http://medicalxpress.com/cardiology-news/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news on cardiology (HealthDay)—Blood levels of free fatty acids are associated with insulin resistance during young adulthood and cardiovascular risk factors in later adulthood, according to a study published online May 13 in Diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-free-fatty-acids-linked-cardiac.html Cardiology Fri, 17 May 2013 12:30:01 EST news288009521 Age has little to do with how patients should be treated after suffering a stroke, according to new research from the University of Georgia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-patients-similarly-after-stroke-age-difference.html Cardiology Fri, 17 May 2013 08:36:36 EST news287998384 The hardening of arteries is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, an often deadly disease in which plaques, excessive connective tissue, and other changes build up inside vessel walls and squeeze off the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Now, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have described the molecular and cellular pathway that leads to this hardening of the arteries—and zeroed in on a particularly destructive protein called Dkk1. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-hardening-arteries.html Cardiology Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:23 EST news287940137 The type of sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sensors-heart-devices-consumer-electronics.html Cardiology Thu, 16 May 2013 12:59:04 EST news287927936 Academic researchers have found that breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers a change in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, altering its cardiovascular protective qualities so that it actually contributes to clogged arteries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-jekyll-hyde-auto-emissions-hdl.html Cardiology Wed, 15 May 2013 16:46:48 EST news287855200 Middle aged and out of shape? It's not too late to get fit—and reduce your risk for heart failure, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-middle-age-heart-failure.html Cardiology Wed, 15 May 2013 16:43:26 EST news287854969 A new study from the University of Cincinnati has found that, when delivered via ultrasound, the natural enzyme plasmin is more effective at dissolving stroke-causing clots than the standard of care, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-plasmindelivered-bubblemore-effective-tpa-clots.html Cardiology Wed, 15 May 2013 15:34:17 EST news287850844 Having too much body fat makes arteries become stiff after middle age, a new study has revealed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-body-fat-hardens-arteries-middle.html Cardiology Wed, 15 May 2013 11:28:14 EST news287836082 The Journal of the American Heart Association published the conclusive results from a study directed by Dr. Éric Thorin of the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), which suggests for the first time that a blood protein contributes to the early development of atherosclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-early-biomarker-atherosclerosis.html Cardiology Tue, 14 May 2013 03:19:10 EST news287720328 Every year, thousands of babies are born with severely malformed hearts, disorders known collectively as congenital heart disease. Many of these defects can be repaired though surgery, but researchers don't understand what causes them or how to prevent them. New research shows that about 10 percent of these defects are caused by genetic mutations that are absent in the parents of affected children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-important-congenital-heart-disease.html Cardiology Sun, 12 May 2013 13:00:08 EST news287574219 Eating fish is good for your heart, but taking fish oil capsules does not help people at high risk of heart problems who are already taking medicines to prevent them, a large study in Italy found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-fish-oil-heart-limited.html Cardiology Wed, 08 May 2013 18:12:08 EST news287255521 (Medical Xpress)—A researcher at ETH Zurich is designing a realistic artery model with an implanted stent and is using a computer to simulate the blood flow through the stent. In doing so he is uncovering weaknesses in this common form of therapy for atherosclerosis and paving the way for the development of optimized stents. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-stents-disrupt-blood.html Cardiology Mon, 06 May 2013 05:51:57 EST news287038231 A study appearing in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry demonstrates that grapes are able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) by increasing the activity of several genes responsible for antioxidant defense in the heart tissue. Grapes are a known natural source of antioxidants and other polyphenols, which researchers believe to be responsible for the beneficial effects observed with grape consumption. This study, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted at the University of Michigan Health System, uncovered a novel way that grapes exert beneficial effects in the heart: influencing gene activities and metabolic pathways that improve the levels of glutathione, the most abundant cellular antioxidant in the heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-uncovers-mechanism-grapes-heart-failure.html Cardiology Thu, 02 May 2013 11:41:23 EST news286713616 Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – among the most widely prescribed antidepressant medications – are associated with increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, hospital readmission and death when taken around the time of surgery, according to an analysis led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-ssris-perioperative-period-higher-adverse.html Cardiology Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:00:03 EST news286466126 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists are a step closer to being able to repair damaged human heart tissue thanks to a world leading research collaboration between the University of Sydney and Harvard University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-straight-heart-elastic-patch-cardiac.html Cardiology Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:40:06 