http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina indicates that a newly approved blood thinner that blocks a key component of the human blood clotting system may increase the risk and severity of certain viral infections, including flu and myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart and a significant cause of sudden death in children and young adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-newly-blood-thinner-susceptibility-viral.html Medical research Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:05:02 EST news284040294 (Medical Xpress)—Australians are being warned of a higher risk of stroke caused by the nation's most common heart rhythm disorder, atrial fibrillation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-higher-common-heart-disease.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:00:03 EST news279791353 The cause of heart attacks or strokes among some patients treated with anti-platelet drugs may be different than for patients who have undergone surgical procedures to restore blood flow, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-heart-patients-differently-anti-platelet-drugs.html Cardiology Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:03:07 EST news271342977 Patients who receive a drug-eluting stent (DES) and demonstrate low levels of platelet inhibition are more likely to have blood clots form on the stent and suffer a possible heart attack; conversely, patients with higher levels of platelet inhibition are at greater risk for bleeding complications. One-year results of the ADAPT-DES study were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-responsiveness-clopidogrel-stent-thrombosis-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:19:09 EST news270397123 Men and women who undergo joint replacement procedures, as well as those who have significant fractures, tend to be at an increased risk of developing pulmonary emboli (PE), blood clots that travel to the lungs where they may cause serious complications and even death. Patients are often aggressively treated with anticoagulants, or blood thinners, to help prevent the clots from forming, but a study published in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons indicates that some blood clots being identified by today's sensitive testing methods may not require aggressive treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-anti-clotting-therapy-orthopaedic-surgery-trauma.html Surgery Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:24:29 EST news265692254 A compound that mops up debris of damaged cells from the bloodstream may be the first in a new class of drugs designed to address one of medicine's most difficult challenges -- stopping the formation of blood clots without triggering equally threatening bleeding. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-bloodstream-scavenger-inhibits-clotting.html Medical research Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:17:53 EST news262279038 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a novel biomimetic strategy that delivers life-saving nanotherapeutics directly to obstructed blood vessels, dissolving blood clots before they cause serious damage or even death. This new approach enables thrombus dissolution while using only a fraction of the drug dose normally required, thereby minimizing bleeding side effects that currently limit widespread use of clot-busting drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-nanotherapeutic-clot-busting-drugs-obstructed-blood.html Medical research Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:00:04 EST news260713194 those disc-shaped cells circulating in your blood -- rush to the scene, clumping together to plug the leak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-jam-a-protein-blood-clots.html Medical research Thu, 03 May 2012 11:00:01 EST news255260481 Adding vorapaxar, an investigational platelet blocker, to standard antiplatelet therapy significantly reduces the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with known atherosclerosis, a hardening and narrowing of the arteries, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-class-platelet-blockers-effective-phase.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:24:14 EST news251972625 How and when our blood clots is one of those incredibly complex and important processes in our body that we rarely think about. If your blood doesn't clot and you cut yourself, you could bleed to death, if your blood clots too much, you could be in line for a heart attack or stroke. Dr. Hans Vogel, a professor at the University of Calgary, has thought a lot about blot clotting and recently published research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that helps to better understand the clotting process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mystery-blood-clotting.html Medical research Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:36:38 EST news251368588 Researchers, led by scientists from Johns Hopkins, have found five previously unknown gene mutations believed to be associated with elevated blood platelet counts in African-Americans, findings they say could someday lead to the development of new drugs to help prevent coronary artery disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-gene-mutations-linked-platelet-african.html Genetics Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:29:50 EST news249845383 An operation for preventing repeat strokes in high-risk patients has failed in a multi-institutional clinical trial, scientists report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-surgery-complications.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:52:02 EST news240562304 In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered several gene variants contributing to early stent thrombosis (ST), a devastating and often deadly complication after coronary stent implantation in people with coronary artery disease. The team found that three of these variants were associated with impaired sensitivity to the common blood thinner clopidogrel, and a fourth that affects a blood platelet receptor involved in platelet aggregation and clot formation. Analyzing these gene variants will help researchers identify patients at risk for early stent thrombosis and take measures to prevent it. The data also provide a clinical and genomic score that indicates the best predictive accuracy for stent thrombosis risk. The findings are published in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-variants-stent-thrombosis-people.html Genetics Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:04:24 EST news238781047 Fetal and neonatal immune thrombocytopenia (FNIT; aka FNAIT) is a condition in which fetuses and newborns have reduced numbers of blood cells known as platelets. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-potential-miscarriage-habitual-abortion.html Medical research Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:15:43 EST news238680933 When tennis star Serena Williams underwent emergency treatment for a pulmonary embolism earlier this year, the world's attention was drawn to this often fatal medical condition which, although surprisingly not uncommon, is unfamiliar to most men and women. A common risk factor associated with clot development is surgery; particularly hip and knee replacement surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-joint-surgery-blood-clot-formation.html Other Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:44:39 EST news230982258 Scripps Research Institute scientists have discovered new elements of the blood clot-formation process. The findings could lead to better drugs for preventing heart attacks and other clot-related conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-blood-clots.html Medical research Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:15:45 EST news227196866