disease and concludes that the link is likely.

10 Oct 2007

Androgen deprivation therapy linked to increased risk of heart disease death

The use of androgen deprivation therapy to treat localized prostate cancer is associated with an increased risk of death from heart disease, according to a study published online October 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

10 Oct 2007

Broncus Technologies reports positive results for airway bypass procedure for the treatment of emphysema

Broncus Technologies, Inc., a medical device company investigating the airway bypass procedure for the treatment of emphysema, has announced that the results of its open-label Exhale Drug-Eluting Stent feasibility study have been published in the October issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

10 Oct 2007

M-POSSUM evaluation system improves accuracy and effectiveness of the original system

Based on POSSUM, a system suggested by some British scholars more than 10 years ago, a team led by Dr. Lian-An Ding has established the M-POSSUM evaluation system with the aim of improving the accuracy and effectiveness of the original system.

10 Oct 2007

Decrease in the use of radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of cancer in hospitals

The Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine of the Universidad de Granada, in Andalusian hospitals radiotherapy is not used as much as should be expected for the treatment of cancer, in favour of other procedures such as chemotherapy or surgery.

10 Oct 2007

British attitudes to exercise show misleading guidelines 'should be changed'

British adults now believe that moderate activity is more beneficial than vigorous exercise, according to new research by the University of Exeter and Brunel University.

10 Oct 2007

Returning to stressful jobs puts heart attack victims at risk of another attack

According to a new study heart attack survivors who return to jobs which are stressful run the risk of having another heart attack.

10 Oct 2007

British attitudes to exercise show misleading guidelines should be changed

British adults now believe that moderate activity is more beneficial than vigorous exercise, according to new research by the University of Exeter and Brunel University.

10 Oct 2007

Soaring obesity rates in the UK

An analysis conducted out by a cancer charity in Britain has found that the waistlines of both men and women have significantly increased in the last decade.

9 Oct 2007

Bad marriage equals a bad heart

The epidemiologists at University College London, Britain, found that even after taking into account other factors that could contribute to heart disease, such as depression, men and women with negative aspects in their relationships still had a 25 percent increase in heart disease risk.

9 Oct 2007