Cardiovascular Health

Cholesterol test can be a lifesaverReported August 11, 2008 Munich - A cholesterol test can be a lifesaver because high cholesterol levels along with diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, and being overweight raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, noted the Munich-based German Society for the Treatment of Lipid Disorders (DGFF). In … [Read more...]

Heart Attack Death Rate Drops   Reported August 24, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Death rates for Medicare patients hospitalized for heart attack decreased significantly from 1995 to 2006, according to a new study. "Over the last 2 decades, health care professional, consumer, and payer organizations have sought to improve outcomes for patients … [Read more...]

Heart Disease Risk on the Rise   Reported September 17, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- After two decades of improvement, the percentage of Americans with major heart disease risk factors is once again on the rise, according to a new report. People with lower risk factors have lower healthcare costs and are far less likely to develop cardiovascular … [Read more...]

Heart Repair without Surgery Reported September 15, 2008 ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Three-million people in the United States have aortic stenosis; a heart condition that can be deadly. Now, doctors are testing a new procedure that repairs the heart without surgery. It may provide hope for patients who have run out of options. Not long ago, Gladys Westbrook worried her … [Read more...]

Breastfeeding May Prevent Heart Disease 5 November, 2007 Nov. 5, 2007 (Orlando, Fla.) -- The benefits of breastfeeding don't stop when your baby is weaned. A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect your baby against developing heart disease later in life. Researchers found that babies who are nursed … [Read more...]

Anxiety hits women harder after heart attackJuly 9, 2007 A heart attack can make anyone anxious, but women experience greater anxiety than men do after heart attacks, a pattern that is consistent across four continents, a new study notes. The higher level of anxiety among women is not connected to geography, to demographic … [Read more...]

Houston girl, 6, first to receive child-sized heart pump implant, diesReported December 15, 2007 HOUSTON (AP) - A six-year-old Houston girl who became the first patient in the world to receive a DeBakey child heart pump has died. Anna Grudziecke died Sunday at Texas Children's Hospital, said her physician, Dr. Charles Fraser Jr. She received the pump late last month. … [Read more...]

Protein test beats cholesterol test in predicting heart attack risk: studyReported July 17, 2008 TORONTO - Measuring the ratio of two forms of proteins in the blood is superior to cholesterol testing as a means of predicting heart attack risk and should become part of standard practice by doctors, researchers say. In a study published in this week's edition of The Lancet, … [Read more...]

MRI-Safe Pacemaker Reported October 17, 2008 ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than one million people in the United States depend on pacemakers to keep their heart's beating right, but the devices have not allowed in MRI machines … until now. Her grandson Bryten is the love of her life and the reason why 47-year-old Rhonda Jones keeps fighting. "I'm not going to … [Read more...]

New Findings about Drug-Covered Stents Reported January 02, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Drug eluting stents (DES) have been a topic of debate in the cardiovascular realm. Now, new research offers promising findings, as well as potential risks. Researchers at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada conducted a prospective cohort study of 6,440 patients and found … [Read more...]

Offspring of Parents who Live Longer Avoid Heart Problems Reported March 13, 2007 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If your parents live longer, you are less likely to have risk factors for heart disease. New results from the long-standing Framingham Heart Study (FHS) reveal offspring whose parents … [Read more...]

Pediatric Strokes Happen More Often Than Reported   Reported September 18, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Imaging studies show the rate of strokes in infants and children is two to four times higher than commonly thought, according to researchers. "Traditional methods using diagnostic codes work fairly well to identify stroke in studies on adults, … [Read more...]

Program Improves Stroke Care Reported December 19, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Hospitals participating in a voluntary quality improvement program for stroke treatment comply better to national recommendations and may provide better stroke treatment. In a five-year study, researchers tracked guideline compliance among 790 hospitals participating in the American Heart … [Read more...]

Saving Children’s Hearts Reported June 27, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A drug used to treat high blood pressure may also help children with enlarged hearts due to Marfan syndrome. Marfan syndrome is a genetic condition that causes connective tissue in the body to be abnormal. The syndrome can affect, among other parts, the heart, blood vessels, bones, tendons, cartilage and … [Read more...]

Silent Strokes Reported July 01, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Researchers say a growing number of people may be suffering from silent strokes as they age. Silent strokes do not cause any symptoms, so people don’t realize they’re having a stroke. However, they still damage brain tissue. According to investigators who conducted brain scans on participants in the Framingham … [Read more...]

