Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Fish is brain food

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that a diet high in docosahexenoic acid, or DHA--an omega-3 fatty acid found in relatively high concentrations in cold-water fish--dramatically slowed the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice.

28 Mar 2005

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower blood pressure

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine have found.

28 Mar 2005

US Court rejects appeal of Terri Schiavo's parents

The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied the request by Terri Schiavo's parents that doctors be ordered to reinsert the feeding tube that has kept their brain-damaged daughter alive for 15 years.

23 Mar 2005

Heart attacks can be triggered by physical exertion and emotional stress

Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London, in a review published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, of dozens of studies done between 1970 and 2004 have come up with compelling evidence that indicates that people with a history of heart disease, can trigger heart attacks, some of them fatal, by physical exertion and emotional stress.

23 Mar 2005

First patient to test new treatment for peripheral arterial disease

For several years, crippling leg pain has prevented Joan Erickson from walking more than a block. If she paused to rest, she could walk a little more, but not enough to continue playing golf, her favorite pastime.

23 Mar 2005

Docosahexaenoic acid may protect against the accumulation of a protein believed to be linked to Alzheimer's disease

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, may protect against the accumulation of a protein believed to be linked to Alzheimer's disease, according to the results of a new study published in the March 30, 2005 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study used Martek DHA, which is produced from microalgae.

23 Mar 2005

New form of technology to treat cardiac arrhythmias

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center physicians are among the first in the country to use a new form of technology to treat distant, malfunctioning areas inside the heart that cause irregular heartbeats, or cardiac arrhythmias.

23 Mar 2005

Treatment of cardiac lesions without anaesthesic

Navarre University Hospital has introduced a novel technique for the treatment of congenital heart defects and involving the percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale (PFO) with monitoring through intracavernous ecography.

23 Mar 2005

How does the body keep the number of neutrophils produced constant in the blood?

Every day, the human body manufactures and destroys about 100 billion neutrophils- the most common type of white blood cell and one of the most highly-produced cells. Neutrophils live about eight hours, are bacteria-eaters and are a key component of the immune system. Without them, the body can be subject to life-threatening infection.

23 Mar 2005

You're never too old to quit smoking

According to US Government officials you're never to old to quit smoking, announcing that Medicare will immediately start covering the cost of counselling for certain beneficiaries who want to quit tobacco.

22 Mar 2005

Pomegranate juice helps keep fatty deposits from collecting on artery walls

A study in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by Italian and American scientists reports that pomegranate juice helped keep fatty deposits from collecting on artery walls in mice, and kept human heart cells healthier. The mice were specially bred to have high cholesterol and on human heart cells in culture.

22 Mar 2005

Doctors raise concern about heart drug Nesiritide

Doctors raise concern about heart drug. The heart drug Nesiritide (Natrecor) is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of decompensated heart failure, the most common reason for hospitalization for those over 65 years of age.

22 Mar 2005

Schiavo case - Judge refuses to allow feeding tube to be reinserted

A request from the parents of Florida woman Terri Schiavo to reinsert her feeding tube has been rejected by a federal judge; this is a blow to attempts by the US Congress and the White House to prolong her life. Bob and Mary Schindler, Schiavo's parents, immediately appealed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta as their daughter went for a fourth day without nutrition or hydration.

22 Mar 2005

No serious adverse events found with next-generation smallpox vaccine

Interim data from a phase I/II clinical trial of a next-generation vaccine for smallpox suggest that the vaccine may provide immunity and thus far the trial has been without any serious adverse events.

22 Mar 2005

Support for the use of low-dose aspirin therapy in preventing and treating pre-eclampsia

A new study led by Queen’s University researcher Colin Funk provides indirect support for the use of low-dose aspirin therapy in preventing and treating pre-eclampsia – a pregnancy disorder that is often harmful to both mother and fetus.

22 Mar 2005

Alcohol relapse adversely affects liver transplant survival

A new study on how alcohol relapse affects survival rates after liver transplants found that it adversely affected survival rates only after 10 years. The decrease in survival rates may, however, be due to other alcohol-related diseases.

22 Mar 2005

Link between high cholesterol and better memory

What's bad for your ticker may be good for your bean, according to a research from a team of scientists at Boston University.

22 Mar 2005

Physical exertion and emotional stress can trigger heart attacks in people with a history of heart disease

Authors Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London point out that the triggers for heart attacks may be quite different from the factors that lead to development of coronary heart disease over the long term, such as cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, work stress, social isolation, anxiety and depression.

22 Mar 2005

Bush intervenes in Terri Schiavo case

Terri Schiavo, has been in a permanent vegetative state which is far more severe than a coma, since she had a heart attack in 1990 that deprived her brain of oxygen.

21 Mar 2005

Compound found in broccoli is a powerful disease fighter

More than 300 scientific studies point to an antioxidant found in broccoli sprouts, sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS), as a factor in preventing multiple diseases, including several types of cancer, high blood pressure, macular degeneration and stomach ulcers.

21 Mar 2005