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Last Updated: Nov 17th, 2006 - 22:35:04 |
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CHF
Seven-point system gauges seriousness of heart failure in elderly
A simple points system may soon help guide treatment of elderly heart failure patients. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that by counting how many of seven easy-to-obtain health factors a patient has, physicians can estimate the patient's risk of dying.
Nov 10, 2006, 17:06
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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Hypertension
Uric acid levels closely related to hypertension in Blacks
New research shows that higher levels of uric acid are strongly associated with high blood pressure in blacks, suggesting that a simple blood test could predict risk and that treatments to lower uric acid may be a novel way to reduce hypertension-related complications in this population.
Nov 2, 2006, 21:21
Latest Research
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Cardiology
American College of Cardiology announces new initiative to improve safety for patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes
The American College of Cardiology Foundation's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDRTM) announced today that it will launch a new initiative to improve safety and outcomes for patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS).
Nov 2, 2006, 21:10
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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Hypertension
Is TROPHY misleading?
There may be as many as 70 million Americans with prehypertension. If these people can be treated pharmacologically to avoid or delay progression to clinical hypertension, there would be significant benefits to them and the overall health of the population.
Oct 27, 2006, 16:39
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Fortified orange juice decreases not only cholesterol but also CRP
UC Davis researchers have found that twice-daily servings of a reduced-calorie orange juice beverage fortified with plant sterols also reduces levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation and an accepted risk marker for heart disease
Oct 14, 2006, 01:01
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Heart Disease: Blame it on genes!
Researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and colleagues have found another link among genes, heart disease and diet. The study, published in Circulation, examined apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5), a gene that codes for a protein, which in turn plays a role in the metabolism of fats in the blood.
Oct 6, 2006, 21:01
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CHF
Famotidine may help to slow progression of chronic heart failure
An over-the-counter medication used to treat heartburn and acid reflux also appears to help decrease the debilitating effects of chronic heart failure, preliminary research shows. But more testing must be done before the drug is recommended for use by heart failure patients, doctors say. According to the research, the same type of chemical reaction that allows stomach acid to cause heartburn and create ulcers also appears to damage and weaken diseased hearts. Blocking this process with the drug famotidine (Pepcid) may help to slow the progression of chronic heart failure (CHF). The research, conducted by the National Cardiovascular Center in Suitra, Japan, appears in the Oct. 3, 2006 edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Lead researcher Masafumi Kitakaze, MD, PhD, said although the initial results look promising, more research is needed.
Sep 27, 2006, 00:22
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Atherothrombotic disease is not just a 'western' problem
Eastern European and Middle Eastern patients with diseased blood vessels have the highest rates of heart attacks and strokes, and the highest rates of death from those conditions, compared with similar patients in other regions of the world, according to a preliminary analysis of more than 68,000 patients in 44 countries.
Sep 4, 2006, 16:35
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Changing normal heart cells into pacemakers
UC Davis researchers have successfully used a custom designed protein and gene delivery system to restore normal heart rhythms in pigs with electronic pacemakers, reducing their dependence on implanted devices. This work suggests that scientists are one step closer to making bioengineering a reality in treating the more than 2.2 million Americans affected by irregular heartbeats
Aug 26, 2006, 01:58
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CHF
Ilk gene underlies heart failure
Two independent papers in the September 1 issue of G&D reveal a critical role for the ILK protein in regulating cardiac contractility � identifying a new genetic component of heart disease. Congestive heart failure affects 2-3 million people in the United States annually. A large portion of congestive heart failure cases is caused by a condition known as cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a mostly genetic disease of the heart muscle that causes the heart to become enlarged, and to pump less efficiently.
Aug 19, 2006, 21:35
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Genetic clues to cardiomyopathy's origins
A genetic discovery sheds new light on the cause of cardiomyopathy and sudden death in young adults, which originates in the previously overlooked right ventricle of the heart, said a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) in Houston.
