For the first time, investigators report that a weight loss drug led to weight loss without increasing the incidence of heart attacks, strokes and death from heart disease in a population of people who are especially at risk for cardiovascular events. At the 2018 European Society of Cardiology meeting, Brigham and Women's Hospital investigators from the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group presented findings from CAMELLIA-TIMI 61, a clinical
The risk of having a heart attack while pregnant, giving birth, or during the two months after delivery, continues to increase for American women, a new study finds. As published online July 18 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the study, led by NYU School of Medicine researchers, found that the risk of suffering a heart attack among pregnant women rose 25 percent from 2002 to 2014. The researchers suggest that the
Investigators have identified a new cellular pathway that may help explain how arterial inflammation develops into atherosclerosis—deposits of cholesterol, fats and other substances that create plaque, clog arteries and promote heart attacks and stroke. The findings could lead to improved therapies for atherosclerosis, a leading cause of death worldwide. "We have known for decades that atherosclerosis is a disease of chronic inflammation that ultimately results in the scarring of arteries
An international research group, including scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, studying 520,000 people from around the world has identified 22 new genetic risk factors for stroke, tripling the number of gene regions known to affect stroke risk. The results show that stroke shares genetic influences with other vascular conditions, especially blood pressure, but also coronary artery disease and others. These results provide new clues on stroke
A new study conducted by Ohio University scientists suggests that a little more sunlight might help restore damage to your cardiovascular system. The study shows that Vitamin D3 - which is made by the body naturally when skin is exposed to the sun - can significantly restore the damage to the cardiovascular system caused by several diseases, including hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Vitamin D3 supplements are also available over-the-counter. The
A review of more than 80 studies reveals that changes in the immune cells of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection may increase their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The review is published in the journal Physiology. Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) consists of a “cocktail” of several drugs that work together to reduce the amount of detectable virus (viral load) in the bloodstream. Since the development of this combination treatment approach more
The diminutive size of our aortic valve — just shy of a quarter — belies its essential role in pushing oxygen-rich blood from the heart into the aorta, our body’s largest vessel, and from there to all other organs. Yet for decades, researchers have focused less on damaged valves than on atherosclerosis, the gradual hardening of the blood vessels themselves. Thanks, in part, to pigs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s
Doctors might be able to better detect any disease or disorder that involves inflammation thanks to a new MRI imaging technology co-developed by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Amber Doiron, research assistant professor in the biomedical engineering department at Binghamton University, along with a fellow researcher at Temple University, has developed a new MRI imaging technology that, when injected, could help doctors detect inflammation in the
Individuals with higher levels of thyroid hormone (free thyroxine, FT4) circulating in the blood were more likely than individuals with lower levels to develop irregular heartbeat, or atrial fibrillation, even when the levels were within normal range, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation. "Our findings suggest that levels of the thyroid hormone, free thyroxine, circulating in the blood might be an additional risk factor for atrial
Results from a peer-reviewed study in the peer-reviewed journal STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. showed that treating the heart with placenta-based cell therapy called PLX cells, led to improved diastolic function by significantly decreasing cardiomyocyte stiffness, endothelial inflammation, and improving vascularization in preclinical studies. The study's authors believe the study holds the promise that PLX cells could potentially treat cardiac damage in diabetic patients, particularly in early-stage diabetic cardiomyopathy. The article,
Treatments for high blood pressure do not totally reverse its damaging effects on the vascular rhythms that help circulation of the blood say researchers. The World Health Organisation says hypertension affects about 40% of those aged over 25 and is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. An interdisciplinary group of scientists from Lancaster University found that conventional medication aimed at reducing high blood pressure restored
A breakthrough discovery in the field of cardiovascular fibrosis research made at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) has been licensed to a newly launched company Enleofen Bio Pte Ltd, a Singapore-funded biotechnology start-up. Enleofen Bio plans to use the intellectual property (IP) derived from the Duke-NUS and NHCS research to develop first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of multiple fibrotic human diseases including cardiac and pulmonary
New research has discovered a potential means to trigger damaged heart cells to self-heal. The discovery could lead to groundbreaking forms of treatment for heart diseases. For the first time, researchers have identified a long non-coding ribonucleic acid (ncRNA) that regulates genes controlling the ability of heart cells to undergo repair or regeneration. This novel RNA, which researchers have named "Singheart", may be targeted for treating heart failure in the
Patients with obesity have a higher risk of infection within 30 days after receiving heart bypass surgery, according to a series of studies conducted by University of Alberta researchers at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. The team analyzed data from 56,722 patients in the provincial registry to examine associations between body mass index (BMI) and various outcomes following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also
A team of researchers at the Gladstone Institutes uncovered a new strategy to treat heart failure, a leading contributor to mortality and healthcare costs in the United States. Despite widespread use of currently-approved drugs, approximately 40% of patients with heart failure die within 5 years of their initial diagnosis. "The current standard of care is clearly not sufficient, which highlights the urgent need for new therapeutic approaches," said Saptarsi Haldar,
New research published online in The FASEB Journal may ultimately help athletes and trainers better understand who may be more at risk for heat stroke. In the report, scientists use animals to show that there is a link between the susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia (MH) and exertional heat stroke. "Global warming and increasing frequency of heat waves, which are particularly dangerous in large urban areas, in future years will represent
Researchers are revisiting their views on the relative dangers soft and hard atherosclerotic plaque deposits pose to heart health. Findings of a new study by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute may be a “game-changer” for determining who’s at risk of a heart attack, they say. The notion that soft plaque is more likely to rupture and cause heart attacks than hard calcium deposits in coronary arteries may
A consortium directed by UCLA’s Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar has received a three-year, $8.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to map the heart’s nervous system. The group’s goal: To conduct research that leads to new ways to treat cardiovascular disease by targeting nerves in the heart’s nervous system. More than 800,000 people in the U.S. die each year from cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, arrhythmia and hypertension.
Researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University have developed a synthetic version of a cardiac stem cell. These synthetic stem cells offer therapeutic benefits comparable to those from natural stem cells and could reduce some of the risks associated with stem cell therapies. Additionally, these cells have better preservation stability and the technology is generalizable to
Many people who experience chest pain but don’t have a heart attack breathe a big sigh of relief when a stress test comes back negative for blockages in their blood vessels. But a new study by cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found they may not be off the hook after all. Researchers studied 658 men and women between the ages of 57
