http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A slim waist and normal weight are usually associated with better health outcomes, but that's not always the case with heart failure patients, according to a new UCLA study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-obesity-larger-waist-size-outcomes.html Cardiology Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:18:58 EST news260536730 Many chronic heart failure patients struggle with not just strenuous activity but even the essentials such as moderate exercise and normal breathing. Research revealed at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 2012 Annual Meeting presents an overnight breathing treatment called adaptive servo-ventilation as a potential protocol for energizing the heart by increasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system. An aspect of the nervous system, the main function of the sympathetic nervous system is to mobilize the body, commonly known as the "fight-or-flight" impulse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-treatment-cardiac-function-nerve-health.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:30:01 EST news258639558 For the first time scientists have succeeded in taking skin cells from heart failure patients and reprogramming them to transform into healthy, new heart muscle cells that are capable of integrating with existing heart tissue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-scientists-patients-skin-cells-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 23 May 2012 04:11:11 EST news256965049 Troublesome dyspnea that limits sexual activity is common among older patients with COPD, according to a new study from Denmark. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-troublesome-dyspnea-sexual-common-copd.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 May 2012 09:00:09 EST news256809029 Nordic walking enables heart failure patients to exercise more intensely than walking without poles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-nordic-health-heart-failure-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 21 May 2012 03:58:57 EST news256791516 Palliative care for cancer patients in the UK is well established – but the situation is starkly different for those suffering from heart failure. A recent service evaluation led by the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School (HYMS) shows this doesn't have to be the case – particularly if clinicians have the courage to talk about death with their patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-dont-dodge-difficult-conversation.html Cardiology Thu, 17 May 2012 05:10:01 EST news256449400 Hospitals that perform expensive, invasive cardiovascular procedures on a disproportionate number of patients are more costly for all heart failure patients, including those treated with noninvasive methods, according to a new Yale study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-hospitals-expensive-heart-procedures-costly.html Cardiology Thu, 10 May 2012 11:24:17 EST news255867852 Exercise can counteract muscle breakdown, increase strength and reduce inflammation caused by aging and heart failure, according to new research in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-muscle-age-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:14 EST news255606158 Neither aspirin nor warfarin is superior for preventing a combined risk of death, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to a landmark clinical trial published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-aspirin-warfarin-equally-effective-heart.html Medications Wed, 02 May 2012 17:20:01 EST news255191906 Testosterone supplements helped heart failure patients breathe better and exercise more, according to research in Circulation Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-testosterone-supplements-heart-failure-patients.html Cardiology Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:01 EST news253888870 Although observational studies have suggested that losartan, a drug used primarily for the treatment of hypertension, may be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with heart failure compared with other medications in the same class of drugs (angiotensin II receptor blockers [ARBs]), an analysis that included nearly 6,500 patients found that overall, use of losartan was not associated with increased all-cause death or cardiovascular death compared with use of the ARB candesartan, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-high-blood-pressure-medication-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:00:01 EST news253274204 Lowering glucose levels for people with diabetes is normally critical to improving health outcomes. But for those with heart failure, that might not always be the case, say UCLA researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-heart-failure-patients-diabetes-benefit.html Cardiology Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:48:46 EST news253194512 A research network led by a Mayo Clinic physician found that stem cells derived from heart failure patients' own bone marrow and injected into their hearts improved the function of the left ventricle, the heart's pumping chamber. Researchers also found that certain types of the stem cells were associated with the largest improvement and warrant further study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-bone-marrow-stem-cells-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:12:36 EST news251971945 Some patients with advanced heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy, the deterioration of function of the heart muscle, are benefitting from a new recovery protocol at the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-university-louisvillejewish-hospital-heart-transplant.html Cardiology Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:52:43 EST news250789952 Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects. The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-death-heart-failure-women-men.html Cardiology Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:20:01 EST news250401661 Based on a review of the latest evidence, the Guidelines Committee of the Heart Failure Society of America now recommends that the use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) be expanded to a larger group of patients with mild heart failure symptoms. Recommendations for integrating new evidence into clinical practice appear in the February issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-hfsa-cardiac-resynchronization-therapy.