Exercise training for patients with pulmonary hypertension was shown to be safe and to improve quality of life, according to an analysis by UT Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists of studies involving more than 400 participants.
CPAP machines are a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, but some people have a hard time adjusting and do not continue the treatment or are reluctant to start. A new study shows that CPAP is an effective sleep apnea treatment, finding that it reverses health changes that result in cardiovascular disease if the disorder is left untreated.
• Compared with their sister(s) who had normal blood pressure during pregnancy, women who had hypertension in pregnancy were more likely to develop hypertension later in life. • Brothers and sisters of women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy were at increased risk of developing high blood pressure later in life. • Brothers, but not sisters, of women who had high blood pressure in pregnancy were also at increased risk of developing heart disease.
Babies born through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. In new research published ahead-of-print in AJP-Heart, researchers find that the solution used to culture ART embryos may play a role and that adding melatonin to the culture solution could help improve cardiovascular outcomes.
Patients suffering from aneurysms that extend from their chest into their groin may be helped by a new stent graft, thanks to collaboration between Sanford Health and South Dakota State University. Mechanical engineering associate professor Stephen Gent’s fluid flow modeling “helped validate that the configuration is delivering more well developed blood flow with the design,” according to Sanford Health vascular surgeon Pat Kelly.
A new study from the UC San Francisco Pediatric Brain Center shows that childhood cancer survivors suffering one stroke have double the risk of suffering a second stroke, when compared with non-cancer stroke survivors.
Analysis of blood samples from more than 5,000 people suggests that a more sensitive version of a blood test long used to verify heart muscle damage from heart attacks could also identify people on their way to developing hypertension well before the so-called silent killer shows up on a blood pressure machine.
Individuals previously diagnosed with heart disease may be less likely to experience heart failure, heart attacks, or stroke, or to die from these events, if they have higher blood levels of two very closely related proteins, according to a new study led by a UC San Francisco research team.
A new study shows that quitting smoking after a heart attack has immediate benefits, including less chest pain, better quality of daily life and improved mental health. Many of these improvements became apparent as little as one month after quitting and are more pronounced after one year, according to the research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Click to read today's top stories.
Patients with hypertension treated with acupuncture experienced drops in their blood pressure that lasted up to a month and a half, researchers with the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine have found.
For children born with life-threatening hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), reconstructive surgeries can restore blood circulation. While the most common corrective approach is the three-stage Norwood procedure, an alternative strategy, hybrid palliation, allows deferral of the more complex reconstructions to when the child is somewhat older and better able to successfully recover from major surgery. A report in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the official publication of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), evaluates whether an arterial shunt in the hybrid palliation may be a better source for the pulmonary blood supply than the more frequently used venous shunt.
A blood clot can potentially trigger heart attacks, strokes and other medical emergencies. Treatment requires finding its exact location, but current techniques can only look at one part of the body at once. Now, researchers are reporting a method, tested in rats, that may someday allow physicians to quickly scan the entire body for a blood clot. The team will describe their approach at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
A review of 15 years’ worth of data in a national pediatric medical database has documented a substantial increase in the rate of hospitalizations for children with a form of high blood pressure once most common in those with congenital heart disease.
Statins have significant cardiovascular benefits, but also serious side effects. A new study finds that statin use impairs stem cell function, which helps in slowing atherosclerosis but hinders other body processes. Because of these effects, the study supports weighing individual risk when considering statins as a preventive measure.
Each of your kidneys wears a little yellow cap that helps keep blood pressure in check, and much more. But in some people, it starts running amok, pumping out a hormone that sends blood pressure sky-high. Why this happens is still a mystery. But new findings could help figure out what's going on.
New research from Toronto Western Hospital’s Spodyloarthritis Program reveals people with a type of spinal arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis (AS) have a higher risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke than the general population.
Contrary to prevailing dietary advice, a recent evidence review found no excess cardiovascular risk associated with intake of saturated fat. In contrast, research suggests that industrial trans fats may increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
About 2% of the U.S. population has mitral valve regurgitation, which left untreated, can remain mild or lead to arrhythmia or heart failure. Timing of surgery is a matter of controversy, with guidelines suggesting “watchful waiting” or medical treatment until heart failure or poor function becomes apparent. Now a report in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the official publication of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), finds that allowing patients to reach these “surgical triggers” doubles the risk of postoperative mortality and heart failure compared to those who undergo early surgery.
Acknowledging key strengths and “lessons learned,” preventive cardiologists from Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic have developed a short list of suggested upgrades to the controversial heart disease prevention guidelines issued jointly in 2013 by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
Southern favorites like fried chicken and bacon may taste great when consumed, but they can have negative effects on heart health, according to UAB researchers.
Utilizing a pharmaceutical treatment for systolic heart failure, that is being tested in clinical trials, new research at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School determined the precise interaction between the drug and the cardiac myosin protein or the cardiac “motor,” forming a structure that regulates the contraction of cardiac muscle and allows the heart to efficiently pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
People with low scores on a test of executive function, the higher-level thinking skills used to reason, problem solve and plan, may be at higher risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a new study published in the August 5, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Poverty and the many stresses that come with social disadvantage have long been linked to cardiovascular disease, but how we live, work, and play has a great impact on heart health for people from a broad range of economic and cultural backgrounds,” explains David Siscovick, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President for Research at The New York Academy of Medicine and Chair of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Council on Epidemiology and Prevention.
