http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A drug commonly used to treat depression and anxiety may improve a stress-related heart condition in people with stable coronary heart disease, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-antidepressant-stress-induced-heart-condition.html Cardiology Tue, 21 May 2013 16:00:02 EST news288368735 Extended use of a common antibiotic may prolong the time between hospitalizations for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a post-hoc analysis of a multicenter study which compared the hospitalization rates of patients treated with a 12-month course of azithromycin to the rates of those treated with placebo. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-antibiotic-therapy-beneficial-patients-copd.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 09:24:33 EST news288347065 Living close to a major road may impair kidney function—itself a risk factor for heart disease and stroke—and so help contribute to the known impact of air pollution on cardiovascular risk, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-major-road-impair-kidney-function.html Health Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:02 EST news287658551 Researchers from The University of Auckland have developed the world's most detailed 3D computer models of the heart's upper chambers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-world-d-heart-chambers.html Cardiology Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:43:38 EST news284291011 Scientists are getting closer to a Chagas disease vaccine, something many believed impossible only 10 years ago. Research from the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has resulted in a safe vaccine candidate that is simple to produce and shows a greater than 90 percent protection rate against chronic infection in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-potential-chagas-vaccine-candidate-unprecedented.html Medications Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:01 EST news283523344 In an animal study, researchers at the University of Washington show that it was possible to use gene therapy to boost heart muscle function. The finding suggests that it might be possible to use this approach to treat patients whose hearts have been weakened by heart attacks and other heart conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-gene-therapy-aid-hearts.html Genetics Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:25:19 EST news283508708 Women with atrial fibrilation have more symptoms and lower quality of life than men with the same heart condition, according to an analysis of patients in a large national registry compiled by the Duke Clinical Research Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-symptoms-irregular-heartbeats-differ-gender.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:13:57 EST news282219230 Even minor weight loss is associated with worse health outcomes among patients implanted with a certain type of defibrillator known as cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D), according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-weight-loss-linked-higher-implanted.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:20:01 EST news281883874 (HealthDay)—People with a common heart rhythm problem may be able to decrease their symptoms by adding gentle yoga to their treatment regimen, a small study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-yoga-common-heart-rhythm-disorder.html Cardiology Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:27:09 EST news278789221 Every year an estimated 1.5 million magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are performed in Canada and the number is growing at a rate of about 10 per cent per year. At the same time, a soaring number of Canadians who rely on implanted defibrillators to keep their hearts beating are denied this valuable, life-saving diagnostic test despite a 50 to 75 per cent probability that they will require one over the lifetime of their defibrillator. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mri-friendly-defibrillator-implant-doors-thousands.html Cardiology Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:02:34 EST news278672533 Researchers use skin cells from patients with an inherited heart condition to recreate the adult-onset disease in a laboratory dish—producing the first maturation-based disease model for testing new therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-patients-skin-cells-heart-disease.html Medical research Sun, 27 Jan 2013 13:00:06 EST news278503409 (Medical Xpress)—A virtual heart, developed at The University of Manchester, is revealing new information about one of the world's most common heart conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-virtual-heart-defect.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:00:02 EST news277477229 Every year, over 300,000 heart valve replacement operations are performed worldwide. Diseased valves are often replaced with mechanical heart valves (MHVs), which cannot yet be designed to suit each patient's specific needs. Complications such as blood clots can occur, which can require patients to take blood-thinning medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-simulations-blood-mechanical-heart-valves.html Cardiology Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:34:54 EST news275132085 (HealthDay)—As temperatures fall during the winter months, the risk for heart attacks rises for people with heart conditions and those engaging in rigorous physical activity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-winter-weather-shoveling-pose-heart.html Health Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:50:01 EST news274893160 Unfortunately, newspaper articles about young athletes dying suddenly on the field are not unheard of. Such reports fuel discussions about compulsory screening, for example of young footballers, for heart failure. Research by scientists from Ghent (VIB/UGent) and Italy will benefit these screening methods. They have discovered a link between mutations in a certain gene and the heart condition Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-discovery-screening-sudden-cardiac-death.html Cardiology Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:39:58 EST news274531181 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 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering are part of a team that has used stretchable electronics to create a multipurpose medical catheter that can both monitor heart functions and perform corrections on heart tissue during surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-heart-surgery-stretchable-electronics-devices.html Cardiology Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:05:13 EST news272210692 Stuffy noses, hacking coughs and aches all over—cold and flu season has arrived. Though your body may be aching and your nose running like a faucet, it can be difficult to decide if you should continue your exercise routine or take a temporary break. