292 Articles with the topic: Cardiovascular Disorders


House committee widens probe of Vytorin safety
jerry submitted, created time 2 days 1 hour (www.iht.com)
A House committee investigating the safety and effectiveness of the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin and one of its components is turning up the heat on the drug's makers. 


Heartbeat patterns could keep wireless implants secure
sea-maid submitted, created time 4 days 5 hours (technology.newscientist.com)
If future medical implants are to communicate safely, they need to be hacker resistant – a person's pulse could provide the key. 


sea-maid submitted, created time 5 days 10 hours (www.time.com)
Fish oil supplements may work slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug to help patients with chronic heart failure 


Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure
jerry submitted, created time 6 days 29 minutes (www.washingtonpost.com)
Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found. 


Exposure to antipsychotics and risk of stroke
lavrock submitted, created time 1 week 2 days (www.bmj.com)
In UK primary care antipsychotic drug use was associated with an increased risk of stroke, and the risk was raised further by use of atypical drugs and by having dementia, according to this self controlled case series study. An accompaning editorial explains how this study design illustrates the relation between antipsychotics and stroke. 


First red blood cells grown in the lab
sea-maid submitted, created time 2 weeks 2 days (www.newscientist.com)
Blood donations may one day be a thing of the past thanks to the creation of the first functional red blood cells grown in the lab. The cells were grown from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). 


How to stop a new type of heart attack
sea-maid submitted, created time 2 weeks 2 days (technology.newscientist.com)
PACEMAKERS are supposed to protect people from heart attacks. But to do that they have to provide digital as well as biological security.
Earlier this year, a team led by William Maisel at Harvard Medical School demonstrated how a commercial radio transmitter could be used to modify wireless communications from a pacemaker (New Scientist, 22 March, p 23). Doctors normally use these signals to monitor and adjust the implanted device, but a malicious hacker could reprogram the pacemaker to give its wearer damaging shocks, or run down its batteries 


Drugs turn "couch potato" mice into long-distance runners
sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 3 days (www.nature.com)
In a study published today in the journal Cell, scientists say they have found the first targeted drugs that boost endurance. They are already working with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to develop tests to expose would-be cheats who use the drugs. 


Heart Blood Vessels Grown in the Lab
sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.washingtonpost.com)
Researchers say they have grown in mice the kind of functioning heart blood vessels that cardiac surgeons create with bypass operations. 


The benefits of green tea in reducing an important risk factor for heart disease
kavin submitted, created time 2 months 3 days (esciencenews.com)
More evidence for the beneficial effect of green tea on risk factors for heart disease has emerged in a new study reported in the latest issue of European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.1 The study found that the consumption of green tea rapidly improves the function of (endothelial) cells lining the circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the progression of atherosclerosis 


Increased Mortality after Dronedarone Therapy for Severe Heart Failure
kavin submitted, created time 2 months 4 days (content.nejm.org)
Background: Dronedarone is a novel antiarrhythmic drug with electrophysiological properties that are similar to those of amiodarone, but it does not contain iodine and thus does not cause iodine-related adverse reactions. Therefore, it may be of value in the treatment of patients with heart failure.
Methods: In a multicenter study with a double-blind design, we planned to randomly assign 1000 patients who were hospitalized with symptomatic heart failure and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction to receive 400 mg of dronedarone twice a day or placebo 


kavin submitted, created time 2 months 4 days (www.medscape.com)
This large, prospective, observational study showed that Finnish smokers who consumed eight or more cups of coffee per day had a 23% lowered risk for cerebral infarction, whereas those who drank two or more cups of black tea daily had a 21% lowered risk for this type of stroke vs those who drank little or none of these beverages. The associations were independent of risk factors such as a history of coronary heart disease.
Their report is published in the June 2008 issue of Stroke 


Sudden hearing loss a harbinger of stroke
kavin submitted, created time 2 months 5 days (mobile.reuters.com)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A sudden loss of hearing can be an early warning of impending stroke, according to results of a study released Thursday.
Dr. Herng-Ching Lin and colleagues at Taipei Medical University identified 1423 adult patients hospitalized in 1998 with a first episode of sudden hearing loss and matched each "case" patient to four "control" patients.
Patients in the hearing loss group were significantly more likely to have hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels, the investigators note 


Angiotensin II Blockade and Aortic-Root Dilation in Marfan's Syndrome
kavin submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (content.nejm.org)
Progressive enlargement of the aortic root, leading to dissection, is the main cause of premature death in patients with Marfan's syndrome. Recent data from mouse models of Marfan's syndrome suggest that aortic-root enlargement is caused by excessive signaling by transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) that can be mitigated by treatment with TGF-β antagonists, including angiotensin II–receptor blockers (ARBs). We evaluated the clinical response to ARBs in pediatric patients with Marfan's syndrome who had severe aortic-root enlargement. 


Bosentan benefits in mild pulmonary arterial hypertension
kavin submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.thelancet.com)
The EARLY study, published in the June 21, 2008 issue of the Lancet, was conducted by a group led by Dr Nazzareno Galič (University of Bologna, Italy).
They note that bosentan has been shown to improve exercise capacity, hemodynamics, and delay clinical worsening in two pivotal clinical trials, but in these, like other trials of treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension, the vast majority of enrolled patients were in an advanced symptomatic state (WHO functional class 3 and 4) 