Feature Channels: Cardiovascular Health

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a new study suggests that widespread adoption of an expanded definition of SMM could identify more at-risk patients, leading to improved care and lives saved. The study is one of two on the topic of SMM being presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania. The second study examined the relationship between SMM and maternal level-of-care designations (MLOCD) at hospitals and uncovered a need for better data.

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Harris Health System has again earned the CEO Cancer Gold Standard by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer for its efforts to reduce the risk of cancer for its employees and covered family members. The health system is one of five other hospital systems in Texas to receive the coveted recognition.

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Lynda Welker has experienced many hardships, but the Kirklin family has helped her live a full life.

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AATS Annual Meeting at a glance with important links and 11 associated news releases

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UT Southwestern Medical Center geneticists Dr. Jonathan Cohen and Dr. Helen Hobbs have been awarded one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedical science – the 2016 Passano Award – for developing and applying transformative genetics techniques to the understanding of lipid metabolism related to heart disease.

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A new $1.7 million National Institutes of Health grant will help University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers continue their investigation of the protein Human Antigen R (HuR) and its possible role in cardiovascular disease, with the ultimate goal of translating this research to improve human health.

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Depressed Moms Not ‘in Sync’ with Their Kids, Children with ADHD Sleep Both Poorly and Less, Yeast Infection Linked to Mental Illness, and more in the Mental Health News Source

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Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research blends clinical care, genetics and regenerative medicine in inaugural event dedicated to ending an epidemic

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Collaboration between two NIBIB-funded labs has revealed a promising new method for identifying atherosclerotic plaques, the encased deposits in arteries that restrict blood flow and can lead to heart attack or stroke. The technique combines two different types of imaging, allowing for an unprecedented combination of depth and detail. The hybrid technology will provide doctors with a better diagnostic tool for identifying particularly problematic plaques.

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Jose Pinto, a researcher in the Florida State University College of Medicine, has been awarded a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant to study how the heart’s calcium is regulated and how to correct a calcium imbalance using an inside approach in the cardiac cell.

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Diagnosing Mononucleosis, Need for Health Interventions for Single Parent Households in Urban Subsidized Housing Programs, Inadequate Financial Savings Tied to Increased Childhood Health Risks, and more in the Public Health News Source

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A combination of two compounds found in red grapes and oranges could be used to improve the health of people with diabetes, and reduce cases of obesity and heart disease. The find has been made by University of Warwick researchers who now hope that their discovery will be developed to provide a treatment for patients.

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Chronic use of some drugs for heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) speeds up the aging of blood vessels, according to a published paper in Circulation Research (early online), an American Heart Association journal. This accelerated aging in humans could lead to increased cardiovascular disease, vascular dementia and renal failure.

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A new study shows for the first time that HDL’s heart disease protection depends on the levels of two other blood fats or lipids associated with heart disease. If these fats are not within normal ranges, even a high HDL may not be protective.

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A research team has developed a non-invasive 3-D virtual heart to help doctors determine who faces the highest risk of a life-threatening arrhythmia and would benefit from a defibrillator implant.

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A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has developed a device with the potential of shortening the time required to rapidly diagnose pathogens responsible for health-care-associated infections from a couple of days to a matter of hours. The system described in the journal Science Advances also would allow point-of-care diagnosis, as it does not require the facilities and expertise available only in hospital laboratories.

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The team studied a group of children and teens ages 10 to 17 who were in lifestyle management programs – either for weight management or lipid disorders. The study looked at whether the videogame habits of the group had an impact on sleep habits, obesity and cardio-metabolic health.

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New research shows that implementation of Medicare Part D has increased the number of people taking their prescribed medications as directed – so-called “medication adherence” – and reduced the likelihood that newly covered beneficiaries develop high blood pressure.

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Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), a rapid irregular heartbeat caused by pooling blood in the heart which can lead to heart failure and stroke, are often treated with an ablation, a minimally invasive procedure used to remove the tissue which causes the pooled blood. Following this procedure, patients are often prescribed long-term, daily oral anticoagulation medications – also known as blood thinners. However, a new study shows the use of novel anticoagulants for AF prescribed on an “as-needed basis” guided by diligent pulse monitoring, can be a safe and effective alternative to lowering overall risk of stroke.

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Kids Eating Habits, Video Games Helping Kids Eat Fruits and Veggies, New Ways to Stop Weight Gain in Young Adults, and More in the Obesity News Source

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Researchers from the Perelman school of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania conducted the largest observational study of minimally invasive transfemoral—entry through the groin—TAVR to find whether the use of moderate sedation is associated with improved patient outcomes, specifically evaluating 30-day mortality and length of hospital stays, as compared to traditional general anesthesia.

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Study pinpoints four factors that account for sex disparity in statin therapy.

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(Oak Park) -- Rush Oak Park Hospital is the first hospital in the surrounding area to acquire and use a newly approved technology that allows vascular surgeons to see in real-time the plaque they are removing during an atherectomy, a minimally invasive procedure that helps treat peripheral artery disease (PAD).  “The fact that a physician is visually guided while removing the buildup of plaque in the blood vessel can help prevent the formation of scar tissue, which can possibly lead to another blockage down the road,” says Charles Schubert, MD, the first vascular surgeon to use the Pantheris Lumivascular Atherectomy System at ROPH.

