http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Migraine headaches are a major cause of ill health and a reduced quality of life. Some individuals suffer from a frequent and severe migraine problem which means that they require regular medication to try and prevent them. A new review of the medications, which may help to prevent episodic migraines, appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The authors, Tatyana Shamliyan from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and her colleagues, compare published research on the drugs available to find those which offer the best migraine prevention coupled with the fewest adverse side-effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-migraine-treatment-drugs-benefits.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:50:01 EST news285417182 New Orleans residents continue to face a three-fold increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina—a trend that has remained unchanged since the storm hit in 2005, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-higher-heart-years-katrina.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:11:07 EST news281884261 People taking the blood pressure drugs called beta blockers may be less likely to have changes in the brain that can be signs of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-blood-pressure-drugs-dementia.html Neuroscience Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:00:04 EST news276771813 A newly found understanding of receptor signaling may have revealed a better way to design drugs. A study from Nationwide Children's Hospital suggests that a newly identified group of proteins, alpha arrestins, may play a role in cell signaling that is crucial to new drug development. The study appears in PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-potential-pathway-drug.html Medical research Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:49:51 EST news274366169 First developed in the 1950s, beta blockers have been a mainstay in medicine for decades, used to treat everything from heart disease to stage fright to glaucoma. But some older classes of beta blockers are causing new concerns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-expert-beta-blocker-habit.html Cardiology Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:39:09 EST news271921135 (HealthDay)—Taking too many medications at the same time could lead to repeated fainting episodes, a new study reveals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fainting-tied-meds.html Medications Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:50:01 EST news271332427 Among patients with either coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors only, known prior heart attack, or known CAD without heart attack, the use of beta-blockers was not associated with a lower risk of a composite of cardiovascular events that included cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack or nonfatal stroke, according to a study in the October 3 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-beta-blocker-cardiovascular-events.html Cardiology Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:00:04 EST news268404232 (HealthDay)—Beta blockers (BBs) are effective as an early prophylactic pharmacologic treatment for patients with mild hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) who have exercise-induced left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-early-prophylactic-tx-beneficial-hypertrophic.html Cardiology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:36:27 EST news266517382 (HealthDay)—In a review that compared two common heart drugs against each other, researchers found no difference between atenolol and metoprolol in terms of preventing stroke, heart attack or heart failure for patients with high blood pressure who were placed on the medications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-common-blood-pressure-meds-fare.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:50:01 EST news265304032 The very oldest in our society are missing out on simple heart treatments which can prolong and improve their quality of life, Newcastle heart experts say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-quarter-elderly-undiagnosed-treatable-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:00:01 EST news262369789 (HealthDay) -- A reduction in central to brachial amplification induced by some antihypertensive drugs may result in lesser reductions in central than brachial systolic blood pressure, according to research published online May 25 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-anti-htn-drugs-distinct-effect-central.html Medical research Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:10:01 EST news258208003 A new study has found that, contrary to current thinking, taking beta blockers that treat high blood pressure does not decrease a person's risk of developing colorectal cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also revealed that even long-term use or subtypes of beta blockers showed no reduction of colorectal cancer risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-blood-pressure-drugs-dont-colorectal.html Cancer Mon, 14 May 2012 03:42:41 EST news256185752 A traditional treatment for heart failure appears to be equally protective in preventing death or hospitalization among African-American patients, as compared to white patients, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-difference-results-standard-heart-failure.html Cardiology Wed, 09 May 2012 17:00:02 EST news255784096 Stressed people fall into habits and their behaviour is not goal-directed. That the neurotransmitter norepinephrine plays a decisive role here is now reported in the Journal of Neuroscience by scientists from Bochum led by Dr. Lars Schwabe (RUB Faculty of Psychology). If the effect of norepinephrine is stopped by beta blockers, the stress effect does not occur. "The results may be important for addictive behaviours, where stress is a key risk factor" said Schwabe. "They are characterised by ingrained routines and habits." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-eyes-goal-stress.html Neuroscience Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:24:00 EST news241694615 For people who initially survive a heart attack, a significant cause of death in the next few days is cardiac rupture -- literally, bursting of the heart wall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-heart-rupture.html Cardiology Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:16:59 EST news240765397 (Medical Xpress) -- Cancer Research UK scientists are investigating whether beta-blockers hold the key to preventing breast cancer spread and improving survival. Promising early results will be presented on the eve of breast cancer awareness month at the Royal Society of Medicine, today (Friday). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-beta-blockers-breast-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 30 Sep 2011 06:45:44 EST news236583902 A major new international study involving researchers from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital has revealed that aspirin, statins, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors are prescribed far too infrequently. They are cheap, preventive medicines that could prevent a huge number of deaths from heart attacks and strokes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-cheap-drugs-thousands-sweden.html Medications Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:06:58 EST news234616010 An exercise training program worked better than a commonly used beta blocker, significantly improving — even curing — patients with a debilitating heart syndrome, according to research published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-outcomes-grinch-syndrome-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:00:01 EST news227793459 In recent years, spending for glaucoma medications has increased, especially for women, persons who have only public health insurance and those with less than a high school education, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-expenditures-glaucoma-medications.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:01:48 EST news227199689 A University of Houston (UH) pharmacy professor's decade-long questioning of conventional medical dogma in the treatment of asthma earned him a prestigious international honor as a top medical innovator. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-uh-professor-commendation-medical-asthma.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:30:44 EST news226639430 The beta-blocker propranolol appears to be associated with reducing the size and color of hemangiomas of the head and neck in a pediatric population, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-propranolol-size-neck-hemangiomas-children.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 16 May 2011 18:00:01 EST news224785656 (Medical Xpress) -- Beta blockers, the group of drugs commonly prescribed to patients with heart diseases, may also have considerable benefits for sufferers of diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, according to new research led by the University of Dundee. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-beta-blockers-copd.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 12 May 2011 15:50:01 EST news224432144 ACE inhibitors, commonly used to control high blood pressure and heart failure in women, may be associated with an increased risk of recurrence in women who have had breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-ace-inhibitors-recurrence-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:04:00 EST news222509025