Thursday

Computer-Alert System Reduces Blood Clots

MSN Health LINK : "A computer system that alerts doctors when a hospitalized patient is at risk for getting blood clots in the veins, called deep vein thrombosis (DVT), helped reduce the condition by 41 percent, researchers report."

MD Anderson Cancer Center: esearchers Confirm Vioxx Risks Heart Problems Nearly Doubled in Cancer Study

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Glowing hearts shine light on heart disease, blocking CaM kinase activity

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Pomegranate Juice May Clear Clogged Arteries

WebMd...LINK

Brigham and Women;s Hospital:Non-invasive and invasive breast cancers share same BRCA1/2 mutations

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Attacking a Major Cause of Strokes Less-Invasive Surgical Procedure Adds Option to Treatment Mix For Widespread Heart Problem

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Brigham and Women's Hospital: Eating eggs okay for the healthy heart

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Wednesday

Smokeless tobacco acts on heart rate, BP, and epinephrine

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Monday

Exercise treadmill triages unstable angina

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Sunday

Vitamin E linked to heart failure

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Saturday

Post-stroke muscle changes affect finger function

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Thursday

Heart Health Tied to Social, Psychological FactorsStudies find several factors outside the bod

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American Heart Association Addresses Use of Pain Medications

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GOOD HEALTH BY THE NUMBERS 2 diabetes, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. ...

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Wednesday

Antidepressants Don't Raise Heart Attack Risk

Yahoo! LINK

Sudden Stress, Exertion Can Trigger Heart Attack

Yahoo! Health News: LINK

A cellulose ingredient appears to both lower LDL cholesterol and reduce build-up of plaque in the arteries

linkNew trial results on the m-doc technology developed by Irish firm Alltracel suggest that it could be used alongside statins as it has a complementary action to the cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Monday

25 percent of Americans get inadequate therapy for hypertension, experts say

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Olive Oil Fights Heart Disease, Breast Cancer, Studies Say

LINK: "They may smoke more than Americans and their health care system is far from perfect, but Greeks usually live longer than their U.S. counterparts, and they have some of the world's lowest rates of heart disease and cancer.

The secret may be their olive-oil-drenched diet."

Heart surgery: Can it cause dementia?

MayoClinic.com -link

MayoClinic.com - Bypass surgery: New pathways for blocked arteries

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Friday

BREAKING NEWS| 'Great Day' For Heart Attack Care

LINKGiving heart attack patients Plavix on top of the anti-clotting drugs they usually receive greatly reduces the chances they'll die or suffer another heart attack, landmark new research has found.

Laughter is Heart Healthy

MSN Health LINK : "A good belly laugh may have repercussions all the way up to the heart. For the first time, researchers have found that laughter causes the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, to dilate. This increases blood flow which, of course, is good for overall cardiovascular health"

LA YIMES: A new tool to stop heart attacks - The first significant therapy in years, Plavix with aspirin could save lives

LINKIn what scientists said was the first new treatment in a decade for heart attacks, researchers reported last week that the drug clopidogrel, when used in combination with other standard treatments, could prevent repeat heart attacks and reduce death rates by as much as 36%.

WSJ.com - FDA Rejects Petition to BanCrestor From the Market

WSJ.com - FDA Rejects Petition to Ban
Crestor From the Market: "he agency said, because many patients who take these drugs have diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, they already may be at higher risk for kidney failure.


Overall, the FDA said it believes the benefits of statin drugs, when used as recommended, outweigh their potential risks."

BBC NEWS Migraines 'double' risk of stroke

LINK: "Migraines roughly doubled the stroke risk, while migraines with 'auras' more so than those without interruptions to the sufferers' vision. "

Medicare expands stroke prevention coverage

CNN.com - LINK

Stents Help Avoid Heart Bypasses

CBS News |LINKNew studies on stents were presented Sunday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Orlando. They showed that benefits apparently last for years, and that even very big blockages in very small vessels — some nearly two inches long — can be fixed with such stents, sometimes using overlapping ones.

