A potentially groundbreaking study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists, published online today in the journal PLOS ONE, suggests that the worst effects of reperfusion injury may be prevented with a safe, simple solution: a dose of iodide, a chemical form of the element added to ordinary table salt.
By transforming human scar cells into blood vessel cells, scientists may have discovered a new way to repair damaged tissue. The method, described in an upcoming issue of Circulation (early online), appeared to improve blood flow, oxygenation, and nutrition to areas in need.
Researchers regenerate and heal mouse hearts by using the molecular machinery the animals had all along.
For years, a multidisciplinary team of Johns Hopkins researchers has tracked an elusive creature, a complex of proteins thought to be at fault in some cases of sudden cardiac death. As they report Nov. 5 in the online edition of Nature Communications, they have finally captured images of the complex. Those images reveal the connection between some genetic mutations and electrical abnormalities of the heart and provide a starting point for designing therapies.
Sargent College of Boston University researchers look for the root cause of age-related aortic stiffness—an early sign cardiovascular disease—and uncover a potential therapeutic target for reducing or preventing its development. The article is published in AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and is highlighted as part of the APSselect program.
The heart holds its own pool of immune cells capable of helping it heal after injury, according to new research in mice at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Myasthenia gravis is a disorder than can be associated with abnormal function outside of skeletal muscle. Two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) demonstrate that there is a significant proportion of myasthenia patients with arrhythmias and co-morbid inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
In an analysis that included approximately 35,000 participants, genetic predisposition to elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was associated with aortic valve calcium and narrowing of the aortic valve, findings that support a causal association between LDL-C and aortic valve disease, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.
Researchers find the nitrate in beetroot targets fast-twitch muscles, increasing the blood flow to muscles that receive less oxygen. This can increase high-intensity athletic performance and improve quality of life of heart failure patients.
Future prevention and treatment strategies for vascular diseases may lie in the evaluation of early brain imaging tests long before heart attacks or strokes occur, according to a systematic review conducted by a team of cardiologists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the October issue of JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.
Binge drinking in early adulthood is associated with an increased likelihood of high blood pressure in males.
Heart attacks are not as connected to family history and genetics as may have been previously believed, according to a new study by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City.
UCLA stem cell researcher Dr. Arjun Deb has discovered that some scar-forming cells in the heart, known as fibroblasts, have the ability to become endothelial cells (the cells that form blood vessels), and this study can point the way toward a new strategy for treating patients after a heart attack.
Study finds the role of Tbx5 is essential in regulating development of cells in the heart.
Researchers have known for decades that stress contributes to heart disease. But a new analysis by researchers at Duke Medicine shows mental stress may tax women’s hearts more than men’s. The research appears online Oct. 13, 2014, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
This new implant gives patients the opportunity to send daily updates about their heart condition to physicians.
Heart attack survivors often experience dangerous heart rhythm disturbances during treatment designed to restore blood flow to the injured heart muscle, a common and confounding complication of an otherwise lifesaving intervention. Now a duo of Johns Hopkins researchers working with rat heart cells have shown that such post-heart attack arrhythmias are likely triggered by something akin to a power grid failure inside the injured cardiac cells.
In a new study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center concluded that overuse of cardiac stress testing with imaging has led to rising healthcare costs and unnecessary radiation exposure to patients.
Rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are elevated after days with high levels of air pollutants, reports a Japanese study in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
A new, implantable device to control heart failure is showing promising results in the first trial to determine safety and effectiveness in patients, according to lead researcher Dr. William Abraham of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
The disease, which has been named "Chronic Atrial Intestinal Dysrhythmia syndrome" (CAID), is a serious condition caused by a rare genetic mutation. This finding demonstrates that heart and guts rhythmic contractions are closely linked by a single gene in the human body, as shown in a study published on October 5, 2014 in Nature Genetics.
New research by scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) and the Ottawa Heart Institute has uncovered a new pathway by which the brain uses an unusual steroid to control blood pressure.
Leading Canadian spinal cord injury (SCI) experts have launched the unprecedented Spinal Cord Injury: A Manifesto for Change—a call to action and a plea for Canadian health-care providers and stakeholders to work in coordination to improve care and the health of people living with SCI in Canada.
Among patients ages 50 to 69 years who underwent aortic valve replacement with bioprosthetic (made primarily with tissue) compared with mechanical prosthetic valves, there was no significant difference in 15-year survival or stroke, although patients in the bioprosthetic valve group had a greater likelihood of reoperation but a lower likelihood of major bleeding, according to a study in the October 1 issue of JAMA.
Researchers examined systemic delivery of a vector to replace the enzyme IDUA, which is deficient in patients with a rare enzyme deficiency disorder. The works describes how an injection of a vector expressing the IDUA enzyme to the liver can prevent most of the systemic manifestations of the disease, including those found in the heart.
It's a simple message: Call 9-1-1 at the first warning signs of a heart attack. Unfortunately, many still choose to either drive to the hospital, or wait to see if the symptoms disappear. New research from the MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute reconfirms relying on emergency medical services helps heart attack patients avoid delays and expedite treatment.
The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) has released new evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of perioperative and postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and flutter for thoracic surgical procedures. The guidelines are published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Two independent groups of researchers led by Sidney (Wally) Whiteheart, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, and Charles Lowenstein, MD, of the University of Rochester, have published important studies exploring the role that a gene called STXBP5 plays in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that the most common variant of the circulating protein apolipoprotein E, called apoE3, helps repair the lining of blood vessels.