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:08:54 EST news249588527 A large population-based study has found that lung function and obstructive airway diseases are strongly and independently associated with increased risk of heart failure. Importantly, say the investigators, this association was even evident in never-smokers and was still evident after adjustment for smoking status and number of years smoking. This, they add, indicates "that our results are not primarily confounded by smoking". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-airflow-obstruction-lung-function-heart.html Cardiology Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:00:01 EST news249305890 University of Cincinnati cardiologists are conducting a one-of-a-kind clinical trial to determine if a dialysis-like procedure could be deemed the new standard of care for patients suffering from extensive fluid retention caused by heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-clinical-trial-benefits-mechanisms-ultrafiltration.html Cardiology Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:43:27 EST news249205376 (Medical Xpress) -- A UCLA-led study has found that a combination of several key guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure treatment resulted in an improvment of up to 90 percent in the odds of survival over two years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-combined-heart-failure-therapies-significantly.html Cardiology Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:50:01 EST news249111554 In the largest and longest head-to-head comparison of two anti-clotting medications, warfarin and aspirin were similar in preventing deaths and strokes in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to late-breaking research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-warfarin-aspirin-similar-heart-failure.html Cardiology Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:55:40 EST news247492532 The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) welcomes an "intriguing" study, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, featuring a completely novel approach for improving endothelial function in heart failure1. In the "hypothesis generating" study, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) delivered significant improvements in peak post ischemic blood flow in the arm, a trend for improvement in peak post ischemic blood flow in the leg, but failed to show benefits in exercise capacity and several inflammatory markers. Despite such conflicting data, ESC spokespersons believe that further exploration of UCDA is now justified in larger populations of heart failure patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-esc-cardiologists-intrigued-approach-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:02:22 EST news247165280 Either heart failure or diabetes alone is bad enough, but oftentimes the two conditions seem to go together. Now, researchers reporting in the January Cell Metabolism appear to have found the culprit that leads from heart failure to diabetes and perhaps a novel way to break that metabolic vicious cycle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-heart-failure-diabetes.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:18:17 EST news244815490 However, large-scale clinical trials have highlighted the beneficial effect of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) in the improvement of symptoms and reduction of mortality, and CRT is now recommended in the major European and American guidelines for the treatment and prevention of heart failure.(1) http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-benefits-cardiac-resynchronisation-therapy-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:10:01 EST news243492604 A patient's education level is not a fail-safe predictor of how well they will manage symptoms related to complicated chronic diseases, such as heart failure, according to a Purdue University study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-heart-failure-health-literate-patients-adept.html Cardiology Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:38:06 EST news243171476 Low levels of vitamin C were associated with higher levels of high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hsCRP) and shorter intervals without major cardiac issues or death for heart failure patients, in research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-vitamin-heart-failure-patients.html Cardiology Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:22:20 EST news240409326 Doctors should not only treat the heart muscle in chronic heart failure patients, but also their leg muscles through exercise, say researchers in a study published today in the Journal of Applied Physiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-leg-fatigue-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:48:45 EST news239276914 What if a new medication for severely ill patients had no role in curing them but made them feel much better despite being sick? Let's say this elixir were found to decrease the pain and nausea of cancer patients, improve the sleep and energy of heart failure patients, prolong the lives of people with kidney failure, drive down healthcare expenditures and ease the burdens of caregivers? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-palliative.html Health Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:35:25 EST news239027714 Heart failure (HF) costs are headed for the economic stratosphere, even as researchers come up with simple tests and strategies to bring them back to earth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-billions-dollars-stake-canada-soaring.html Cardiology Sun, 23 Oct 2011 06:36:05 EST news238570548 Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins have figured out how a widely used pacemaker for heart failure, which makes both sides of the heart beat together to pump effectively, works at the biological level. Their findings, published in the September 14 issue of Science Translational Medicine, may open the door to drugs or genetic therapies that mimic the effect of the pacemaker and to new ways to use pacemakers for a wider range of heart failure patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-specialized-pacemaker-biological-hearts.html Cardiology Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:00:01 EST news235223598 Results of an observational study presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting today in Paris demonstrate that the percutaneous catheter-based MitraClip treatment improves symptoms and promotes reverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR), who do not respond to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mitraclip-therapy-benefits-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:28:15 EST news233836009