Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in the United States. This form of heart attack kills 325,000 people every year, representing one death every two minutes. Almost all SCA victims die before they even reach a hospital. To identify a drug that paramedics can use in the field, UC San Diego Health System has opened a clinical trial to evaluate two medications to help restore the heart beat.
Being involved in a healthy, loving relationship is good for the heart, says Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute cardiologist Julie Damp, M.D. “There are a couple of different theories behind why that might be,” Damp said. People who are married or who are in close, healthy relationships tend to be less likely to smoke, are more physically active and are more likely to have a well-developed social structure, she said. They are also more likely to have lower levels of stress and anxiety in their day-to-day lives.
Most people concerned about heart disease know to avoid the usual health hazards – obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking – but an interactive cardiology research-based website launched by UT Southwestern may lead to new thinking about lifetime risk factors.
A study led by a University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health researcher shows that exercising and getting fit may protect your heart, even if you have a few extra pounds. Articles appears in the Feb. 14 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Erectile dysfunction is a precursor to more serious health problems such as heart disease. Getting problems like diabetes under control are more important than your performance in the bedroom.
Within a few years, a new generation of easy-to-use blood-thinning drugs will likely replace Coumadin for patients with irregular heartbeats who are at risk for stroke, according to a journal article by Loyola University Medical Center physicians.
An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver at the American Stroke Association's 2012 international conference in New Orleans on Feb. 3.
Heart failure is associated with a 30 percent increase in major fractures and also identifies a high-risk population that may benefit from increased screening and treatment for osteoporosis, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
A new study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine reports that while an individual’s risk of heart disease may be low in the next five or 10 years, the lifetime risk could still be very high, findings that could have implications for both clinical practice and public health policy.
When it comes to taking prescribed medications for hypertension, a patient’s self confidence could be as important as doctor’s orders. A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals that positive affirmation, when coupled with patient education, seems to help patients more effectively follow their prescribed medication regimen.
For most heart and stroke patients, it's probably safe to have sex. "For a patient who has sex with a familiar partner in a familiar setting, sexual activity generally is safe and no more strenuous than golf," a Loyola University Health System cardiologist said.
A new study finds that the anatomy of the heart’s tricuspid valve can be used to predict the severity of leakage in the valves, which is a condition called tricuspid regurgitation.
While we may be accustomed to battling frigid temperatures and the inevitable snow storms that arrive every winter, many of us are unaware of the dangers these pose to our hearts.
A patient at Grady Health, Department of Cardiology in Atlanta was so grateful for the health education video that was playing in the waiting room during a recent visit, he actually returned to thank the front desk. The video helped save his life.
Silent atrial fibrillation is very common and may be the cause of many strokes that previously could not be explained. In all, atrial fibrillation may be responsible for nearly 1 in 5 strokes.
A person’s risk of suffering a heart attack increases by approximately 21 times in the first 24 hours after losing a loved one, according to a study lead by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers identified a new culprit that leads to atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fat and cholesterol that hardens into plaque and narrows arteries. The research explains why cholesterol-laden, coronary artery disease-causing cells called macrophages, accumulate in artery plaques.
Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., DrPH discusses the trail of research to his first discovery that aspirin prevents a first heart attack, as well as all the subsequent research that has confirmed his initial landmark finding. He was the founding principal investigator of the landmark Physician's Health Study and was the first to demonstrate that aspirin prevents a first heart attack.
New research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that vitamin D, long known to be important for bone health and in recent years also for heart protection, may stop conferring cardiovascular benefits and could actually cause harm as levels in the blood rise above the low end of what is considered normal.
The biologic and genetic mechanisms controlling the formation and function of the CCS are not well understood, but new research with mice shows that altered function of a gene called Tbx3 interferes with the development of the CCS and causes lethal arrhythmias.
Researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have shown in a follow-up to the landmark clinical trial, Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP), that the use of antihypertensive drug therapy is associated with longer life expectancy (survival).
According to a new UCLA study, cutting key nerves to the heart that control the adrenaline-driven “flight or fight” stress response may help alleviate life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. This is one of the first studies to assess the impact of performing this type of surgery on both sides of the heart to control arrhythmias, called a bilateral cardiac sympathetic denervation (BCSD).
Contrary to current guidelines, Mayo Clinic researchers have found that angioplasties performed at centers without on-site cardiac surgery capabilities pose no increased risk for patient death or emergency bypass surgery. Results of the study were published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association and have implications for how care can be delivered to heart attack victims and for performance of angioplasties at centers without on-site surgery.
In a new study, NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered how cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins promote the breakdown of plaque in the arteries.
Many heart patients in India are too poor to afford pacemakers. But a study has found that removing pacemakers from deceased Americans, resterilizing the devices and implanting them in Indian patients "is very safe and effective."
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that an inflammatory mechanism known as inflammasome may lead to more damage in the heart following injury such as a heart attack, pointing researchers toward developing more targeted strategies to block the inflammatory mechanisms involved.