Aug 19, 2006, 17:44
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Automated external defibrillators are frequently recalled
A new study shows that automated external defibrillators (AEDs), the devices used to resuscitate victims of sudden cardiac arrest, had a greater than 20 percent chance of being recalled for potential malfunction over the past decade.
Aug 9, 2006, 17:32
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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Hypertension
High blood pressure induces low fat metabolism in heart muscle
Under some conditions this energy-hungry organ is prone to defects in its energy metabolism that contribute to heart disease, according to research published in a recent issue of the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology by de las Fuentes and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Earlier research led by de las Fuentes' colleague Robert J. Gropler, M.D., showed that heart muscle in people with diabetes is overly dependent on fat for energy. Even though fat is an efficient fuel, burning it for energy creates an unusually high demand for oxygen, making the diabetic heart more sensitive to the drops in oxygen levels that occur with coronary artery blockage.
Aug 7, 2006, 13:42
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Improved gene therapy method for hereditary heart conditions
A new way of delivering corrective genes with a single injection into a vein holds promise for long-lasting treatments of hereditary diseases of the heart, University of Florida researchers report. UF researchers used the approach to successfully reverse symptoms in mice with a form of muscular dystrophy that damages the heart. They also tested the virus-based delivery method in monkeys and found genes were readily absorbed by heart muscle cells, and the effect persisted for months.
Jul 31, 2006, 11:49
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CAD
Genetic Regulator for Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells Identified
Through studying pigeons with genetic heart disease, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have discovered a clue about why some patients' heart vessels are prone to close back up after angioplasty.
Jul 31, 2006, 11:40
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Digitalis safe in patients with common form of heart failure
Despite a widely held belief that the heart drug digitalis shouldn't be given to patients with diastolic heart failure, a new analysis shows it is relatively safe. "Contrary to conventional wisdom, digitalis did not have an overall detrimental effect. The study advances our understanding of both digitalis, the oldest known heart medicine, and of diastolic heart failure, the newest form of heart failure," said Dalane Kitzman, M.D., a professor of cardiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a co-author on the report, published on-line today in the journal Circulation.
Jul 26, 2006, 14:57
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Motor protein SecA linked to Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy is an insidious disease which often strikes without warning and can lead to heart failure and eventual death. Although the disease can be traced to conditions such as high blood pressure, heart valve or arterial diseases and congenital heart defects, it is also caused by viral infections in the bloodstream. In a paper to be published in the July issue of the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, a Rutgers-Newark researcher and his coworkers reveal that they have identified a possible mechanism used by an important motor protein which acts as a catalyst that enables bacteria outside the human body to travel through the blood stream and infect organs such as the heart.
Jul 24, 2006, 18:24
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CAD
New Risk Factors Do Not Improve Assessment Of Coronary Heart Disease Risk
Screening for levels of C-reactive protein and other compounds recently found to be associated with coronary heart disease may not help physicians predict risk for the condition with any more accuracy than traditional major risk factors, according to a report in the July 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Jul 12, 2006, 05:30
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Cyclin A2 expression can help regenerate damaged myocardium
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are utilizing a protein to "switch on" the ability to repair damaged heart tissue. By triggering the cell-cycle signal, researchers can manipulate cells in animal models to regenerate damaged heart tissue.
Jul 8, 2006, 21:55
Latest Research
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Cardiology
$2.5 million grant for the study on "hibernating myocardium"
Heart researchers at the University at Buffalo have received a $2.5 million five-year grant to develop new strategies to reverse a heart dysfunction called "hibernating myocardium" that can cause disabling heart failure and sudden death.
