Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Under-active thyroid can increase heart failure risk

According to a new study older adults people who have an under active thyroid, or hypothyroidism, but with no symptoms, have an increased the risk of congestive heart failure.

30 Nov 2005

Change in CPR guidelines means more lives will be saved

According to the American Heart Association the new simpler guidelines for giving CPR to people suffering cardiac arrest, will be more effective in keeping the blood flowing to the heart, when people suffer a heart attack.

30 Nov 2005

Amygdala activation to interpersonal threat can be specifically linked to the severity of social anxiety symptoms

People suffering generalised social phobia experience increased brain activity when confronted with threatening faces or frightening social situations, new research shows.

28 Nov 2005

Chronic stress induces rapid occlusion of angioplasty

Chronic stress can induce rapid blocking of arteries after a balloon angioplasty procedure, according to research performed in animal studies at Georgetown University Medical Center. Blocked coronary arteries after angioplasty affect 41 percent of patients who undergo the procedure and can lead to death.

28 Nov 2005

Exploiting biology's own chemical toolbox...

Exploiting biology's own chemical toolbox, researchers have developed a new technique that will allow them to modify specific sequences within a DNA molecule. The approach will not only help reveal the impact of biochemical alterations to DNA, but could have far-reaching implications for DNA-based medical diagnosis and nanobiotechnology.

28 Nov 2005

Low doses of aspirin increase chance of developing ulcers

Aspirin has long been hailed as one of the most effective, low-cost ways to help guard against a heart attack or stroke. However, international medical researchers caution that low doses of aspirin also increase a patient's chance of developing an ulcer, often without warning signs.

28 Nov 2005

Eat your way to a better brain for your baby

A team of British scientists at Manchester and Lancaster Universities has turned established thinking on its head in a bid to understand the serious and often deadly condition, hydrocephalus, commonly known as 'water on the brain'.

From The University of Manchester 28 Nov 2005

Chemical found in plants helps prevent lung cancer

According to the results of an animal study, it is suggested that treatment with a chemical found in various plants, may help prevent lung cancer caused by cigarette smoking.

28 Nov 2005

Noise can increase risk of heart attack

New research published online in European's leading cardiology journal, European Heart Journal, links exposure to chronic noise with an increased risk of heart attack.

28 Nov 2005

Stress can raise a person's lipid levels

There is good evidence to show that stress can increase a person's heart rate, lower the immune system's ability to fight colds and increase certain inflammatory markers but can stress also raise a person's cholesterol?

28 Nov 2005

Large-scale international study confirms value of blood test to diagnose heart failure

A large-scale international study has demonstrated the usefulness of a blood test to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of acute heart failure in emergency room patients and shows that the test also can identify patients at a higher risk for death.

28 Nov 2005

Lifestyle modification should be the first line of treatment for obesity

A new study shows that treatment with a lifestyle modification program of diet, exercise and behavioral therapy when used in combination with the weight loss medication sibutramine (Meridia) resulted in significantly greater weight loss among obese adults than treatment with the medication alone.

28 Nov 2005

New findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure

Two studies just released by physicians at Texas Children's Hospital are addressing new findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure, and on the growing prevalence of high blood pressure in children.

28 Nov 2005

GRK5's role in restenosis

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have begun to clarify the role of a protein - and potential drug target - in the process by which arteries re-clog after treatment.

28 Nov 2005

GRK2 protein - potential drug target for heart failure

A protein that plays an important regulatory role in heart failure in the heart also exerts powerful effects on the adrenal gland, Jefferson Medical College researchers have found. The protein, GRK2, is a potential drug target for heart failure.

28 Nov 2005

Fullerenes can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation.

28 Nov 2005

Darbepoietin alpha may provide cardiac protection 24 hours after heart attack

A drug has been shown to provide some protection to the heart from injury even if given as much as 24 hours after a heart attack, Jefferson Medical College researchers report.

28 Nov 2005

Kidney disease may be a more important risk factor for heart disease than is cholesterol

Jefferson researchers have found that mice with low levels of the protein hormone adiponectin may also have high levels of a protein called albumin which, in humans, may be a sign of kidney disease.

28 Nov 2005

Public health services in India are suffering while the private sector is rapidly expanding

Public health services in India are suffering while the private sector is rapidly expanding to cater for foreigners and richer citizens, says an editorial in the British Medical Journal.

28 Nov 2005

Left ventricular assistant devices extend lives of patients too sick for transplant

Pumps implanted into the chest to maintain circulation can significantly extend the lives of the sickest patients in end-stage heart failure who are not candidates for heart transplantation, according to the results of a clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center cardiologists.

28 Nov 2005