Ethiopians have lived at high altitudes for thousands of years, providing a natural experiment for studying human adaptations to low oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. One factor that may enable Ethiopians to tolerate high altitudes and hypoxia is the endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB) gene. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now find that mice with lower-than-normal levels of EDNRB protein are remarkably tolerant to hypoxia.
Many lifestyle factors cause heart disease, and exercise may not be enough to prevent heart attacks. A new study shows that regular exercise can still benefit the heart after a heart attack occurs. This research is highlighted as one of this month’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program.
Breastfeeding can have many benefits for babies like helping strengthen their immune system, but getting comfortable with breastfeeding can take practice and persistence for new moms and their newborns. To help educate patients, the community and employees about breastfeeding best practices, Montefiore Health System will launch a week-long program in recognition of World Breastfeeding Week 2015, which will begin on Monday, August 3.
Patients with hypertension benefit from interacting with a medical team that includes a pharmacist. Two studies showed pharmacist-included care teams delivered more hands-on and tailored medication regimens to patients, which yielded more effective blood-pressure control results than for those patients who did not have a pharmacist on hand.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology have released a set of clinical practice guidelines to address management of a patient’s temperature during open heart surgery
Hysterectomy may be a marker of early cardiovascular risk and disease, especially in women under 35, according to Mayo Clinic experts.
Mayo Clinic is announcing results of a study on the effectiveness of left-ventricular assist devices (LVAD) in treating patients with a form of cardiomyopathy called restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM).
NYU Langone Medical Center this week became the first academic medical center in the United States to implant a newly FDA-approved heart valve for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Aortic stenosis is a serious condition that occurs when the heart’s aortic valve narrows, obstructing blood flow from the heart to the aorta, which can severely weaken the heart muscle. If left untreated, it can lead to heart failure and even death.
A Johns Hopkins-led study of outcomes among 1,200 people with implanted defibrillators — devices intended to prevent sudden cardiac death from abnormal heart rhythms — shows that within a few years of implantation, one in four experienced improvements in heart function substantial enough to put them over the clinical threshold that qualified them to get a defibrillator in the first place. A report on the study, published in the Aug. 4 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, reveals these patients had markedly lower risk of dying and were far less likely to suffer arrhythmia-terminating device shocks, suggesting their hearts had grown less prone to developing lethal rhythms.
Other topics include editing genes, cellular switchboards, treating menopause and more...
A new study from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) compared open surgical repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm with a catheter-based procedure and found that the less invasive endovascular aortic repair has clear benefits for most patients, providing both a safer operation and a quicker recovery.
A new review article published in the American Journal of Physiology–Endocrinology and Metabolism explores the effects of the “ingredients” of Mediterranean lifestyle as a whole on post-meal blood triglyceride levels (PPL). Consistently elevated PPL is a cardiovascular disease risk factor. This article is published ahead of print.
Popular new blood thinners may be behind a surge in doctor visits to treat an irregular heartbeat, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center. The heavily advertised medicines make managing atrial fibrillation simpler than older therapies like Warfarin. Among the new players, the most prescribed direct oral anticoagulant is Xarelto.
Two studies in the July 21 issue of JAMA find that use of interventions such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillators by bystanders and first responders have increased and were associated with improved survival and neurological outcomes for persons who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Other topics include genetics to predict prostate cancer, Facebook and body image, bioengineered immune cell response, and more...
Compared to Caucasians, African-Americans face twice the rate of sudden cardiac arrest, according to a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.
Indiana University School of Medicine emergency room physicians compared treatment between rivaroxaban and warfarin for deep vein thrombosis or pumonary embolism and found advantages for the patient and improved outcomes from rivaroxaban.
...as a cost effective prevention of more serious cardiovascular-related health issues
A new review article finds that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leads to overactive nerve activity, dysfunctional immune response and activation of the hormone system that controls blood pressure. These changes can ultimately increase risk of cardiovascular disease.
An examination of the 2013 guidelines for determining statin eligibility, compared to guidelines from 2004, indicates that they are associated with greater accuracy and efficiency in identifying increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and presence of subclinical coronary artery disease, particularly in individuals at intermediate risk, according to a study in the July 14 issue of JAMA.
Virginia Wadley, Ph.D., says until this new JAMA study, whether or not stroke survivors are at-risk over the long term was an unknown.
According to a new series of studies out of NYU Langone Medical Center, two chemicals increasingly used during manufacturing to strengthen plastic wrap, soap, cosmetics, and processed food containers have been linked to a rise in risk of high blood pressure and diabetes in children and adolescents.
It’s important to know about the causes of unrecognized, or silent, heart attacks and how to prevent them.
Among patients with a first episode of pulmonary embolism (the obstruction of the pulmonary artery or a branch of it leading to the lungs by a blood clot) who received 6 months of anticoagulant treatment, an additional 18 months of treatment with warfarin reduced the risk of additional blood clots and major bleeding, however, the benefit was not maintained after discontinuation of anticoagulation therapy, according to a study in the July 7 issue of JAMA.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right