Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

Statins should not be considered as a stand-alone wonder-drug in the fight against heart disease

Dr John Reid, the Health Secretary for the United Kingdom (UK), announced the reclassification of statins as ‘over the counter’ products in the UK, to be available to members of the public directly from pharmacists without the need for a prescription.

17 May 2004

Pharmaceutical agreement involving novel obesity compound

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Solvay Pharmaceuticals today announced that the companies have entered into a worldwide agreement for the Solvay compound SLV319, which is currently in Phase I development with potential for use in treating obesity and other metabolic disorders.

17 May 2004

One person per week dies in British hospitality industry from passive smoking

New figures to be presented at a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) conference today will show that every week in the UK one hospitality industry employee dies from passive smoking at work. The new figures, calculated by Professor Konrad Jamrozik of Imperial College in London, will be presented at the RCP conference called ‘Environmental Tobacco Smoke and the Hospitality Industry’.

17 May 2004

Researchers demonstrate wearable electronics to aid health and fashion

Soon you may be wearing your computer, or elements of it, according to a team of researchers and designers at Arizona State University. The era of smart bodysuits is about to begin.

17 May 2004

Higher rate of cardiac complications from smallpox vaccinations for US military

While adverse reactions from smallpox vaccinations given to military personnel in the wake of renewed threats of bioterrorism remain minimal, the rate of cardiac complications has been higher than expected, according to a clinical review presented at an American Medical Society media briefing on cardiology today.

16 May 2004

NASA and Stanford to develop technologies for physiological monitoring of humans

NASA and Stanford University are launching an exciting new joint venture to develop technologies, instruments and systems to conduct physiological monitoring of humans in support of basic and applied space biology research.

15 May 2004

Genetically engineered viruses may create new class of cancer therapies

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

15 May 2004

Study to find the best diet to reduce heart disease and diabetes

The Medical Research Council has announced the launch of a landmark study to identify the best dietary strategies to reduce heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

15 May 2004

Vitamin discovery offers clues for cancer chemotherapy

NH-Dartmouth Medical School cancer researchers, in a fusion of biochemistry and genetics, have discovered a new vitamin in a molecular pathway central to such vital processes as gene regulation, metabolism and aging. And, they found that milk contains this nutrient.

15 May 2004

Faster growing babies are at greater risk of heart disease and stroke

Medical Research Council (MRC) and Institute of Child Health scientists say that babies who grow fast are at greater risk of heart disease and stroke in later life. Because breast-fed babies grow less rapidly than those fed formula milk, the work strongly reinforces the message that breast feeding is best.

14 May 2004

People with pre-diabetes can make changes to prevent serious illness

The Department of Health recently launched a new awareness outreach campaign about pre-diabetes, a condition that raises a person's risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

14 May 2004

National effort to detect life-threatening non-cardiac vascular diseases

The University of Arizona Medical Center for the first time will be part of a national effort to detect life-threatening non-cardiac vascular diseases. UMC is partnering with the American Vascular Association to offer free screenings for people at high risk: 60 years or older with a history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, or known cardiovascular disease.

14 May 2004

End-of-life options for seriously ill patients have improved considerably, but still have a ways ago

End-of-life options for seriously ill patients have improved considerably, but still have a ways ago, says a national expert who drew upon the recent experience of his father’s death to take stock of the status of end-of-life care in the United States.

14 May 2004

Baby food companies exposed as evidence presented to UK Parliament and Lancet study reinforces list of health risks of artificial feeding

The Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2004 monitoring report analyses the promotional practices of 16 transnational baby food companies and 14 bottle and teat companies between January 2002 and April 2004. The benchmark standards used for measuring marketing practices are the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolutions.

14 May 2004

Minority women are disproportionately impacted by the autoimmune disease lupus

There is an urgent need for more education and research to address the fact that minority women are disproportionately impacted by the autoimmune disease lupus

14 May 2004

Embryonic stem cells may hold the key to regenerating damaged heart muscle

Embryonic stem cells may hold the key to regenerating damaged heart muscle, when transplanted within a 3-dimensional scaffold into the infracted heart, according to a new study coming out in June in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

14 May 2004

Nonalcoholic beer impart cardiovascular benefits without the negative effects of alcohol

New findings published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research indicate that nonalcoholic beer may also be able to impart cardiovascular benefits without the negative effects of alcohol, by inhibiting blood coagulation and platelet activation.

14 May 2004

Mechanism that prevents kidney damage in the early stages of diabetes associated with obesity

Northwestern University researchers has identified what they believe is a built-in biological mechanism that prevents kidney damage in the early stages of diabetes associated with obesity.

14 May 2004

Breastfeeding decreases risk of heart disease later in life

A recent UK study of 216 teenagers, published in the Lancet, found that breastfeeding in infancy is likely to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in later life.

14 May 2004

1 in every 10 children worldwide is obese

In a comprehensive dossier revealing how the global obesity epidemic is affecting children, the International ObesityTaskForce says that one in 10 children is overweight, a total of 155 million. Around 30-45 million within that figure are classified as obese - accounting for 2-3% of the world’s children aged 5-17. A further 22 million younger children are also affected according to previous IOTF global estimates based on WHO data for under fives.

13 May 2004