Heart rate recovery at one minute after a six-minute walking distance (6MWD) test is highly predictive of clinical worsening and time to clinical worsening in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), according to a new study.
In two new studies presented at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Penn researchers show that the systemic inflammatory impact of psoriasis may alter both the makeup of cholesterol particles and numbers, as well as impair the function of high density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol.
Coronary calcium in heart arteries provides important clues about risk, even among younger and elderly patients and those without traditional risk factors, according to new studies.
If your doctor says you have a negative stress test, or that your cholesterol or blood pressure are normal, how assured can you be that you’re not likely to have a heart attack in the next seven to 10 years? Assessing traditional risk factors, such as age, high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and family history can estimate a person’s risk, but the picture is not always clear-cut. Some newer tests can be offered to provide reassurance or guidance about the need for medications or further testing.
UB research establishes that new heart cells can be regenerated in a stem cell therapy potentially applicable to patients suffering from heart dysfunction arising from insufficient blood flow to the heart. This is being presented today (Nov. 15) at the American Heart Association annual meeting.
After a heart attack, the portions of the heart damaged by a lack of oxygen become scar tissue. Researchers have long sought ways to avoid this scarring, which can harden the walls of the heart, lessen its ability to pump blood and eventually lead to heart failure. But new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine shows that interrupting this process can weaken heart function even further.
For patients who have suffered an ischemic stroke, traditional treatment prescribes keeping subsequent blood pressure levels as low as possible to reduce the risk of another stroke. A new international study, however, suggests this conventional approach may not be helpful, and could actually increase recurrent stroke risk – at least in the first few months after the first event.
The risk of heart failure appears to be higher among low-income seniors — even those with a college education — according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented during the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
A research network led by a Mayo Clinic physician found that stem cells obtained from bone marrow delivered two to three weeks after a person has a heart attack did not improve heart function. This is the first study to systematically examine the timing and method of stem cell delivery and provides vital information for the field of cell therapy.
A recent study found no significant difference in the outcome for patients who received carotid artery stenting (CAS) at more than 30 days post-transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke versus those who received CAS at 30 days or less post-event.
A new study shows that carotid artery stenting (CAS) following prior same-side carotid artery revascularization is safe, effective and results in lower incidences of in-hospital death, stroke and heart attack compared to first-time CAS for carotid artery stenosis. This study received “Best of Session” recognition and will be presented in an abstract format at the American Heart Association annual meeting on November 14 at 9:30 AM in Orlando, FL.
Hospitals that do not have cardiac surgery capability can perform nonemergency angioplasty and stent implantation as safely as hospitals that do offer cardiac surgery. That is the finding of the nation’s first large, randomized study to assess whether patients do just as well having nonemergency angioplasty performed at smaller, community hospitals that do not offer cardiac surgery.
Highlights: 1) A test done mid-pregnancy accurately predicts which women will later develop preeclampsia, a late-pregnancy disorder characterized by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine. Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious—even fatal—complications for a pregnant woman and her baby. 2) Women with high blood pressure during pregnancy risk experiencing high blood pressure, kidney problems, and stroke in the future compared to women with normal blood pressure during pregnancy.
According to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have low levels of inflammatory disease activity have lower risk for heart complications and stroke.
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the infiltration of white blood cells into an expectant mother’s blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy.
A new therapy being studied in non-human primates by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and colleagues is demonstrating promise as a potential tool for combating cardiovascular disease by increasing good cholesterol and lowering triglycerides in the blood.
Patients with certain genes or specific factors related to use of the anti-clotting drug clopidogrel are more likely to experience a blood clot within a coronary stent shortly after placement, according to a study in the October 26 issue of JAMA.
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered several gene variants contributing to early stent thrombosis (ST), a devastating and often deadly complication after coronary stent implantation in people with coronary artery disease.
1) Patients who take at least one blood pressure-lowering medication at bedtime have better control of their blood pressure and are less likely to experience heart problems than patients who take medications in the morning. 2) Sleep-time blood pressure is a better measure of heart health than wake-time blood pressure. 3) About one out of three U.S. adults has high blood pressure.
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center today announce findings published in the October 20 issue of Nature that show for the first time the inhibition of both microRNA-33a and microRNA-33b (miR-33a/b) with chemically modified anti-miR oligonucleotides markedly suppress triglyceride levels and cause a sustained increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) “good” cholesterol.
Presentation by leading expert in reproductive endocrinology among highlights at meeting sponsored by the American Physiological Society.
MRI scanning could become a powerful new tool for assessing how well cholesterol drugs are working, according to a Loyola University Health System cardiologist who co-authored an MRI study of patients taking cholesterol medications.
Cardiovascular disease and other gender-specific conditions – such as menopause, pregnancy, depression, and obesity – will be explored in depth at a two day conference being sponsored by the American Physiology Society
Older patients who happened to have been taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs when admitted to the hospital with serious head injuries were 76 percent more likely to survive than those not taking the drugs, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study.
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