Stents for EmphysemaReported January 28, 2008 BOSTON, Mass. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Emphysema is the fourth leading killer in the United States, with more than three million sufferers. While there is no cure, doctors are working on a new technique that may help them breathe better on their own. For Barbara Greenfield, the simplest chores are taxing. An oxygen tank and cord … [Read more...]

Study: Migraine Raises Risk of Stroke Reported November 19, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Migraine headaches more than double the chances of the most common kind of stroke, which occurs when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off by a blood clot or plaque buildup. Pooling results from 21 studies involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at … [Read more...]

Tainted Drug Caused Allergic Outbreak Reported December 22, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The cause of an outbreak of severe adverse reactions that occurred at hemodialysis facilities across the country early this year has been identified. Vials of heparin manufactured by Baxter Healthcare and contaminated with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) have been shown to be … [Read more...]

Three-Month Prescriptions Cut Costs By a Third Reported December 28, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – We know that buying a three-month supply of prescription drugs, rather than a one-month, is a good way to save money for both patients and third-party payers, but how much money are we actually saving? An analysis of 26,852 prescriptions filled for 395 different drugs from 2000 … [Read more...]

Onions 'help in heart disease prevention process' September 05, 2007 The consumption of everyday products such as tea, onions and apples has been found to reduce the early signs of heart disease. A study conducted by the Institute of Food Research appears to show that eating a meal with a high content of flavonoids could help to prevent … [Read more...]

Video Games Go Inside the Heart   Reported September 07, 2009 BOSTON (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It helps action heroes jump off the TV screen into your living room … the same technology could also help surgeons operate on tiny hearts. A technique used in video games allows doctors to see inside a beating heart like never before. It could eliminate … [Read more...]

Risks: Extra Sleep Is Found to Lower a Heart Risk Reported January 02, 2009 One more reason for getting a good night's sleep: sleeping an extra hour a night may help control coronary artery calcification, a major risk factor for heart disease. The effect, reported in the Dec. 24 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, was so strong that the researchers … [Read more...]

Study substantiates depression, cardiac death link Reported March 11, 2009 New York: March 11: A new study conducted by Columbia University researchers has found a positive correlation between severe depression and heart attacks in woman. While the precise nature of the relationship remained ambiguous, women on antidepressants appeared to be at an increased risk for … [Read more...]

Which Type of Stent is Best for Heart Patients?Reported October 4, 2007 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More research on drug-eluting stents shows they’re still the better choice for many patients with heart disease. People undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, to open up clogged arteries often receive stents to help keep those arteries open over the long haul. … [Read more...]

Drinking Pattern may be a Metabolic Syndrome FactorReported November 16, 2004 (Ivanhoe Newswire)--The more you drink alcohol over time, the more you increase your risk of developing metabolic syndrome. According to a new study, starting a heavy drinking pattern early in life also seems to add extra risk.Investigators say it’s healthier to drink smaller amounts … [Read more...]

Aspirin Good for Women Reported November 15, 2005  (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women should be taking aspirin to ward off both strokes and heart disease, according to two studies by investigators from Duke University in Durham, N.C. Researchers in the first study conducted a meta-analysis involving more than 95,000 men and women to see how regular aspirin use would affect … [Read more...]

Better Heart Treatment Reported September 19, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new compound has been discovered that could lead to new treatments for heart attacks as well as ways to protect the heart during open-heart surgery. The research pinpoints a newly discovered molecule. University of Stanford investigators led the research. The study was conducted in rats. They found … [Read more...]

BNP-Guided Heart Treatment Disappoints Reported January 30, 2009 ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Although past research suggests heart failure treatment guided by the biomarker BNP may be superior to symptom-guided treatment, a new study contradicts that idea. N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide, or BNP, is produced by heart muscle cells. Since its levels increase in … [Read more...]

Atkins diet raises heart risks, study finds November 06, 2007 CTV.ca News Staff : Yet another study has been done on the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet and this one has found that it can cause long-term damage to blood vessels, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. Much research has been done on the Atkins diet, with some studies … [Read more...]

Birth Control for Brain Injuries?Reported May 05, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Being overweight or obese puts people at higher risk for heart disease. So does lack of physical activity. But getting more active can help mitigate the risk for people who are overweight. According to researchers who followed nearly 39,000 women taking part in the long-running Women’s Health … [Read more...]