Thursday

Vitamin E pills might increase heart failure risks

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Medicare expands stroke prevention coverage

CNN.com - CLICK

Vitamin E Effects on Cardiac Events and Cancer

JAMA -- This Week in JAMA, March 16, 2005, 293 (11): 1297: "Experimental and epidemiological data suggest vitamin E supplementation may protect against cardiovascular events and cancer, but short-term clinical trials have failed to demonstrate benefit."

FDA MedWatch: Avonex (interferon beta-1a) Reports of Severe Hepatic Injury, Including Hepatic Failure

PharmaLive: LINK"FDA and Biogen notified healthcare professionals of revisions to the WARNINGS, PRECAUTIONS/Drug Interactions and ADVERSE REACTIONS/Post-Marketing Experience sections and Medication Guide. Severe hepatic injury, including cases of hepatic failure, has been reported in patients taking Avonex. Asymptomatic elevation of hepatic transaminases has also been reported, and in some patients has recurred upon rechallenge. In some cases, these events have occurred in the presence of other drugs that have been associated with hepatic injury. The potential risk of Avonex used in combination with known hepatotoxic drugs or other products (e.g. alcohol) should be considered prior to Avonex administration, or when adding new agents to the regimen of patients already on Avonex."

Laughter May Build Healthy Blood Vessels

WebMD Medical News: LINK: Michael Miller, MD, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center: "The endothelium is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the results of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. At the very least, laughter offsets the impact of mental stress, which is harmful to the endothelium." Researchers found that watching a funny movie had a healthy effect on blood vessel function, allowing them to expand and contract more effectively in response to changes in blood flow. BUT...watching a mentally stressful movie, like a war drama, may have the opposite effect, causing the lining of the blood vessels, known as the endothelium, to narrow and restrict blood flow

Wednesday

MayoClinic.com - Protecting women's hearts: An interview with a Mayo Clinic specialist

MayoClinic.com - LINK

Tuesday

Brigham and Womens Hospital: Long-term Celebrex Use Increases Cardiovascular Event Risk

MORE

Women and heart disease

MORE : "Word came out last week that regular aspirin therapy does not protect middle-aged women from heart attack in the same way it protects men - but that it does protect women from stroke. (And if you are a woman over 65, an aspirin every other day may protect you from both.)It's a good news / bad news scenario, and one that a woman should discuss with her doctor if she is at risk of heart disease.
But what's also important is that these results come from a clinical trial that focused specifically on women, proving again the value of focusing clinical trials by gender."

Women can lower heart disease risk by staying involved in their own health care

MOREA University of Pittsburgh study gives support to the current health trend of encouraging patients to be active in their health care.Middle-aged women who take an active role in their health care may be less likely to develop cardiovascular disease as they transition through menopause, according to research done at the University of Pittsburgh.

White blood cell test may predict heart disease

MOREA simple, inexpensive test for elevated white blood cell counts could be used to predict heart disease, a study of over 66,000 women suggests.The study adds to growing evidence that inflammation plays a role in strokes and heart attacks, perhaps by weakening blood vessels and causing fatty buildups inside them to break loose and create a blockage.The study was published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine

Saturday

'Safe limit' drinkers risk heart disease

LINKPeople who drink close to Government-promoted "safe" limits of alcohol are twice as likely to develop hardened coronary arteries than those who abstain, according to research.

CHeart Jacket May Help Slow Down Heart Disease

CBS 2 Chicago WBBM-TV:LINK"The idea is actually very simple. It’s a matter of putting a constraining device on the heart, which helps prevent it from dilating further," says Dr. Paul Hauptman, M.D.at St. Louis University.