EST news286440472 A microbial byproduct of intestinal bacteria contributes to heart disease and serves as an accurate screening tool for predicting future risks of heart attack, stroke and death in persons not otherwise identified by traditional risk factors and blood tests, according to Cleveland Clinic research published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gut-bacteria-byproduct-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:00:12 EST news286037398 Frequent binge drinking in college can cause more than a hangover. Regularly consuming multiple drinks in a short window of time can cause immediate changes in circulation that increase an otherwise healthy young adult's risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-binge-college-heart-disease-life.html Cardiology Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:31:46 EST news285953494 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a method of predicting which patients with heart disease would benefit more from surgery and which would benefit more from angioplasty. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-team-method-options-heart-disease-surgery.html Cardiology Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:01:09 EST news285868858 A common test that records the heart's electrical activity could predict potentially serious cardiovascular illness, according to a UC San Francisco-led study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-routine-ekg-heart-problem.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:35:07 EST news285348900 A study published today in the European Heart Journal found no evidence that digoxin increases mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the opposite of results just published by another group in the same journal analyzing the same data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-digoxin-safe.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:47:59 EST news285346072 A high heart rate (pulse) at rest is linked to a higher risk of death even in physically fit, healthy people, suggests research published online in the journal Heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-high-heart-rest-higher-death.html Cardiology Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:30:02 EST news285245731 A major factor in the advance of heart disease is the death of heart tissue, a process that a team of scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine think could be prevented with new medicines. Now, the researchers are one step closer to achieving that goal, thanks to their discovery of a key molecule in an unexpected place in heart cells – mitochondria, tiny energy factories that house the controls capable of setting off cells' self-destruct sequence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-clues-heart-disease-unexpected.html Cardiology Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:42:31 EST news284985742 Researchers at the University of Michigan have identified a new potential therapeutic target for lowering cholesterol that could be an alternative or complementary therapy to statins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-u-m-cholesterol-blood.html Cardiology Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:04:55 EST news284825061 A compound abundant in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks has been found to promote atherosclerosis – or the hardening or clogging of the arteries – according to Cleveland Clinic research published online this week in the journal Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-link-heart-disease-red-meat.html Cardiology Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:00:20 EST news284556925 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure blood flow over atherosclerotic plaques could help identify plaques at risk for thrombosis. The findings, which appear in the March issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, offer a non-invasive application in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mri-blood-atherosclerotic-plaque-dangerous.html Cardiology Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:15:07 EST news284386406 Male pattern baldness is linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, but only if it's on the top/crown of the head, rather than at the front, finds an analysis of published evidence in the online journal BMJ Open. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-baldness-linked-coronary-heart-disease.html Cardiology Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:30:03 EST news284227225 Loop diuretics, more commonly known as water pills, are the most widely prescribed heart failure medications, but few studies had extensively compared their effectiveness until Yale School of Medicine researchers examined three approved loop diuretics and found that even though one of them might offer more benefit, it is rarely prescribed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pills-equally-effective-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:30:01 EST news284036535 A new study will help determine if an antibiotic is a partial antidote for the poisonous effect blood has on the brain following a hemorrhagic stroke, researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-antibiotic-hemorrhagic.html Cardiology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:20:28 EST news284034018 A treatment that removes heavy metals from the body has long been touted as an alternative therapy to combat hardening arteries. Now a 10-year, $31 million clinical trial has found that chelation therapy does help heart attack patients slightly reduce their risk of serious heart problems - but not enough for the researchers to encourage mainstream cardiologists to offer it to their patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fringe-therapy-heart-patients.html Cardiology Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:50:07 EST news283784571 A UCLA study shows that heart failure medications recommended by national guidelines are highly cost effective in saving lives and may also provide savings to the health care system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-heart-failure-medications-highly-cost-effective.html Cardiology Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:30:39 EST news283692631