Among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly those with asthma, newly prescribed long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) and inhaled corticosteroid combination therapy, compared with newly prescribed LABAs alone, was associated with a lower risk of death or COPD hospitalization, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.
In an analysis of the results of nearly 50 randomized trials that examined treatments of venous thromboembolisms (blood clot in a vein), there were no significant differences in clinical and safety outcomes associated with most treatment strategies when compared with the low-molecular-weight heparin-vitamin K antagonist combination, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.
People with diabetes who appear otherwise healthy may have a six-fold higher risk of developing heart failure regardless of their cholesterol levels, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart arrhythmia in the United States, affecting between 3-4 million people and numbers are expected to increase by the year 2050 to 12 million to 14 million. Although widely unknown to the general public, atrial fibrillation or AFib needs to be taken seriously. It increases the risk of stroke by as much as five times and can contribute to heart failure and other heart conditions. Because of this reason, Dr. Eric Rashba, Director, Heart Rhythm Center, Stony Brook University Heart Institute, is raising awareness about this condition in hopes to get patients’ hearts back in rhythm.
A team of investigators from the University of Kentucky has made a thought-provoking discovery about a type of cholesterol previously believed to be a "bad guy" in the development of heart disease and other conditions.
HIV infection is no longer a fatal condition, thanks to newer antiretroviral medications, but a phenomenon has surfaced among these patients — non-AIDS complications. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine scientists have resolved the mystery, discovering the leaky gut as the offender.
Professors from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Arizona have published an article emphasizing that the evidence in treatment indicates that all patients having a heart attack or who have survived a prior event should be given aspirin. In healthy individuals, however, they state that any decision to prescribe aspirin should be an individual clinical judgment by the healthcare provider that weighs the absolute benefit in reducing the risk of a first heart against the absolute risk of major bleeding.
Measuring the levels of sex hormones in patients’ blood may identify patients likely to suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, a heart rhythm disorder that is fatal in 95 percent of patients.
New research shows a novel polypill increases patient adherence to treatment following a myocardial infarction (MI) or heart attack, according to new study results reported at the European Society of Cardiology’s ESC Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain by Principal Investigator Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD.
In patients who experienced an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event (such as heart attack or unstable angina), use of the drug darapladib to inhibit the enzyme lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (believed to play a role in the development of atherosclerosis) did not reduce the risk of recurrent major coronary events, according to a study published by JAMA.
A new study – the first to be released by UNC researchers in the SUDDEN study – finds the five highest comorbidities of sudden unexpected death in North Carolina are hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, and cardiomyopathy.
The research shows that for better heart health, rich countries should continue to deliver high quality health care while trying to reduce risk factors, while poor countries need to avoid the rise of risk factors but also substantially improve their health care.
Oxidized lipids are known to play a key role in inflaming blood vessels and hardening arteries, which causes diseases like atherosclerosis. A new study at UCLA demonstrates that they may also contribute to pulmonary hypertension, a serious lung disease that narrows the small blood vessels in the lungs. Using a rodent model, the researchers showed that a peptide mimicking part of the main protein in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called “good” cholesterol, may help reduce the production of oxidized lipids in pulmonary hypertension. They also found that reducing the amount of oxidized lipids improved the rodents’ heart and lung function.
Among patients with hypertension at high risk of cardiovascular disease, a program that consisted of patients measuring their blood pressure and adjusting their antihypertensive medication accordingly resulted in lower systolic blood pressure at 12 months compared to patients who received usual care, according to a study in the August 27 issue of JAMA.
Exercising to improve our cardiovascular strength may protect us from cognitive impairment as we age, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated Institut universitaire de gératrie de Montréal Research Centre.
Black carbon pollutants from wood smoke are known to trap heat near the earth’s surface and warm the climate. A new study led by McGill Professor Jill Baumgartner suggests that black carbon may also increase women’s risk of cardiovascular disease.
A new study led by researchers in the Cardiac and Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center found that current blood pressure recommendations for people aged 60 years and older who suffer from coronary artery disease (CAD) may not be optimal compared to the previous guidelines. The findings, based on analysis of more than 8,000 patient records, appear in the August 18 online issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
The quality of cardiac rehabilitation programs across Canada is strong, with specific criteria areas now identified as requiring further enhancement to improve patient outcomes, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, York University and UHN.
Racial and ethnic minorities who receive implantable devices to treat heart failure derive the same substantial survival benefit from these therapies as white patients, new UCLA-led research shows. While national heart organizations recommend use of these devices for all eligible patients, minorities have not been well represented in clinical device trials, and previous studies had shown that African American and Hispanic patients are less likely to receive these recommended therapies. Researchers note that the current study’s findings are a reminder to physicians and patients that this proven life-extending therapy should be offered to all eligible heart failure patients without regard for race or ethnicity.
A study from UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found that recently introduced cholesterol guidelines would significantly reduce new cardiovascular events, when compared to treatment based on previous cholesterol guidelines.
A study from Columbia University School of Nursing published this month in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing found that 40 percent of patients with pacemakers and defibrillators had little to no ability to understand information about their cardiac health.
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