Actonel Helps Prevent Hip Fractures After Stroke

Reuters.com.....LINK

Wednesday

MayoClinic.com - Bypass surgery: New pathways for blocked arteries

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Tuesday

JAMA -- Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug,,,,NEW BOOK HUST RELEASED

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Monday

Even Mild Depression Ups Heart Failure Death Risk 

Wake Forest
University......LINKA state of depression so mild that most doctors might not notice it significantly increases the long-term risk of death for people with heart failure, a new study finds.

NIH/NHLBI News Release--Findings of the Women's Health Study on the use of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke in women

Statement from Dr. Nabel, Director of the NHLBI.....LINK

American Academy of Neurology: "Stroke Warning Signs Often Occur Hours or Days before Attack"

LINK"Warning signs of an ischemic stroke may be evident as early as seven days before an attack and require urgent treatment to prevent serious damage to the brain, according to a study of stroke patients published in the March 8, 2005 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Eighty percent of strokes are ischemic, caused by the narrowing of the large or small arteries of the brain, or by clots that block blood flow to the brain. They are often preceded by a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke” that shows symptoms similar to a stroke, typically lasts less than five minutes, and does not injure the brain."

Sunday

The New York Times: Pfizer Stirs Concern With Plans to Sell Heart Drugs Only as Pair- "Torcetrapib raises good cholesterol by as much as 55 percent"

The New York Times > Business >LINK: The controversy threatens to overshadow torcetrapib's promise for stopping heart disease. In small trials so far, the drug has sharply increased levels of HDL, the so-called good cholesterol. The only existing treatment for raising good cholesterol is the vitamin niacin, which is also available as prescription slow-release drug. But neither the basic vitamin nor the drug is widely used because of side effects that can include dizziness and flushed skin.

Long-term studies have shown people with higher levels of good cholesterol have significantly lower risks of heart attacks and strokes. Some heart researchers say that raising good cholesterol may eventually be viewed as important as lowering LDL, or bad cholesterol, as Lipitor and other statins, like Zocor and Pravachol, do. Raising good cholesterol and lowering bad cholesterol together could reduce the risk of heart disease by more than 50 percent, they say.

Saturday

Women's heart risk underestimated by doctors, resulting in less preventive care than in men

LINK Journal of the American Heart Association. 

'Marital strain' increases women's risk of death, heart disease

LINK Married women who avoid conflict with their spouses have an increased risk of dying from any cause. Researchers also found that men whose wives’ come home upset with work outside the home have an increased risk of developing heart disease.

Vioxx Nearly Doubles Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

LINKIvanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs

Low-Dose Celebrex Poses No Heart Risk

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Friday

Britney Spears' spotlight diet

LINK"According to reports, Britney Spears has found that the press are the perfect diet remedy."After I got married, I let myself go. I was just lounging around and eating.”

Tulane University Health Science Center: "Blood Pressure Rising? Eat More Fiber"

LINKEating a high fiber diet can lower high blood pressure and even improve healthy blood pressure levels, say Tulane University researchers in a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Hypertension. "We performed a comprehensive analysis of data from 25 clinical trials and all the data pointed to one strong conclusion - adding fiber to a person's diet has a healthy effect on their blood pressure,"

Human Blood Stem Cells Might Restore Heart - Transformation Leads to Repair of Injured Organs

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: LINKAs many as 10% of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy experience heart damage, but new laboratory research shows that restoring such damage might be possible by using blood stem cells.

Wednesday

| FDA Seeks Specific Vioxx Power

limkThe Food and Drug Administration wants the power to write warning labels for drugs, telling Congress on Tuesday it would help end the haggling with pharmaceutical companies that delayed warnings to Vioxx users about potential heart problems.

Tuesday

Migraine Pain Might Signal Deeper Problems

MSN Health.....[LINK]Migraine, some researchers say, is triggering ischemic mini-strokes (small blood blockages in the brain) for certain sufferers. This, doctors suggest, means migraine may add up to a chronic progressive disease, each attack pointing toward an eventual critical mass.