http://medicineworld.org/blogs/heart/heart-watch-blog.html Heart watch blog from medicineworld.org adds a personal touch to the stories related to heart. This heart watch blog brings you stories of success, stories of endurance and latest news and research related to heart. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/heart-watch-blog.jpg http://medicineworld.org/blogs/heart/heart-watch-blog.html 78 102 http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/how-the-heart-is-formed.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/how-the-heart-is-formed.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT While studying how the heart is formed, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. Jonathan Epstein, MD, William Wikoff Smith Professor, and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Vickas Patel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, have identified a population of cells in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of humans and mice that appear to be the seat of AF. The finding may lead to a more precise way to treat AF, with reduced side effects. Their findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/among-post-menopausal-women.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/among-post-menopausal-women.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Postmenopausal women who have higher testosterone levels appears to be at greater risk of heart disease, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in comparison to women with lower testosterone levels, as per a newly released study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM). This new information is an important step, say researchers, in understanding the role that hormones play in women's health........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/obesity-blood-pressure-and-cholesterol.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/obesity-blood-pressure-and-cholesterol.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Obese patients taking medications to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are less likely to reach recommended targets for these cardiovascular disease risk factors than their normal weight counterparts, as per new research presented at the 2009 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress hosted by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/women-do-have-same-the-heart-attack.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/women-do-have-same-the-heart-attack.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT The gender difference between men and women is a lot smaller than we've been led to believe when it comes to heart attack symptoms, as per a newly released study presented to the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/survival-after-heart-attack-improves.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/survival-after-heart-attack-improves.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT In recent years, women, especially younger women, experienced larger improvements in hospital mortality after myocardial infarction (MI) than men, as per a research studyreported in the Oct. 26, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine Over the last decade several studies showed that younger women, but not older ones, are more likely to die in the hospital after MI than age-matched men. A team of Emory University scientists examined whether such mortality differences have declined in recent years........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/cost-effectiveness-of-blood-pressure-device.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/cost-effectiveness-of-blood-pressure-device.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT A study conducted by the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) demonstrates that, for certain patient populations, an experimental device that lowers blood pressure appears to be a cost effective therapy. The implantable device, called Rheos, is in advanced stages of testing for individuals with drug resistant hypertension........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/mending-broken-hearts.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/mending-broken-hearts.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT By mimicking the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab, Duke University bioengineers believe they have taken an important first step toward growing a living "heart patch" to repair heart tissue damaged by disease. In a series of experiments using mouse embryonic stem cells, the bioengineers used a novel mold of their own design to fashion a three-dimensional "patch" made up of heart muscle cells, known as cardiomyocytes. The new tissue exhibited the two most important attributes of heart muscle cells - the ability to contract and to conduct electrical impulses. The mold looks much like a piece of Chex cereal in which scientists varied the shape and length of the pores to control the direction and orientation of the growing cells........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/patients-who-received-refurbished-pacemakers.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/patients-who-received-refurbished-pacemakers.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Patients who received refurbished pacemakers donated from Detroit area funeral homes survived without complications from the devices, as per a case series reported by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center. The pacemakers were implanted in 12 patients at the University of Philippines- Philippine General Hospital who could not afford advanced cardiac care and were confined to their beds as they waited for a permanent pacemaker........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/how-stiff-are-your-arteries.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/how-stiff-are-your-arteries.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT How far you can reach beyond your toes from a sitting position - normally used to define the flexibility of a person's body - appears to be an indicator of how stiff your arteries are. A study in the American Journal of Physiology has observed that, among people 40 years old and older, performance on the sit-and-reach test could be used to assess the flexibility of the arteries. Because arterial stiffness often precedes cardiovascular disease, the results suggest that this simple test could become a quick measure of an individual's risk for early mortality from heart attack or stroke........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/cardiac-arrhythmias-and-thyroid.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/cardiac-arrhythmias-and-thyroid.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Genes previously known to be essential to the coordinated, rhythmic electrical activity of cardiac muscle -- a healthy heartbeat -- have now also been found to play a key role in thyroid hormone (TH) biosynthesis, as per Weill Cornell Medical College researchers. The authors' findings, published online this week by the peer-evaluated journal Nature Medicine, suggest that mutations of either of two gene products -- proteins called KCNE2 and KCNQ1 -- already known to be involved in human cardiac arrhythmias, could also cause thyroid dysfunction........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/damaged-heart-tissue.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/damaged-heart-tissue.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Results of a clinical trial published recently in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions demonstrate that an infusion of blood that is "supersaturated" with oxygen (SS02) can reduce the amount of damaged heart muscle immediately following a life-threatening heart attack. "The benefit of this treatment increased with the scope of the heart attack," said Gregg W. Stone, M.D., main author and professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of cardiovascular research and education in the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Stone is also the immediate past chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York. "The data show that heart muscle can be saved even after severe heart attack"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/common-pain-cream-heart-during-attack.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/common-pain-cream-heart-during-attack.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT New research from the University of Cincinnati shows that a common, over-the-counter pain salve rubbed on the skin during a heart attack could serve as a cardiac-protectant, preventing or reducing damage to the heart while interventions are administered. These findings appear in the Sept. 14 edition of the journal Circulation........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/how-much-omega-3-fatty-acid-do-we-need.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/how-much-omega-3-fatty-acid-do-we-need.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT A team of French researchers have found the dose of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that is "just right" for preventing cardiovascular disease in healthy men. In a research report appearing in the September 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), the researchers show that a 200 mg dose of DHA per day is enough to affect biochemical markers that reliably predict cardiovascular problems, such as those correlation to aging, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. This study is the first to identify how much DHA is necessary to promote optimal heart health........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/carbon-monoxide-linked-to-heart-problems.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/carbon-monoxide-linked-to-heart-problems.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT New Haven, Conn.Exposure to carbon monoxide, even at levels well below national limits, is linked to an increased risk of hospitalization for the elderly with heart problems, as per a research studypublished recently in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association The nationwide study of 126 urban communities, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, observed that an increase in carbon monoxide of 1 part per million in the maximum daily one-hour exposure is linked to a 0.96 percent increase in the risk of hospitalization from cardiovascular disease among people over the age of 65........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/low-carb-diets-linked-to-atherosclerosis.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/8-2009/low-carb-diets-linked-to-atherosclerosis.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:45:12 GMT Even as low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets have proven successful at helping individuals rapidly lose weight, little is known about the diets' long-term effects on vascular health. Now, a study led by a scientific team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) provides some of the first data on this subject, demonstrating that mice placed on a 12-week low carbohydrate/high-protein diet showed a significant increase in atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the heart's arteries and a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. The findings also showed that the diet led to an impaired ability to form new blood vessels in tissues deprived of blood flow, as might occur during a heart attack........ ]]>