http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, is the primary cause of heart disease. It is caused by calcium accumulation in the blood vessels, which leads to arteries becoming narrow and stiff, obstructing blood flow and leading to heart complications. Although many risk factors for atherosclerosis have been identified, the cause is not known and there is currently no way to reverse it once it sets in. In a new study published 9th April in the open access journal PLOS Biology, researchers have characterized the cells responsible for driving this calcium build-up in vessel walls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-calcium-accumulation-blood-vessels-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:00:03 EST news284745248 Heart failure is a relatively common complication in older women with breast cancer, but the risk is even higher in those patients treated with adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin), Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-heart-failure-older-breast-cancer.html Cardiology Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:30:01 EST news272129356 Being obese at any age is commonly associated with a litany of health issues, ranging from diabetes and chronic fatigue to heart complications. Overweight adolescents are also at an increased risk of body dissatisfaction, social alienation and low self esteem, which is why Dr. Gary Goldfield, registered psychologist, clinical researcher at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, set out to discover how exercise might impact these factors in teens, as reported today in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-overweight-teens-mental-health-boost.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:42:58 EST news268303372 Waiting to treat the commonest viral infections in transplant recipients until they reach a certain threshold is better than prophylactically treating all recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-reveals-optimal-treatment-common-infection.html Other Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:10:01 EST news264953486 Dialysis patients whose mental health deteriorates over time have an increased risk of developing heart problems and dying prematurely, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Additional research should investigate whether caring for kidney disease patients' mental health may help prevent heart complications and even death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mental-health-role-dialysis-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:00:05 EST news252860439 Russians born during the Leningrad Siege in World War II, which was responsible for some of the greatest losses of civilian life in history, are giving scientists new strategies to identify people who experienced intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and starvation during childhood at greatest risk of developing long term heart complications. The abstract study¹, presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) meeting, in London, UK, 30 March to 1 April 2012, makes use of a unique population of people exposed to extreme starvation both as foetuses and during childhood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-starvation-linked-greater-cardiac-complications.html Cardiology Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:40:01 EST news252300531 Federal health regulators are warning doctors not to prescribe high doses of the antidepressant Celexa, because of the risk of fatal heart complications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-fda-heart-high-doses-celexa.html Medications Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:43:48 EST news233412211