Cardiovascular Health

In the continuing debate over how much vitamin E is enough, a new study has found that high levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides can keep this essential micronutrient tied up in the blood stream, and prevent vitamin E from reaching the tissues that need it. The research, just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also suggested that … [Read more...]

A group of researchers led by Mayo Clinic has discovered that disclosing genetic risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) results in lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol. The findings of the Myocardial Infarction Genes (MI-GENES) Study were presented today at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2015 as a late-breaking … [Read more...]

For the first time, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have shown that eliminating the enzyme factor XIII reduces the number of red blood cells trapped in a clot, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in the size of the clot. The finding, featured in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, has major implications for people at high risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a … [Read more...]

A widely recommended risk calculator for predicting a person's chance of experiencing a cardiovascular disease event -- such as heart attack, ischemic stroke or dying from coronary artery disease -- has been found to substantially overestimate the actual five-year risk in adults overall and across all sociodemographic subgroups. The study by Kaiser Permanente was published in … [Read more...]

Eating foods that contain vitamin C may reduce your risk of the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 26 to May 3, 2014. Vitamin C is found in fruits and vegetables such as oranges, papaya, peppers, broccoli and strawberries. … [Read more...]

Too much dietary fat is bad for the heart, but the right kind of fat keeps the heart healthy, according to a paper published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Unsaturated dietary fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are known to protect against cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanism and the specific fat metabolites responsible for this protection … [Read more...]

People with Type 2 diabetes who eat a diet high in salt face twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease as those who consume less sodium, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Diabetes occurs when there is too much sugar in the bloodstream. People develop Type 2 diabetes when their bodies … [Read more...]

A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition appears to back up the adage that a little of what you fancy does you good. Including a small amount of chocolate each day could help prevent diabetes and insulin resistance. That's one of the research findings from the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), the University of Warwick Medical School, the University of … [Read more...]

Vitamin A is involved in many bodily processes, including vision and skin health, but its role in the heart is unclear. While vitamin A is critical for heart development of embryos -- vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy leads to an abnormal heart and prenatal death -- studies on vitamin A's role in heart health have drawn opposite conclusions. A new study published in … [Read more...]

A "Mediterranean" diet, high in fruit, vegetables, fish and unrefined foods, is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease, according to a study of over 15,000 people in 39 countries around the world. The research also showed that eating greater amounts of healthy food was more important for these people than avoiding unhealthy … [Read more...]

Combining marine fish oil, cocoa extract and phytosterols into a dietary supplement could offer new hope in the fight against heart disease, a new study suggests. A collaborative study between Cardiff University scientists and South Wales-based nutritional supplement manufacturer, Cultech Ltd, examined the potential of combining the three ingredients as a means of preventing … [Read more...]

Obesity is common among U.S. Hispanics and is severe particularly among young Hispanics, according to research in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA). The first large-scale data on body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease risk factors among U.S. Hispanic/Latino adult populations suggests that severe obesity may be associated with considerable excess … [Read more...]

No one is telling you what time to go to bed with this, but researchers are making a strong case that the duration and timing of your sleep are closely associated with whether your behavior is heart-healthy. Night owls should take special note of a new study by University of Delaware researcher Freda Patterson and collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel … [Read more...]

High blood pressure -- also known as hypertension -- is widespread, but treatment often fails. One in five people with hypertension does not respond to therapy. This is frequently due to inadequate diagnosis, as Franz Weber and Manfred Anlauf point out in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. If a patient's blood pressure is not controlled by treatment, … [Read more...]

Loneliness and social isolation are linked to around a 30 per cent increased risk of having a stroke or developing coronary artery disease--the two leading causes of illness and death in high income countries--finds an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the journal Heart. The size of the effect is comparable to that of other recognised risk factors, such … [Read more...]

While controlling blood pressure, blood sugar and LDL-cholesterol levels reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes, only 7 percent of diabetic participants in three major heart studies had recommended levels of these three factors, according to research from the Heart Disease Prevention Program at the University of California, Irvine School of … [Read more...]