Jul 6, 2006, 02:39
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CHF
Nocturnal Hypertension Increase Congestive Heart Failure Risk
Having a relatively high blood pressure level at night may increase the risk for congestive heart failure, according to a study in the June 28 issue of JAMA. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common, costly, disabling, and deadly diseases. Once diagnosed as having CHF, patients have a 1 in 3 chance of dying within 1 year and a 2 in 3 chance of dying within 5 years, according to background information in the article. The death rate associated with CHF exceeds that of most cancers, although recent reports suggest an improving prognosis. The predominant causes of CHF are hypertension and coronary heart disease, and high blood pressure (BP) is suggested to be the most important risk factor for CHF. Previous studies have established that 24-hour BP measurements, which provide information that is not obtained from conventional office-based BP measurement, such as average BP over a 24-hour period and night-day patterns, are powerful predictors of cardiovascular illness and death. However, no previous studies have examined 24-hour ambulatory (as opposed to office-measured) BP as a predictor of CHF in persons free of CHF at baseline.
Jun 29, 2006, 02:52
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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Hypertension
Beta Blockers No More First Choice for Hypertension
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK and the National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions, in conjunction with the British Hypertension Society (BHS) on Wednesday 28 June launched the keenly awaited updated clinical guideline on the management of hypertension. The guideline updates the recommendations for the pharmacological management of hypertension contained in the original NICE guideline published in August 2004. Based on a thorough review of recently published data, the guideline sets the gold standard for the optimum pharmacological management of hypertension and in so doing seeks to decrease morbidity and mortality resulting from cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, chronic renal failure and coronary heart disease for which hypertension is a significant risk factor.
Jun 29, 2006, 01:18
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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Myocardial Infarction
Few athletes survive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AED's) had surprisingly little effect on the survival rates for young athletes who experience sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), according to a new study published in the July 2006 edition of Heart Rhythm. Of the nine intercollegiate athletes the study examined between 1999 and 2005, eight did not survive.
Jun 20, 2006, 21:33
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Fibrinolysis along with CPR might improve survival
Using a "clot buster" drug normally reserved for treating patients during a heart attack, emergency room doctors were able to double the number of patients who could be revived from cardiac arrest. This sudden loss of heart function occurs in more than 260,000 people a year nationwide � and at least 93 percent of them die.
Jun 3, 2006, 09:53
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CAD
Angioplasty: door-to-balloon time matters regardless of time to presentation
Slicing minutes off the time it takes hospitals to deliver emergency angioplasty (the "door-to-balloon" time) improves the survival of appropriate heart attack patients, even when patients have been feeling symptoms for a few hours, according to a new study in the June 6, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Jun 3, 2006, 09:15
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CHF
Gender-based differences seen in predictive value of exercise test results of heart failure patients
Peak oxygen consumption during an exercise test is one of the key criteria used to determine when a heart failure patient may need a heart transplant, but the standard values currently used may not accurately predict outcomes for female patients, according to a new study in the June 6, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Jun 3, 2006, 09:12
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Should we lower cholesterol as much as possible?
New US recommendations for lowering cholesterol levels would increase the risk of harmful side effects with no overall reduction in deaths, warn experts in this week�s BMJ. The American National Cholesterol Education Program has said that people at high risk of heart disease should be treated more aggressively.
Jun 2, 2006, 23:09
Latest Research
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Cardiology
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CAD
ESC Updated Guidelines for Stable Angina Pectoris Management
The European Society of Cardiology released today new Guidelines for the Management of Stable Angina Pectoris. The updated Guidelines include information on new developments in cardiovascular care, advances that have been made in improving the prognosis of coronary artery disease including the use of statins and ACE inhibitors, as well as strategies to alleviate symptoms.
Jun 1, 2006, 13:21
Latest Research
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Cardiology
Malfunction of Automated External Defibrillators not uncommon, study shows
Data presented today at the Heart Rhythm Society's 27th Annual Scientific Sessions finds that during a 10-year study period more than one in five automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) were recalled due to potential malfunction. The findings represent some of the first data available on safety and reliability of the devices, which are used to resuscitate victims of cardiac arrest.
May 19, 2006, 19:55
Latest Research
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Cardiology
MCPIP blockage could prove effective in preventing various heart diseases
A newly discovered gene known as MCPIP could provide scientists with the key to developing treatments for preventing inflammation that can cause heart disease, University of Central Florida researchers have discovered.
May 18, 2006, 02:41
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