http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress) -- Cardiovascular diseases kill over 17 million people a year globally, according to the World Health Organization, and many more suffer heart attacks but recover. Even those who do recover are more prone to suffer heart failure or future heart attacks because the heart tissue is damaged. Attempts to produce effective therapies to promote repair and regeneration of heart tissues and blood vessels have so far mostly been unpromising. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-nanofibers-heart.html Cardiology Fri, 10 Aug 2012 06:17:20 EST news263798178 (Medical Xpress) -- In a two-day-old mouse, a heart attack causes active stem cells to grow new heart cells; a few months later, the heart is mostly repaired. But in an adult mouse, recovery from such an attack leads to classic after-effects: scar tissue, permanent loss of function and life-threatening arrhythmias. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-heart-early-life-adults.html Cardiology Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:59:22 EST news262936701 Damaged and aged heart tissue of older heart failure patients was rejuvenated by stem cells modified by scientists, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2012 Scientific Sessions. The study is simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-aging-heart-cells-rejuvenated-stem.html Cardiology Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:02:21 EST news262281733 The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $2 million to a team of scientists from Washington University in St. Louis and InvivoSciences, a biotechnology startup with WUSTL roots, to construct artificial tissue models that will allow the rapid testing of new drugs for heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-role-switching-cells-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:23:28 EST news261649402 The University of Nottingham has begun the search for a new class of injectable materials that will stimulate stem cells to regenerate damaged tissue in degenerative and age related disorders of the bone, muscle and heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-tissue-regeneration-state-of-the-art.html Medical research Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:31:16 EST news260785859 Heart attacks during pregnancy are uncommon, but the prevalence of heart disease in pregnant mothers has increased over the past decade as more women delay pregnancy until they are older. These women, who are generally less physically active than their younger peers, tend to have higher cholesterol levels and are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-heart-late-pregnancy.html Cardiology Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:45:03 EST news260451895 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists have for the first time watched and manipulated stem cells as they regenerate tissue in an uninjured mammal, Yale researchers report July 1 online in the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-real-scientists-stem-cells-regenerating.html Medical research Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:40:22 EST news260448013 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 (Medical Xpress) -- While current heart-attack treatments mainly try to preserve healthy heart tissue, scientists have been finding compounds that can stimulate growth of new tissue – either by getting heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) to replicate, or by stimulating other nearby cells to become cardiomyocytes. The challenge lies in getting these regenerative factors into the damaged heart tissue. Now, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital report success getting a sponge-like gel, soaked with one of these factors, to slowly release the medication into the space surrounding the heart, and from there into the damaged tissue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-drug-delivery-platform-regenerate-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 21 May 2012 07:23:08 EST news256803774 (Medical Xpress) -- Boosting levels of the simple compound fumarate in mice significantly reduces damage from a heart attack, an Oxford University-led study has shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-fumarate-greatly-heart-mice.html Medical research Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:13:34 EST news250330405 For the first time in a new U.S. clinical trial, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have used the HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System (EAS) to correct abnormal electrical signals inside the heart of a patient affected by atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the nation's most common heart ailments. The device is the first catheter ablation system to incorporate a camera that allows doctors to see a direct, real-time image of the patient's heart tissue during ablation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-mount-sinai-visually-catheter-ablation.html Cardiology Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:10:11 EST news249063004 (Medical Xpress) -- UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center is now offering patients with atrial fibrillation the breakthrough benefits of heat energy, or radio frequency waves, to irreversibly alter heart tissue that triggers an abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia. The THERMOCOOL SF Catheter is an FDA-approved outpatient procedure for an early-stage form of the condition called paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, when recurring symptoms are unresponsive to medicine. Patients typically experience rapid heartbeats that can lead to debilitating fatigue, dizziness, fainting or shortness of breath if left untreated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-ucsd-energy-odd-heart.html Cardiology Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:10:02 EST news248691103 Severe heart damage in people who are obese and diabetic is linked with a pancreatic hormone called amylin, UC Davis researchers have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-pancreatic-hormone-linked-severe-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:10:04 EST news248634591 Stem cell therapy moderately improves heart function after a heart attack, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. But the researchers behind the review say larger clinical trials are needed to establish whether this benefit translates to a longer life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-stem-cell-treatments-heart-function.html Medical research Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:04 EST news248460369 Researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital have turned stem cells from amniotic fluid into cells that form blood vessels. Their success offers hope that such stem cells may be used to grow tissue patches to repair infant