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-sick.html Health Thu, 08 Nov 2012 07:40:02 EST news271582126 (Medical Xpress)—Children taking central nervous system stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin do not face an increased risk of serious heart conditions during treatment, according to a new University of Florida study that confirms findings reported in 2011. Published in the British Medical Journal in August, the study contributes to a decade-long clinical and policy debate of treatment risks for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-adhd-drugs-heart-conditions-children.html Attention deficit disorders Thu, 01 Nov 2012 07:30:01 EST news270972156 (Medical Xpress)—Efforts to improve preparation for heart surgery are the focus of a collaboration of Arizona State University biomedical engineering researchers and physicians at Phoenix Children's Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-d-technology-boosts-aid-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:35:46 EST news269591738 Researchers at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center and University of Montreal have identified genetic origins in 10% of an important form of congenital heart diseases by studying the genetic variability within families. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-major-genetic-discovery-percent-aortic.html Genetics Fri, 28 Sep 2012 04:45:42 EST news268026321 Results from the world's first registry of pregnancy and heart disease have shown that most women with heart disease can go through pregnancy and delivery safely, so long as they are adequately evaluated, counselled and receive high quality care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-results-world-registry-pregnancy-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:20:01 EST news266598263 The protein transient receptor potential melastatin-like 7 (TRPM7) is a critical determinant of breast cancer cell metastasis, according to study results published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-trpm7-protein-key-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:35:02 EST news263565284 A new program that trains emergency medical service technicians (EMS) to read electrocardiograms so that they can evaluate patients with chest pain, and expedite treatment for the severe heart condition known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a serious form of heart attack, has excellent results and should become the standard of care, according to two studies published in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-ecgs-paramedics-treatment-severe-heart.html Cardiology Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:03:44 EST news261997366 (HealthDay) -- The sudden death of a growing number of college athletes during conditioning sessions has prompted a task force, led by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), to issue new safety recommendations for these workouts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-college-athlete-deaths-workouts-spur.html Health Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:30:01 EST news260040263 Genetic researchers have made an important step towards resolving the mystery of the causes of intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD), or stillbirth, where a baby dies in the womb after the 14th week of gestation. IUFD is responsible for 60% of perinatal mortality and occurs in about one in every two hundred pregnancies in Europe. Up to half of these stillbirths are unexplained. Now scientists from Italy, Germany, and the US have found that up to 8% of these unexplained deaths may be caused by specific genetic heart conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-genetic-heart-diseases-responsible-unexplained.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:07:25 EST news259895017 A recent international study led by researchers from McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) examines the complex and controversial interplay of conflicts of interest between physician experts, medicine and the pharmaceutical or medical device industry. The results of the analysis, which are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, aim to advance the management of conflicts of interest in medical guidelines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ethics-framework-urged-conflicts-medicine.html Other Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:49:41 EST news258814140 (HealthDay) -- The multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod) should not be given to patients with certain pre-existing or recent heart conditions or stroke, or those taking certain medications to correct heart rhythm problems, says a U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety announcement issued Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-fda-issues-multiple-sclerosis-drug.html Medications Mon, 14 May 2012 17:50:01 EST news256234263 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 Peripartum cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure that by definition develops late in pregnancy or shortly after delivery, results in a frightening turn of events that can leave new mothers suffering from a lifelong chronic heart condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-scientists-uncover-important-clues-peripartum.html Cardiology Wed, 09 May 2012 13:00:31 EST news255778602