Implanted Monitor Accurately Detects Heart Rhythm Disturbances
Doctors soon may be able to more accurately monitor heart rhythm disturbances and gauge the severity of atrial fibrillation (AF) with a new algorithm used in the Reveal XT leadless implantable heart monitor, according to research reported in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a journal of the American Heart Association. "Patients with atrial fibrillation may be at significant risk for severe cardiovascular events due to the presence of the arrhythmia, " said the study's lead author, Gerhard Hindricks, M.D., Ph.D., who is also a professor at the Heart Center of the University of Leipzig in Germany. Detecting AF - and adequately treating it - is crucial, Hindricks said, because patients often don't have symptoms.
Women Underrepresented In Clinical Trials Used To Formulate Guidelines; More Affected Than Men By Lack Of Social Support After Heart Attack
Women are substantially underrepresented in clinical trials used to formulate women's guidelines and are affected more than men by low social support after a heart attack, according to two studies in the women-themed issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association. In an editorial, Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., notes that sex-specific research has revealed important differences in the causes, symptoms and treatment of heart disease. But the pool of data is still limited and key questions remain about the development, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women. "After at least a decade of renewed interest in women's cardiovascular health, we are left with more questions than answers, " wrote Vaccarino, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Prostate Cancer Therapy Can Increase Heart Risk Factors
Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), commonly used to treat prostate cancer, can worsen heart risk factors and may increase the risk of heart attack and/or cardiac death, although the relationship between ADT and heart attack or cardiac death has not been definitively established, according to a science advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The advisory, produced by a writing group of experts from the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Urological Association and American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, is an evaluation of published research about the relationship between ADT and cardiovascular events and risk factors in patients with prostate cancer.
Heart Conditions Can Threaten Pediatric Patients
While heart disease is traditionally associated with adults, pediatric patients face a number of cardiac conditions that can impact their health. "The most common pediatric cardiac condition is a congenital heart defect - a structural problem in the heart that can range from small holes between heart chambers to the absence of entire chambers or valves in the heart, " said Robert Mangano, M.D., Director, Pediatric Cardiology, Geisinger Health System. According to the American Heart Association, approximately 36, 000 babies are born each year with congenital heart defects. "Congenital defects are present at birth and are usually formed soon after conception, sometimes before the mother knows she is pregnant, " Dr.
Some Heart Care Costs Stay Outside Insurance Coverage, Lowe's Does National Comparison Shopping For Employees' Heart Surgery
MarketWatch reports that though many tout prevention in relation to heart disease, "chances are your insurance won't cover a trip to a dietician, a gym membership or other services that could help you reduce your risk factors." "Although most insurers cover coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty and stent placement, many don't pay for nutrition, fitness and stress-management counseling that could help patients avoid or delay such drastic measures in the first place, and time-pressed doctors tend to be perfunctory about such subjects." In the meantime, impaired heart function means people with heart disease must pay a lot out of their pockets over the course of the rest of their lives.
Repeated Inflations Of A Blood Pressure Cuff Limits Tissue Damage In Patients With AMI
Repeated lack of oxygen for short periods of time in a distant organ by stopping blood flow, can protect another organ (e.g. the heart), during a subsequent tissue damaging period due to oxygen deficiency. The principle can be applied before predictable oxygen deficiency during heart surgery. However, in most patients heart attacks are unpredictable. In this randomized single-blinded trial, the investigators tried to determine whether remote ischemic conditioning during evolving myocardial infarction could have a protective effect and decrease heart tissue damage in patients later undergoing acute balloon dilatation. A total of 333 Danish patients were assigned to receive remote conditioning or no conditioning during ambulance transportation to the hospital for acute balloon dilatation.
Resveratrol May Replace Aspirin As Heart Protector; Longevinex reg; First Branded Resveratrol Pill Successfully Tested During Heart Attack
With the realization that half of the people experiencing a sudden mortal heart attack were taking aspirin on the day of their demise, researchers have begun to search for a more reliable alternative, and they may have found it in a red wine molecule called resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-trawl). Researchers at the University of Connecticut induced heart attacks in animals and found resveratrol significantly reduces damage to heart muscle. Scarring and fibrosis were limited and the animals survived an otherwise mortal event. Dipak Das, Ph.D., Sc.D., MD (hon), professor and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut, School of Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut, says resveratrol provokes a "pre-conditioning effect" whereby antioxidant defenses in the heart are switched on prior to a heart attack, therefore limiting damage to heart muscle should such an event occur.
Blacks Much Less Likely To Know They Have Heart Condition Or To Use Treatment For It
A large nationwide study that includes neurologists from Mayo Clinic has found that blacks are substantially less likely than whites to know that they have atrial fibrillation or to use warfarin, the most common treatment for the condition. Atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm, significantly increases risk of stroke. Warfarin is known to reduce that risk. Researchers say the findings could help explain why the black population in the U.S. has a higher incidence of both stroke and death from strokes, compared to the white population. They presented their findings at the American Heart Association's 2010 International Stroke Conference in San Antonio.
Heart Failure Worse When Right Ventricle Goes Bad
New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests that the ability of right side of the heart to pump blood may be an indication of the risk of death to heart-failure patients whose condition is caused by low function by the left side of their heart. The ability of the two chambers of the heart, the left and right ventricles, to pump blood is described as ejection fraction. Healthy individuals typically have ejection fractions between 50 and 65 percent in both chambers. In findings reported in January in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, researchers at UAB say that low right-ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) increased the risk of death in patients with systolic heart failure - heart failure associated with low left-ventricular ejection fraction.
Experts Identify Why Women And African Americans Face A Greater Risk Of Dying From Heart Disease Than White Men And What Can Be Done About It
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) announced an educational event for the public highlighting the gender and racial disparities in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The "Know What Counts" educational program titled, "The Path to Health Care Equity: Identifying and Solving Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Health Care in the New Century, " will feature a distinguished physician panel, along with a keynote address by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Association of Black Cardiologists, Mended Hearts, and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, will be held Tuesday, March 2, from noon to 3 p.