hearts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-scientists-infant-hearts.html Medical research Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:50:56 EST news247751446 Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can reduce blood supply to the heart tissue and damage cardiac cells, resulting in heart failure. New research has investigated if nerve growth factor (NGF) gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-nerve-growth-factor-gene-therapy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:00:04 EST news243619082 Researchers have identified a new and relatively abundant pool of stem cells in the heart. The findings in the December issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, show that these heart cells have the capacity for long-term expansion and can form a variety of cell types, including muscle, bone, neural and heart cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-newly-heart-stem-cells-muscle.html Medical research Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:00:01 EST news241965520 A component of garlic oil may help release protective compounds to the heart after heart attack, during cardiac surgery, or as a treatment for heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-garlic-oil-component-treatment-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:43:29 EST news240658984 When given for hours as a continuous dose, the heart medication nitroglycerin backfires -- increasing the severity of subsequent heart attacks, according to a study of the compound in rats by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-nitroglycerin-severity-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:06:00 EST news239461540 Many patients are responding to a new, minimally invasive way of treating irregular heartbeats by freezing out the bad cells. Atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) is one such heart rhythm disorder, and it's the most common arrhythmia affecting Americans. However, new research shows that 70 percent of patients with the disorder who were treated with cryoballoon ablation, the freezing technique, are free of any heart rhythm irregularities one year out from having the procedure. These results suggest that this minimally invasive procedure may be faster, safer and more effective than the commonly used approach of burning the cells in order to put the heart back into a normal rhythm pattern. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in the city of Chicago, and one of only three in the state of Illinois, performing this procedure. According to cardiologist, Bradley Knight, MD, the switch from "hot" to "cold" has been good for patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-desist-disabling-cardiac-cells-arrhythmia.html Cardiology Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:54:01 EST news235065168 It's no secret that a high-fat diet isn't healthy. Now researchers have discovered a molecular clue as to precisely why that is. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-high-fat-diet-lack-enzyme-heart.html Medical research Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:20:01 EST news235049752 Tissue deprived of oxygen (ischemia) is a serious health condition that can lead to damaged heart tissue following a heart attack and, in the case of peripheral arterial disease in limbs, amputation, particularly in diabetic patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-blood.html Medical research Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:34:39 EST news231431574 Genetically engineered human cardiac stem cells helped repair damaged heart tissue and improved function after a heart attack, in a new animal study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-genetically-cardiac-stem-cells-mouse.html Cardiology Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:09:43 EST news230278166 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists have discovered the tool that bacteria normally found in our mouths use to invade heart tissue, causing a dangerous and sometimes lethal infection of the heart known as endocarditis. The work raises the possibility of creating a screening tool – perhaps a swab of the cheek, or a spit test – to gauge a dental patient’s vulnerability to the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-microbiologists-cavity-causing-microbes-invade-heart.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:41:05 EST news228382828 Research introduced at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting may lead to much-needed cardiovascular disease screening for diabetic patients at risk of ischemic heart disease, a disorder marked by significantly reduced blood flow in the heart. Ischemia of the myocardium, or cardiac muscle, can signal diminished oxygenation of the heart tissue and trigger a heart attack if left untreated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-molecular-imaging-ischemic-heart-disease.html Medical research Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:30:03 EST news226584734 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at Columbia Engineering have established a new method to patch a damaged heart using a tissue-engineering platform that enables heart tissue to repair itself. This breakthrough, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is an important step forward in combating cardiovascular disease, one of the most serious health problems of our day. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-columbia-patch-heart.html Cardiology Fri, 06 May 2011 17:48:59 EST news223922905 When a heart attack begins, a stopwatch starts. With each passing minute heart tissue is deprived of blood, causing it to deteriorate or die. In order to minimize damage to the heart, blood flow must be restored promptly, or the effects can be serious, often even fatal. Research shows that the length of time between when a heart attack starts and when treatment begins is fundamental to improving survival rates; so what if an alarm sounded at the onset of a heart attack signaling the immediate need for medical attention? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-guardian-angel-heart.html Medical research Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:36:23 EST news223058168 Approximately one million Americans suffer a heart attack each year of which some 400,000 attacks are fatal. A key cause of heart attacks is atherosclerosis, a process in which cholesterol builds up in the arteries and impedes the ability of the blood to flow to our most vital organ. Atherosclerosis is often associated with a high-fat diet in humans, but in a new study using an animal model researchers have found that a high-fat diet for a very short period can protect the heart from heart attacks and result in less tissue damage when heart attacks occur. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-short-term-high-fat-consumption-beneficial-heart.html Medical research Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:02:41 EST news221918546