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Patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome who receive catheter ablation to cure their abnormal heart rhythms are just as likely as non-ablated patients to develop atrial fibrillation no matter what age they receive ablation, according to a new study.

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Patients with atherosclerosis are at a higher risk of osteoporosis. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism reports that atherosclerosis reduces the number of bone-forming cells, leading to loss of bone density. This study is highlighted as one of this month’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program.

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Mothers with a history of depression are not physiologically “in sync” with their kids, according to a new study from Binghamton University. While researchers have known for a while that depression is associated with interpersonal problems with others, this is the first study to examine whether this is also evident physiologically.

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Atrial fibrillation patients taking warfarin, a popular anticoagulation drug, are at higher risk of developing kidney failure if anticoagulation levels are not properly managed, according to a new study from researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

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Study of more than 10,000 patients treated long term with the blood thinner, warfarin, reveals higher rates of dementia for patients with atrial fibrillation versus non-AF patients

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Giving daily doses of statins for a few days before and after heart surgery does not prevent heart muscle damage or the development of atrial fibrillation (AF), according to an international clinical trial led by the University of Oxford and funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

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The LifeBridge Health Cardiovascular Institute has launched a pilot study to evaluate the potential benefits of a wireless heart monitoring system for patients with moderate to severe heart failure. The system tracks weight, blood pressure and other measures, and automatically sends the information to doctors and staff at the Cardiovascular Institute. The study is looking at whether this approach, designed to be simple and easy-to-use, can result in better outcomes for patients with heart failure.

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In a "real-world" analysis, the ACC/American Heart Association (AHA) Pooled Cohort Risk Equation for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events was shown to overestimate the five-year risk in adults without diabetes, according to a study published May 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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Statins and aspirin together are needed to keep lifesaving bypass grafts open, but Jefferson researchers found patients are not taking these medications long-term.

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The award will fund the study of the role of both genes and the environment on the development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of medical conditions that are common in aging adults, including obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and insulin resistance.

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Three PinnacleHealth patients recently underwent a new procedure for aortic valve reconstruction using the patients’ own heart tissue (pericardium) to create the new valves. Aortic valve reconstruction patients benefit from using their own pericardial tissue as it has fewer tendencies to scar and calcify, which is the main reason for failure of tissue valves obtained from animals. The body also is less likely to mount an immune response against the patient’s own tissue. In addition, these patients do not need lifelong blood thinners, which are required when mechanical aortic valves are used.

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Researchers have known for more than a decade that the risk of heart disease and stroke increases when people take pain relievers like ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. Now, scientists from the University of California, Davis, have uncovered some of the reasons why these drugs can harm heart tissue.

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Frailty, a condition that affects 10 percent of people aged 65 and older, can make older adults more prone to disability, falls, hospitalization and a shorter lifespan. Recently, researchers writing in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examined the effects of frailty and depression on married couples. Although we know much about the effects of frailty and depression on individuals, up until now, little has been uncovered about how these two conditions may be connected within couples.

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Vitamin A is important for heart development in embryos, but whether it has a role in maintaining heart health is unclear. A new study in American Journal of Physiology—Heart and Circulatory Physiology finds that the heart is able to respond to vitamin A and the amount of vitamin A present has an effect. However, whether the effects are beneficial or harmful is still a mystery.

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Researchers have learned new information about how different people respond to aspirin, a globally prescribed drug in cardioprotection. The team identified more than 5,600 lipids in blood platelets and gained new insights into how these cells respond to aspirin.

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Scientists have used a novel gene therapy to halt the progression of pulmonary hypertension, a form of high blood pressure in the lung blood vessels that is linked to heart failure.

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While the Fontan procedure has improved the short- and mid-term outcomes for patients born with single ventricle anatomy, long-term complications of Fontan circulation include heart failure. These complications are thought to be secondary to elevated central venous pressure, chronic venous congestion and low cardiac output.

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A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition appears to back up the adage that a little of what you fancy does you good. Including a small amount of chocolate each day could help prevent diabetes and insulin resistance. That’s one of the research findings from the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), the University of Warwick Medical School, the University of South Australia and the University of Maine.

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Cardiologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that sedentary behavior is associated with increased amounts of calcium deposits in heart arteries, which in turn is associated with a higher risk of heart attack.

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Pinellas County a Model for Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance, Scientists Unravel the Genetic Evolution of Zika Virus, Worm Infection Counters Inflammatory Bowel Disease and more in the Infectious Diseases News Source

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Among female registered nurses, working a rotating night shift for 5 years or more was associated with a small increase in the risk of coronary heart disease, according to a study appearing in the April 26 issue of JAMA.

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Lack of sleep has previously been found to impact the activation of the immune system, inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism and the hormones that regulate appetite. Now University of Helsinki researchers have found that sleep loss also influences cholesterol metabolism.

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An assistant professor of medicine in the University of Louisville's Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, won first place in the category of “Young Investigator Awards in Cardiovascular Health Outcomes and Population Genetics” from the American College of Cardiology earlier this month.

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FINDINGS Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA found that cardiovascular disease patients who have high muscle mass and low fat mass have a lower mortality risk than those with other body compositions. The findings also suggest that regardless of a person’s level of fat mass, a higher level of muscle mass helps reduce the risk of death.