http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. When a biologic aortic valve prosthesis fails, the patient often faces a high risk valve replacement through repeat open heart surgery. A new technique, known as Valve-in-Valve, uses minimally invasive techniques to introduce a collapsible aortic heart valve into the damaged valve in order to restore function. This procedure avoids the need to open the chest or use cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung machine), according to Leo Ihlberg, MD, PhD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Heart and Lung Center of Helsinki University Hospital, Finland, who will be presenting the results of a new study at the 93rd AATS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis on May 6, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-minimally-invasive-biological-aortic-valve-successful.html Cardiology Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:04 EST news287057200 Nonsmokers, beware. It seems the more you are exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke—whether it was during your childhood or as an adult, at work or at home—the more likely you are to develop early signs of heart disease, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-secondhand-exposure-linked-heart-disease.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:28:15 EST news281881668 Blockages in your heart arteries could mean you're more likely to have a stroke, even if you're considered low risk, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-clogged-heart-arteries-foreshadow.html Cardiology Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:00:01 EST news281281975 (Medical Xpress)—Diagnosed in toddlers, X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is the most common form of heritable rickets, in which soft bones bend and deform, and tooth abscesses develop because infections penetrate soft teeth that are not properly calcified.  Researchers at McGill University and the Federal University of Sao Paulo have identified that osteopontin, a major bone and tooth substrate protein, plays a role in XLH. Their discovery may pave the way to effectively treating this rare disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-elusive-substrate-protein-common-heritable.html Medical research Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:40:05 EST news280569805 (HealthDay)—Circulating levels of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling inhibitor sclerostin are higher in patients with type 2 diabetes who also have atherosclerotic disease, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Diabetes Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-sclerostin-linked-vascular-disease-diabetes.html Diabetes Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:20:01 EST news278599736 (HealthDay)—Men and women with fatty liver are more likely to have metabolic syndrome (MetS) with type 2 diabetes, and women with fatty liver are more likely to have MetS with subclinical atherosclerosis, according to research published online Dec. 18 in Diabetes Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fatty-liver-cad-metabolic-syndrome.html Diabetes Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:10:01 EST news278177047 Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients frequently suffer from mineral bone disorder, which causes vascular calcification and, eventually, chronic heart failure. Similar to patients with CKD, mice with low levels of the protein klotho (klotho hypomorphic mice) also develop vascular calcification and have shorter life spans compared to normal mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-treatment-kidney-disease-associated-heart-failure.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:09:31 EST news276959365 (HealthDay)—In elderly individuals without type 2 diabetes, high levels of fetuin-A, a protein that inhibits arterial calcification and insulin action, is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in Diabetes Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fetuin-a-linked-cardiovascular-disease.html Diabetes Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:20:01 EST news276874379 Blood vessels are extremely dynamic: depending on the external conditions, they can adapt their permeability for nutrients, their contractility, and even their shape. Unlike cardiac muscle cells, for example, the smooth muscle cells in blood vessels demonstrate a high degree of plasticity, so they can specialise or multiply as required, even repairing damage to the vessel wall. This vascular remodelling is evidently precisely regulated. Disruptions are extremely significant in conditions such as atherosclerosis or high blood pressure. At the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, scientists conducting research on genetically modified mice have discovered how external signals regulate vascular remodelling at cell level. This has created an entirely new understanding of regulation, which could pave the way for new approaches in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-proteins-remodelling-blood-vessels.html Medical research Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:24:58 EST news272035465 Researchers at the Institute for Aging Research (IFAR) at Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS), have published a study that shows no evidence of a link between calcium intake and coronary artery calcification, reassuring adults who take calcium supplements for bone health that the supplements do not appear to result in the development of calcification of blood vessels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-link-calcium-intake-coronary-artery.html Health Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:20:58 EST news271524051 A new test could help identify and treat individuals at risk of developing potentially deadly calcium deposits in their tissues and blood vessels, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Heart disease is the number one killer of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and vascular calcification is thought to play a major role. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-blood-potentially-deadly-calcium-deposits.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:00:04 EST news266165455 Kidney stones are associated with a small but significant increased risk of developing more serious kidney problems later in life, suggests a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-kidney-stones-linked-small-problems.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:30:02 EST news265564942 (HealthDay) -- The association between vascular disease, as measured by abdominal aortic calcifications (AACs), and disc height loss is independent of cardiovascular disease and is largely explained by patient age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), according to a study published in the April issue of The Spine Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-link-vascular-disease-disc-height.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:20:02 EST news258376752 City centre residents who took part in a study were almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery calcification (CAC), which can lead to heart disease, than people who lived in less polluted urban and rural areas, according to research published in the May issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-heart-city-center-pollution-calcium.html Cardiology Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:41:12 EST news254652062 Treatment with the common diabetes drug metformin appears to prevent progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients infected with HIV. In a presentation today at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers reported that study participants receiving daily doses of metformin had essentially no progression of coronary artery calcification during the year-long study period, while participants receiving a placebo had calcium increases of up to 50 percent. The study also found that lifestyle modification – participation in regular exercise and dietary counseling sessions – did not have a significant effect on calcification, although it did improve several cardiovascular risk factors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-diabetes-drug-halts-atherosclerosis-hiv-infected.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:43:30 EST news250361003 An analytical technique using high brilliance infrared light produced by the SOLEIL synchrotron has been developed by teams from the CNRS, Paris Sud University, Tenon Hospital in Paris, and the Stoke-on-Trent Cancer Centre (GB) to study the calcification present in the kidneys of patients with renal failure. The results show that it is now possible to identify different types of calcification, some of which are specific to diseases that can be treated. If this information is obtained early, the patients concerned can be treated on time and avoid kidney loss and an eventual kidney transplant. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-earlier-diagnosis-kidney-transplants.html Medical research Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:20:04 EST news241797397 A type of medication known as angiotensin-receptor blockers could reduce risk of mortality in people with a heart disease called calcific aortic stenosis (AS) by 30 per cent over an eight-year period, Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Dr. Philippe Pibarot told delegates at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. The condition is currently managed with open heart surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-duty-blood-pressure-drugs-revolutionize.html Cardiology Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:18:20 EST news238735085