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. Results from the first comparative effectiveness study of two surgical treatments for heart failure will likely change practice for surgeons and cardiologists evaluating treatment options for some of their sickest patients, according to investigators in the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). http://www.physorg.com/news157633367.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:04:17 EST news157633367 An international study to resolve a decade of debate over the best timing for administering an anti-clotting drug for certain heart patients has come up with an answer: It doesn't matter. http://www.physorg.com/news157629994.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:08:26 EST news157629994 Drug-eluting stents were safe and superior to bare metal stents in preventing death and heart attacks among 262,700 "real-world" patients enrolled in a nationwide registry of cardiovascular disease, according to researchers from Duke University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news157533919.html Medicine & Health Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:26:06 EST news157533919 When tiny semipalmated sandpipers embark on their annual odyssey from the Canadian Arctic to their winter residences in South America, they set out on one of the world's longest migrations. On the way, the tiny birds stop off at the Bay of Fundy on the Canadian east coast, where they spend two weeks gorging on a superfood, Corophium volutator (mud shrimps), which have some of the highest levels of n-3 fatty acids (better known as omega-3 fatty acids) of any marine animal. http://www.physorg.com/news157350358.html Biology Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:29:10 EST news157350358 For the first time ever, a Michigan State University researcher has shown cholesterol crystals can disrupt plaque in a patient's cardiovascular system, causing a heart attack or stroke. http://www.physorg.com/news157307267.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:28:29 EST news157307267 New data published in the March 31, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology show that patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who achieve very low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol along with normal systolic blood pressure have the slowest progression of CAD. The results suggest that patients with CAD should be treated to the most stringent target levels so that they can achieve optimal results from their lipid lowering and antihypertensive therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news157048445.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:34:38 EST news157048445 In a patient study of over 1,000 individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD), researchers have found that high levels of an enzyme called PLTP significantly increased the risk of heart attack in the subset of patients taking statins. While follow-up studies will be needed to tease out the exact connection between PLTP and statins, this connection does suggest levels of PLTP in the blood should be a consideration for potential statin treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news157035268.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:55:17 EST news157035268 After three years working with investigators from 10 different clinical trials around the world from Brazil to London to Pittsburgh, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have pooled enough individual patient data to compare the effectiveness of coronary artery bypass surgery with the less-invasive angioplasty procedure on specific groups of patients for the first time. http://www.physorg.com/news156711453.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:58:19 EST news156711453 (PhysOrg.com) -- Taben Hale is studying the connection between the two and is working on what might be the best way to find answers for both common problems. http://www.physorg.com/news156450021.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:20:58 EST news156450021 People who have had a heart attack are likely to report having been in traffic shortly before their symptoms began, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. http://www.physorg.com/news156180373.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:26:26 EST news156180373 A study published today online in The Lancet (March 13, 2009) presented two year data for the bioabsorbable everolimus coronary stent. Commenting on the results, interventional cardiology specialist, Professor Franz Eberli from the University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland) and official spokesperson for the European Society of Cardiology, said: http://www.physorg.com/news156168819.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:14:30 EST news156168819 A new drug derived from magnolia trees appears to be able to uncouple two important functions of thrombin in blood clot formation and may offer a way to better control the potentially dangerous complications of bleeding and clot formation during procedures to open blocked coronary arteries, say researchers at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). http://www.physorg.com/news156103974.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:13:36 EST news156103974 (AP) -- European heart patients are taking more medication than ever before to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol, but bad habits such as overeating and smoking are undermining the drugs, a new study says. Despite big increases in heart patients on medication, most still have high blood pressure and nearly half have high cholesterol. http://www.physorg.com/news156094278.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:31:55 EST news156094278 (PhysOrg.com) -- UC Irvine researchers have discovered that circadian rhythms - our own body clock - regulate energy levels in cells. The findings have far-reaching implications, from providing greater insights into the bond between the body's day-night patterns and metabolism to creating new ways to treat cancer, diabetes, obesity and a host of related diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news156087705.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:42:18 EST news156087705 Anger and hostility are significantly associated with both a higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy individuals and poorer outcomes in patients with existing heart disease, according to the first quantitative review and meta-analysis of related studies, which appears in the March 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Management of anger and hostility may be an important adjuvant strategy in preventing CHD in the general public and treating CHD patients, according to authors. http://www.physorg.com/news155841514.