A nationwide study of 2.3 million Israeli adolescents, examined from 1967 through 2010, finds an association between elevated body-mass index in late adolescence, and subsequent cardiovascular mortality in midlife. Overweight and obesity in adolescents have increased substantially in recent decades, and currently affect a third of the adolescent population in some developed … [Read more...]

A research team led by scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health has unearthed more evidence that casts doubt on the traditional "heart healthy" practice of replacing butter and other saturated fats with corn oil and other vegetable oils high in linoleic acid. The findings, reported today in the British Medical Journal, suggest that using … [Read more...]

The human heart is a remarkable muscle, beating more than 2 billion times over the average life span. But the heart's efficiency can decrease over time. One major contributor to this decreased function is cardiac hypertrophy -- a thickening of the heart muscle, resulting in a decrease in the size of the left and right ventricles. This makes the heart work harder and pump … [Read more...]

Administering heart resuscitation drugs to patients whose cardiac arrest is witnessed at the time of the attack can improve survival, but needs to be done through an IV line rather than directly into bone marrow as is more commonly done by paramedics, a new study involving UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency physicians and Dallas-Fort Worth Emergency Medical Services (EMS) … [Read more...]

A new study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings determined that adults 50 and older are at a 50% increased risk for stroke for 90 days following a shingles episode More than 95% of the world's adult population is infected with the virus that causes chickenpox. Up to one third of these individuals will develop shingles (herpes zoster) in their lifetime. A new U.S. study has found that … [Read more...]

While more women die from heart disease each year than all forms of cancer combined, many are more fearful of other diseases, particularly breast cancer. This phenomenon, referred to as "misfearing," describes the human tendency to fear instinctively and according to societal influences rather than based on facts. This trend may be a contributor to the reasons why many women … [Read more...]

A team of researchers at the University of Florence in Italy and the University of Connecticut Health Center have used a multidisciplinary approach to provide an unprecedented glimpse of what happens to the heart during an "infarction" -- a heart attack -- by looking at how the attack affects electrical activity and calcium release in heart cells. "Thanks to this method, we … [Read more...]

As hormone levels change during the transition to menopause, the quality of a woman's cholesterol carriers degrades, leaving her at greater risk for heart disease, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health discovered. The first-of-its-kind evaluation, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was done using an advanced method to … [Read more...]

Scientists have found that eating almonds in your diet can reduce the risk of heart disease by keeping blood vessels healthy. Research found that they significantly increase the amount of antioxidants in the blood stream, reduce blood pressure and improve blood flow. These findings add weight to the theory that Mediterranean diets with lots of nuts have big health … [Read more...]

The heart is more forgiving than you may think -- especially to adults who try to take charge of their health, a new Northwestern Medicine® study has found. When adults in their 30s and 40s decide to drop unhealthy habits that are harmful to their heart and embrace healthy lifestyle changes, they can control and potentially even reverse the natural progression of coronary … [Read more...]

Long-term use of commonly prescribed heartburn and ulcer medications is linked to a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Left untreated, vitamin B12 deficiency can increase the risk of dementia, nerve damage, anemia, and other medical complications, some of which may be irreversible. … [Read more...]

Treatment with the diabetes drug liraglutide, in combination with diet and exercise, led to a significant reduction in weight and improved a number of cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to a multicenter study. The results are based from more than 3,700 overweight and obese nondiabetic adults. "If these improvements … [Read more...]

Doctors have long characterized epilepsy as a brain disorder, but researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found that part of the autonomic nervous system functions differently in epilepsy during the absence of seizures. This connection to the involuntary division of the nervous system may have implications for diagnosing and treating the disease and understanding … [Read more...]

More than 25% of the people on the national US waiting list for a heart will die before receiving one. Despite this discouraging figure, heart transplants are still on the rise. There just hasn't been an alternative. Until now. The "cyborg heart patch," a new engineering innovation from Tel Aviv University, may single-handedly change the field of cardiac research. The … [Read more...]