Inactive Kids Face Heart Disease in Later Life
Young children who lead inactive lifestyles are 5-to-6 times more likely to be at serious risk of heart disease, with that degree of danger emerging as early as their teenage years, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The findings, published in the open access journal Dynamic Medicine, looked at a group of children twice – first while in grade school, then again 7 years later when they were in their teens.
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April 5, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Disease | Leave a CommentDiabetes Drug Slows Heart Disease
A Japanese diabetes drug helps slowing the buildup of plaque in the heart arteries and helps combat heart disease.
Actos, made by the Japanese lab Taketa, was compared in 18-month clinical trials of 543 patients with the drug Amaryl manufactured by the French company Sanofi.
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April 3, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Disease | 1 CommentHome Defibrillators Have No Significant Life-Saving Benefits
Bad news for makers and buyers of home defibrillators was announced yesterday by U.S. researchers.
The first major study found no evidence that the devices, used in household settings, produced significant life-saving benefits.
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April 2, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Attack | Leave a CommentCommunication with Doctors Lowers Risk of Haert Disease
Temple researchers find that regular communication with doctors can lower risk of cardiovascular disease
When it comes to matters of the heart, many experts say that communication is the key to a healthy relationship. But a recent study out of Temple University’s School of Medicine finds that communication is the key to a healthy heart, as well.
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April 1, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Disease | Leave a CommentNew CPR Guidelines - Chest Compressions Alone Can Save Lives
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), chest compressions alone, or Hands-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), can save lives and can be used to help an adult who suddenly collapses.
The HSFC today supported a new American Heart Association scientific statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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April 1, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Research | Leave a CommentStress Management and Heart Disease
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tress and anxiety are key factors contributing to heart disease, reported researchers at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting in Chicago.
Reducing stress and worry can cut the risk of heart attack or stroke by as much as 60% compared to constant worriers.
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March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Disease | Leave a CommentNormal Weight Obesity is Risk Factor For Heart Problems
More than half of American adults considered to have normal body weight in America have high body fat percentages — greater than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women — as well as heart and metabolic disturbances, new Mayo Clinic research shows. The finding conflicts with the widely held belief that maintaining a normal weight automatically guards against disorders such as high levels of circulating blood fats and a tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, which often leads to type 2 diabetes.
The researchers defined “normal weight” by body mass index (BMI). They found that people with normal BMI who had the highest percentage of body fat were also those who had metabolic disturbances linked to heart disease. The researchers use the phrase “normal weight obesity” to describe this new type of patient at risk for metabolism problems and risk factors for heart disease, but who rates as “normal” on standard weight charts. They defined normal weight obesity as a condition of having a normal BMI with high body fat percentage. The Mayo team will present its study results at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session next week in Chicago.
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March 29, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Disease | Leave a CommentB Vitamin Blunt Damage from Heart Attack
Long known for its role in preventing anemia in expectant mothers and spinal birth defects in newborns, the B vitamin folate, found in leafy green vegetables, beans and nuts has now been shown to blunt the damaging effects of heart attack when given in short-term, high doses to test animals.
In a new study, an international team of heart experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report that rats fed 10 milligrams daily of folate, also known as folic acid or vitamin B9, for a week prior to heart attack had smaller infarcts than rats who took no supplements. On average, researchers say, the amount of muscle tissue exposed to damage and scarred by the arterial blockage was shrunk to less than a tenth.
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March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Attack | Leave a CommentCocoaVia Lowers Cholesterol Levels and Blood Pressure
Daily consumption of chocolate bars made with a patented combination of plant sterols and cocoa flavanols may affect cardiovascular risk by lowering elevated cholesterol levels and improving blood pressure, according to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition.
A study conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Illinois and Mars, Incorporated found that, as part of a balanced, low-fat diet, the daily consumption of CocoaVia dark chocolate bars with added plant sterols (natural plant extracts) significantly lowered total cholesterol by 2 percent and LDL cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol) by 5.3 percent in individuals with elevated cholesterol.
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March 27, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Health | Leave a CommentHeart Failure Treated ‘In the Brain’
Beta-blockers heal the heart via the brain when administered during heart failure, according to a new study by UCL (University College London). Up to now, it was thought that beta-blockers work directly on the heart, but the new study shows that the drugs may also act via the brain, suggesting that future therapies to treat cardiovascular disease could be targeting the central nervous system.
Heart failure patients are routinely given beta-blockers, although doctors do not know exactly how these drugs boost cardiac performance and reduce the risk of death. The UCL study, based on the rat model of postmyocardial infarction-induced heart failure and published in the journal Circulation Research, has discovered that the beta-adrenoceptor blocker metoprolol acts directly in the brain to slow the progression of heart failure. The action seems to be localised to a group of brain cells that UCL researchers have identified previously as being crucial in the control of blood pressure and heart rate.
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March 26, 2008 | Filed Under Heart Failure | Leave a Comment