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:18:58 EST news155841514 X-rays penetrate the patient's body, helping the doctor guide the catheter through the artery. In future, it will be possible to monitor the position of the catheter without exposing the patient to X-ray radiation, and without the need for a contrast medium. http://www.physorg.com/news155815475.html Technology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:05:19 EST news155815475 Following an acute coronary syndrome such as a heart attack or unstable angina, patients who receive a medication to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding that may be associated with the use of the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel and aspirin have an increased risk of subsequent hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome or death, according to a study in the March 4 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news155320506.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:36:06 EST news155320506 Researchers at the University of Vermont Cardiovascular Research Institute, Colchester, Vermont have found that increased expression in the heart of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is profibrotic. The results, which appear in the March 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, implicate PAI-1 overexpression, known to accompany insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, as a factor contributing to the high incidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction in people with diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news154682145.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:16:15 EST news154682145 (PhysOrg.com) -- Statins, used widely to treat elevated cholesterol, have been shown to prevent progression of coronary narrowing and to have other beneficial effects on the heart, such as reducing inflammation, that are independent of cholesterol. http://www.physorg.com/news154630899.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:02:11 EST news154630899 Scare tactics may not be necessary when trying to get patients at risk of heart disease to change their diet or behaviour, a new study has found. Instead, doctors and nurses should be aware of the stage of life their patients are at, and offer them very specific and targeted advice. http://www.physorg.com/news154615288.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:42:06 EST news154615288 A study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that high-fat diets, even if consumed for a short amount of time, can inflame fat tissue surrounding blood vessels, possibly contributing to cardiovascular disease. http://www.physorg.com/news154190358.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:40:04 EST news154190358 Current guidelines for when to prescribe popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins would produce cost-effective results and would save thousands of lives every year if they were followed more closely by physicians and patients, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. http://www.physorg.com/news154171990.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:48:43 EST news154171990 When it comes to treating heart attacks, experience matters. New research shows that patients have a much better chance of survival when both their hospital and their physician have a strong track record in treating heart attack with angioplasty and stenting. http://www.physorg.com/news153424220.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:58:44 EST news153424220 Reperfusion therapy in the form of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is now the recommended first treatment for victims of acute myocardial infarction. New European guidelines issued in November 2008 emphasised speed of action and the importance of reperfusion therapy to restore blood flow to the heart and improve survival rates. The benefits of PCI are less clear in patients with stable coronary artery disease; PCI has been shown to improve symptoms, but the impact on prognosis is still a matter of debate. http://www.physorg.com/news153138808.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:33:51 EST news153138808 A simple measurement of resting pulse predicts coronary events in women independently of physical activity and common risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, finds a study published on bmj.com today. http://www.physorg.com/news152951670.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:35:08 EST news152951670 Researchers conducting a large, ongoing study to improve detection and prevention of sudden cardiac death were surprised to discover that a specific heart rhythm abnormality - idiopathic QT interval prolongation - increased risk five-fold among patients with coronary artery disease. http://www.physorg.com/news152816807.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:07:46 EST news152816807 Pulse pressure, an inexpensive and noninvasive measurement derived from blood pressure readings, can effectively indicate which patients with kidney disease are at increased risk of developing potentially fatal heart complications, according to a study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). http://www.physorg.com/news152386888.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:41:51 EST news152386888 Risk stratification has become central to strategies for the prevention of coronary heart disease, with the implication that priority is given to those at highest risk (ie, those with established heart disease). However, such stratification using the conventional risk estimation models may not be accurately achieved in individuals without symptoms, especially those in younger age groups whose 10-year "short-term" estimated risk seems low. http://www.physorg.com/news152281464.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:24:59 EST news152281464 States that dropped regulations overseeing the performance of two common heart procedures showed no increase in death rates, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Rice University and Duke University Medical Center. The findings are available online in the journal Health Services Research. http://www.physorg.com/news152279091.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:45:18 EST news152279091 Coronary bypass surgery may carry less risk of serious complications if stents coated with a drug that suppresses cell growth are used in the procedure rather than bare-metal stents, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and colleagues have found. http://www.physorg.com/news151829798.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:57:11 EST news151829798