http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The heart responds to the increased stress caused by chronically raised blood pressure, for example, by thickening its wall muscle. In the late stage of this condition, a risk of heart failure arises. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research have now succeeded in identifying a key molecule in the molecular signalling cascade responsible for this growth. Based on this discovery, they managed to achieve a significant reduction in cardiac wall thickening in animal experiments. In addition, they managed to partly reduce existing thickening of the cardiac wall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-pathological-thickening-cardiac-wall-halted.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:26:00 EST news283512344 Some 5.8 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a currently incurable disease. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine have discovered a key biochemical step underlying the condition that could aid the development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-key-heart-failure-therapies-horizon.html Medical research Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:31:11 EST news281727032 (Medical Xpress)—Research at the University of Dundee has shown than an old, inexpensive anti-gout drug has benefits for heart disease sufferers and has the potential to one day help prevent heart disease, sudden deaths and strokes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-gout-drug-heart-disease-patients.html Cardiology Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:30:01 EST news281693598 (HealthDay)—For patients with lumbar spondylosis or spondylolisthesis of the lowest lumbar levels who undergo open anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), use of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) is associated with an increased rate of retrograde ejaculation (RE), according to research published in the October issue of The Spine Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-rhbmp-linked-retrograde-ejaculation.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:00:01 EST news275987759 Approximately ten per cent of 6 year olds have sleep-disordered breathing, according to a recent Finnish study. The risk is increased among children with enlarged tonsils, crossbite and convex facial profile. Unlike in adults, excess body fat is not associated with sleep-disordered breathing in this age group. The study was part of the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study led by the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland. The results were published in European Journal of Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-ten-year-olds-sleep-disordered.html Sleep apnea Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:04:16 EST news274701846 Increased levels of the hormone aldosterone in young black males correlate with an unhealthy chain of events that starts with retaining too much salt and results in an enlarged heart muscle, researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-high-hormone-young-black-males.html Medical research Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:00:01 EST news274106128 (Medical Xpress)—The quality of internet information available for women opting for "designer vagina" procedures is "poor," and in some cases, inaccurate, reveals a small study led by academics at the UCL Institute of Women's Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-web-info-vagina-procedures-poor.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 19 Nov 2012 07:36:04 EST news272532944 (Medical Xpress)—Cardiac stress, for example a heart attack or high blood pressure, frequently leads to pathological heart growth and subsequently to heart failure. Two tiny RNA molecules play a key role in this detrimental development in mice, as researchers at the Hannover Medical School and the Göttingen Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry have now discovered. When they inhibited one of those two specific molecules, they were able to protect the rodent against pathological heart growth and failure. With these findings, the scientists hope to be able to develop therapeutic approaches that can protect humans against heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-heart-failure-mice.html Cardiology Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:54:12 EST news267810840 (HealthDay)—The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is revising its recommendations for the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in children and adolescents, according to a clinical practice guideline published online Aug. 27 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-apnea-children.html Sleep apnea Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:20:06 EST news265303921 (HealthDay) -- Hypertrophy is present in the majority of patients with port-wine stains (PWS) who are over the age of 50 years, according to a study published online July 2 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hypertrophy-common-older-patients-port-wine.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:18:09 EST news261418674 Being physically fit may improve survival rates among diabetes patients with a particular type of heart abnormality, a new study determines. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-physical-survival-diabetes-patients-heart.html Diabetes Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:14:42 EST news259838044 (HealthDay) -- Black patients with hypertension face a significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) compared with nonblack patients, even after adjusting for multiple confounding variables, according to a study published in the April issue of Heart Rhythm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-sudden-cardiac-death-black-patients.html Cardiology Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:40:52 EST news253510843 Almost a year's treatment with a vitamin D compound did not alleviate key structural and functional cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with kidney disease and cardiac enlargement. In a paper in the February 15 Journal of the American Medical Association, an international research team reports that daily doses of a vitamin D compound did not reduce enlargement or improve impaired functioning of the heart's main pumping chamber. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-vitamin-d-treatment-cardiovascular-abnormalities.html Cardiology Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:00:01 EST news248438180 A drug used to treat multiple sclerosis may also be effective at preventing and reversing the leading cause of heart attack, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-ms-drug-fatal-heart-condition.html Cardiology Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:55:40 EST news247142703 Sophia Antipolis, France: 27 June 2011: The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Myocardial Function is calling for a redefinition of the term cardiac hypertrophy which is currently used to describe changes to the morphology (structure) of the heart. Instead the position paper, published online today in the European Journal of Heart Failure, suggests that use of the general term myocardial remodelling should be preferred. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-esc-renaming-term-cardiac-hypertrophy.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Jun 2011 03:29:06 EST news228364123 A promising cancer treatment drug can restore function of a heart en route to failure from high blood pressure, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-drug-reverse-overgrown-hearts-heart.html Medical research Tue, 31 May 2011 03:49:20 EST news226032542 Scientists have discovered an important enzyme molecule that may prevent fatal cardiac disorders associated with cardiac hypertrophy – the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-enzyme-fatal-heart-condition-athletes.html Cardiology Wed, 25 May 2011 10:45:54 EST news225539144