http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A multidisciplinary team from the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), which is affiliated to the Université de Montréal, performed its first catheter implantation of a new prosthesis (Amptlazer Cardiac Plug) closing the appendage of the left atrium of the heart, which will have the effect of preventing the formation of blood clots and avoiding open-heart surgery. http://www.physorg.com/news178810743.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:10:02 EST news178810743 (PhysOrg.com) -- While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. http://www.physorg.com/news176408803.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:50:04 EST news176408803 The theme of this year's World Stroke Day on 29th October is "What can I do?". As the World Stroke Organization says, everyone can do something: learn to recognise symptoms and take action, learn to recognise the risk factors and take action. http://www.physorg.com/news175519329.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:22:59 EST news175519329 Even though the incidence of atrial fibrillation is higher in men than women, a review of past studies and medical literature completed by cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center shows that women are more likely than men to experience symptomatic attacks, a higher frequency of recurrences, and significantly higher heart rates during atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke. http://www.physorg.com/news172842438.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:10:11 EST news172842438 Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York became the first in the U.S. to ablate atrial fibrillation using a visually-guided laser balloon catheter. The procedure was performed September 15 by Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Mount Sinai Heart, and his colleague, Srinivas R. Dukkipati, MD, Director of Mount Sinai's Experimental Electrophysiology Laboratory. http://www.physorg.com/news172513773.html Medicine & Health Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:00:01 EST news172513773 Most research in atrial fibrillation (AF) has focused on reducing stroke and other embolic events. Yet heart failure occurs more frequently in AF patients, but has not been the focus of intervention research. http://www.physorg.com/news171048362.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:30:01 EST news171048362 Warfarin therapy for patients with atrial fibrillation - the most common type of significant heart rhythm disorder - appears to be most beneficial for the oldest patients, those who have had a prior stroke and for patients with multiple risk factors for stroke, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers. This comparative effectiveness research study - among the first and largest to quantify warfarin's net clinical benefit, how much a treatment's potential benefits outweigh its risks, in the usual clinical care of patients with atrial fibrillation - appears in the September 1 Annals of Internal Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news170960273.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:59:12 EST news170960273 Coffee is routinely consumed in countries within the Mediterranean basin. Coffee, an infusion of ground, roasted coffee beans, is the most widely consumed behaviourally active substance in the world. It contains several hundred different substances including, antioxidants, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds and alkaloids. Nevertheless, the effects of coffee on the cardiovascular system have been mainly related to caffeine. Acute and chronic caffeine intake appears to have only minor negative consequence on health. However, high levels of caffeine intake have been related to ventricular arrhythmias. http://www.physorg.com/news170935796.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:10:42 EST news170935796 The blood thinner warfarin can prevent strokes in most individuals with abnormal heart rhythms, but the drug may have the opposite effect in kidney disease patients on dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that warfarin should be prescribed with caution in patients with kidney failure. http://www.physorg.com/news170613319.html Medicine & Health Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:50:02 EST news170613319 Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center were the first in the country to perform a non-surgical procedure using sutures to tie off a left atrial appendage (LAA), which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is the most common sustained heart-rhythm disorder in the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news170093745.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:16:12 EST news170093745 Patients with atrial fibrillation, common in those with advanced chronic heart failure, have an increased risk of hospitalization due to heart failure, according to new research from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The findings, published in June in the European Heart Journal, also suggest that atrial fibrillation is not associated with an increased risk of death in heart failure patients, contradicting previous assumptions. http://www.physorg.com/news166104110.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:20:01 EST news166104110 New research indicates that a finding on a routine electrocardiogram that signals a disorder of the electrical conducting system in one part of the heart and previously believed to be benign is associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation, the implantation of a pacemaker or death, according to a study in the June 24 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news164999163.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:10:01 EST news164999163 A common electrocardiogram (ECG) finding that has largely been considered insignificant may actually signal an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (a chronic heart rhythm disturbance), the future need for a permanent pacemaker and an increased risk for premature death. In their report in the June 24 Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Boston University School of Medicine describe results of the first large-scale study looking at the significance of a prolonged PR interval in a general population. http://www.physorg.com/news164998759.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:00:01 EST news164998759 Competitive sports and endurance training comes with a real -- even if rare -- twist. While most people will enjoy the benefits and pleasures of exercise, there are a few for whom regular athletic training will increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and even sudden death. http://www.physorg.com/news164783567.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:13:06 EST news164783567 Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, a major international study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news161518360.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 May 2009 11:13:15 EST news161518360 Predictors of atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) might offer physicians a better way to prevent stroke in blacks, according to a new study done by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news160213743.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:49:37 EST news160213743 Can doing the downward-facing dog keep your heart from racing out of control? Alicia Jones is hoping so. http://www.physorg.com/news158496029.html Medicine & Health Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:41:05 EST news158496029 Older men who were big during their 20s face an increased risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythm. New research from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reveals that height and weight are both factors. http://www.physorg.com/news157974033.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:40:52 EST news157974033 (AP) -- Taking the blood thinner Plavix along with aspirin helped prevent strokes and heart attacks in people with a common heartbeat abnormality that puts them at high risk of these problems, doctors reported Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news157716473.html Medicine & Health Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:08:23 EST news157716473 Results from a large, international, randomised, controlled trial have shown that there is a strong link between diabetics who have an abnormal heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation) and an increased risk of other heart-related problems and death. The findings are published in Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1] today (Thursday 12 March). http://www.physorg.com/news156060407.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:07:18 EST news156060407 Chronic kidney disease increases the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of heart arrhythmia, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente researchers in the current online issue of Circulation. http://www.physorg.com/news155394724.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:12:32 EST news155394724 A new study shows that atrial fibrillation--the most common form of sustained heart arrhythmia--can be caused in an unexpected way. Researchers report in the December 12th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, the first evidence that a rare and particularly severe form of the disease stems from a gene involved in shuttling other molecules in and out of the cell nucleus, where the DNA that serves as the blueprint for life is housed. http://www.physorg.com/news148223719.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:15:19 EST news148223719 Reducing how often a patient receives amiodarone, a medication used for suppressing atrial fibrillation (irregular heart beat) but which causes side effects, did not decrease the overall amount of amiodarone-related and heart disease related side effects, but did increase the rate of atrial fibrillation recurrence and the risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular hospitalizations, according to a study in the October 15 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news143219967.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:19:27 EST news143219967 University of Utah researchers have developed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based method for detecting and quantifying injury to the wall of the heart's left atrium in patients who have undergone a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. The results of the study are published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://www.physorg.com/news142605646.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:40:46 EST news142605646 (PhysOrg.com) -- Patients who take the commonly used blood-thinning drug warfarin face larger amounts of bleeding in the brain and increased risk of mortality if they suffer a hemorrhagic stroke, new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows. http://www.physorg.com/news141927166.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:12:46 EST news141927166 On June 16, 2008, Barbara Ganschow of Palatine, IL, became the first person in the world to be successfully treated with a new device designed to make it safer and easier for heart specialists to create a hole in the cardiac atrial septum. The hole, created by the NRGTM Transseptal Needle, allows cardiac catheters to cross from the right side of the heart to the left side. http://www.physorg.com/news135439159.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:59:19 EST news135439159 Mayo Clinic researchers have found a gene mutation linked to one family's hereditary form of atrial fibrillation. Researchers hope this discovery will lead to better understanding of the disease and, eventually, better ways to predict, prevent and treat the heart rhythm problem. http://www.physorg.com/news134903385.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:09:45 EST news134903385