Innovative Project Has Potential To Benefit People With Irregular Heart Beat
Scientists at the University of Leicester are 'painting' the colours of the heart in an innovative project that has potential to bring benefits for millions of people with irregular heart rhythm. An estimated 4.5 million people in the European Union are known to have Atrial fibrillation (AF) - the most common type of arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm. The condition affects about 10% of people over the age of 70. Considering the advancing age in the general population and links to body size and obesity, scientists say the increase in AF is almost approaching epidemic proportions. Researchers from the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester are working with colleagues in the University's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and St Jude Medical UK to devise a new way of 'mapping' the electrical signals of the heart and creating a colour map of abnormal signals.
National Leaders In Heart Transplantation And Heart Failure Join Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
The California Heart Center, the cardiology group that developed the nation's largest heart transplant program, has joined the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation. The California Heart Center physicians, who are nationally and internationally regarded for their expertise in treating advanced heart failure, are moving from UCLA to assume leadership roles at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Their group, which will remain in private practice, will also become part of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation. The group is led by Jon Kobashigawa, M.D., a past president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation who has authored more than 200 scientific manuscripts.
Life's Simple 7 Measures For Healthy Heart
The American Heart Association (AHA) has for the first time defined "ideal cardiovascular health" and linked it to seven simple measures ("Life's Simple 7") that people can influence through diet and lifestyle changes to move from poor and intermediate to ideal health. Details of the seven health factors and lifestyle behaviors were published online before print on 20 January in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association in an AHA scientific statement about the new goals for defining and setting national goals for cardivascular health and disease prevention. Lead author Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and associate professor of Preventive Medicine and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said that improvements in the seven health factors and lifestyle behaviors can greatly affect quality of life and life span, as well as dramatically reduce the financial burden of the Medicare-eligible population.
What Is Rheumatic Fever? What Causes Rheumatic Fever?
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that may develop as a complication of a streptococcus infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever (caused by Streptococcus pyogenes or group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus ). If it does develop, it will usually do so two to three weeks after the Group A streptococcal infection. Rheumatic fever mainly affects children aged between 5 and 15 years; however, it can affect adults and younger children. Boys and girls have the same risk of developing the disease; girls and women tend to have more severe symptoms. The disease may cause long term effects on the skin, heart, brain and joints. Rheumatic fever may cause permanent damage to the heart valves (rheumatic heart disease).
Atrial Fibrillation Risk Lower With Some Classes Of Antihypertensives
Atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, is a major risk factor for thromboembolic events, particularly stroke. This risk is especially high in patients with high blood pressure. Antihypertensive drugs are known to reduce the risk for atrial fibrillation by lowering blood pressure. However, some classes of antihypertensives may have greater risk reduction through other mechanisms. Researchers studied 4, 661 patients with atrial fibrillation against 18, 642 matched control patients from a population of 682, 993 patients treated for hypertension in the United Kingdom. They compared the risk for atrial fibrillation among hypertensive patients taking angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II-receptor blockers (ARBs), or beta-blockers to the reference group taking calcium channel blockers.
Cardiovascular Disease Targeted By New Nanoparticles
Researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School have built targeted nanoparticles that can cling to artery walls and slowly release medicine, an advance that potentially provides an alternative to drug-releasing stents in some patients with cardiovascular disease. The particles, dubbed "nanoburrs" because they are coated with tiny protein fragments that allow them to stick to target proteins, can be designed to release their drug payload over several days. They are one of the first such particles that can precisely home in on damaged vascular tissue, says Omid Farokhzad, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an author of a paper describing the nanoparticles in the Jan.
Study Shows GHRH-Agonists Can Activate Cardiac Repair After Myocardial Infarction
Despite major therapeutic advances, congestive heart failure remains a leading cause of death and disability. There is currently no therapy that fully reverses heart failure and/or left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, leaving physicians with a great need for viable treatments. A team of physician-scientists from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, including a Nobel Laureate, have demonstrated that growth hormone-releasing hormone agonists (GHRH-A) can stimulate major recovery of the heart injured by a heart attack. GHRH is a master regulator of growth hormone that is produced by the brain. Joshua M. Hare, M.D., Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, was the principal investigator of the study that included fifteen researchers, among them co-senior author Andrew V.
Physicians In Canada To Achieve Greater Levels Of Control During Thoracic Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
Canadian physicians performing thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR) can now achieve even greater levels of control, proximal conformity and apposition with Cook Medical's new Zenith TX2 TAA Endovascular Graft with Pro-Form. The technology, approved by Health Canada, is specifically designed for patients with tight aortic arches that are traditionally difficult to seal. TX2 with Pro-Form utilizes an improved delivery system that allows physicians to achieve unrivaled proximal conformity and apposition of the device to the aortic wall, virtually eliminating the 'bird's beak' gap. "Tight aortic arches in TAA patients, many of whom are women, pose a particular challenge to endovascular treatment, " said Dr.
Crucial Differences Found Among Latino Populations Facing Heart Disease Risks; Not All Hispanics Are The Same
Latinos are not all the same when it comes to risk of heart disease, and a new study by a Columbia University researcher shows key differences among Hispanic populations that doctors should take into account in trying to stem the risk of cardiovascular disease in this large and growing subset of the U.S. population. Among the new findings published in the January 19, 2009 Journal of the American College of Cardiology are that Caribbean-origin Hispanics have greater prevalence of hypertension than Mexicans, whom among all the Hispanic subgroups tended to be more susceptible to diabetes, lead cardiologist/researcher Carlos Rodriguez, M.D., MPH, of Columbia University Medical Center and his colleagues have found.
NICE Publishes Draft Recommendations On The Management Of Chronic Heart Failure In Adults
NICE is in the process of updating its clinical guideline on the management of chronic heart failure in adults and has published its draft recommendations for public consultation.Since the original guideline was published in 2003, new high-quality evidence from randomised controlled trials in diagnosis, treatment and monitoring have been published. This partial update will ensure that the recommendations take into account the new evidence available. Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome of symptoms and signs such as breathlessness, fatigue and fluid retention that suggest the efficiency of the heart is impaired. The most common cause of heart failure in the UK is coronary artery disease, with many patients having suffered a myocardial infarction ( heart attack ) in the past.