Tag: Heart Disease

Exercise and physical activity are of vast global importance to prevent and control the increasing problem of heart disease and stroke, according to a review paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This paper is part of an eight-part health promotion series where each paper will focus on a different

People with deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) can substantially cut their risk of potentially debilitating complications by starting adequate compression therapy in the first twenty-four hours of DVT therapy (known as the acute phase of treatment), suggests a study published today in the journal Blood. DVT occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, commonly

For the first time since 2009, Stefanie Putnam is able to prepare — and eat — meals for herself, put the vest on her service dog, Kaz, and drive herself to activities with her horse without losing consciousness or gasping for breath. “My whole life has opened up for me again!” Putnam said. A C4

A new approach that distills deluges of genetic data and patient health records has identified a set of telltale patterns that can predict a person’s risk for a common, and often fatal, cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Although the method, which uses a form of artificial

A model developed using artificial intelligence (AI) is better at predicting risk of death in patients with heart disease than models designed by medical experts, a new study from the Francis Crick Institute shows. The study, published in PLOS One, adds to the growing evidence that AI could revolutionise healthcare in the UK and beyond.

We’re living longer and that goes for people who may not have survived in the past – people with heart failure. That’s because people are ­surviving heart attacks which once would have killed them. So what can we do to ensure the wellbeing of this new generation of survivors? It could be something as simple

Insights into how harmful white blood cells form during tuberculosis infection point to novel targets for pharmacological interventions, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Valentina Guerrini and Maria Laura Gennaro of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and colleagues. Foam cells are a type of white blood cell, known as

Recommendations for a high quality diet to avoid cardiovascular disease were developed in high-income countries two to three decades ago. They don’t consider other parts of the world or how diets have changed. Now scientists of the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences are using research from several large

A clinical trial of more than 1,000 patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) found that the drug ranolazine (commonly used to treat chest pain; brand name Ranexa®) was safe but didn’t significantly decrease the likelihood of the first occurrence of ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation or death in this high-risk population. The study was published recently

A sedentary lifestyle combined with a diet dominated by processed foods has widely resulted in a range of conditions including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, which are known collectively as metabolic syndrome. Although many insights into the causes of metabolic syndrome have been made, much remains to be understood about the complex interplay among

There are diseases or problems we tend to associate with older people but unfortunately, they can happen at any time. Here’s what to be aware of… Arthritis It’s a common misconception that arthritis is an old person’s disease. While osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear, and therefore most common among those over 65, rheumatoid

No one likes getting wrinkles, but a new study suggests that some wrinkles may be more than just a sign of aging — they might signal heart disease risk. The study, from researchers in France, found that people with numerous, deep forehead wrinkles —  more than is typical for their age — were more likely

While pigs still cannot fly, researchers have discovered that the hearts of newborn piglets do have one remarkable ability. They can almost completely heal themselves after experimental heart attacks. This regenerative capacity is short-lived — disappearing by day three after birth, say teams of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at several

You’re worried about pollution, yes? Want to offset the damage it can do? Simple. Switch to a Mediterranean diet. You know the one – mainly fruit and veg, wholegrains, fish, eggs, lean meat, nuts, seeds and olive oil. Well, latest research from New York University on 548,699 people aged over 17 suggests it may be

Studying transthyretin amyloidoses-a group of progressive nerve and cardiac degenerative diseases caused by the buildup of misfolded transthyretin (TTR) proteins in the body-has long been hampered by the lack of animal models of the disease. Mice, for instance, don’t show the same symptoms as humans, even when misfolded TTR accumulates in their organs. Now, scientists

Researchers report in Nature Communications they figured out why air sacs in the lungs clog up with a thick substance called surfactant in a brutal disease called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP), and they show taking cholesterol-busting pills called statins can effectively treat the disease. That’s good news for people with PAP because at present the

With cigarette smoking declining in popularity in several parts of the world, many products have been marketed as a safer alternative, including hookahs. Likewise, the tobacco smoked with these pipes is said to come with fewer carcinogens than the tobacco used in cigarettes. A new study, however, suggests that hookah smoking isn’t as safe as

New knowledge about biological processes related to the heart’s electrical activity has been gained through a major genome science study. The research had the largest sample size ever of a project of this type. The molecular mechanisms explored in this study offer insights into cardiac electrical diseases and could suggest avenues of drug research for

Harvard University researchers have bioengineered a three-dimensional model of a human left heart ventricle that could be used to study diseases, test drugs and develop patient-specific treatments for heart conditions such as arrhythmia. The tissue is engineered with a nanofiber scaffold seeded with human heart cells. The scaffold acts like a 3D template, guiding the

Nicotine exposure during pregnancy, whether from smoking cigarettes, or nicotine patches and e-cigarettes, increases risk of sudden infant death syndrome — sometimes known as “cot death” — according to new research published in the Journal of Physiology. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexpected death of an infant under 12 months of