http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Neurological disorders can have a devastating impact on the lives of sufferers and their families. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-deep-brain-drugs-dont.html Neuroscience Fri, 17 May 2013 09:29:38 EST news288001707 The type of sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sensors-heart-devices-consumer-electronics.html Cardiology Thu, 16 May 2013 12:59:04 EST news287927936 (HealthDay)—Researchers are testing whether applying electrical stimulation directly to the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease might improve thinking, focus and alertness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-implanted-brain-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:59:57 EST news283697990 A Mayo Clinic study has concluded that patients with implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators can safely drive or ride in an electric car without risk of electromagnetic interference (EMI). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-electric-car-implanted-cardiac-devices.html Cardiology Sun, 10 Mar 2013 05:49:51 EST news282113384 National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a promising lead for developing a new type of drug to treat infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that frequently resists traditional antibiotics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-block-staphylococcus-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:00:12 EST news279716613 During a five-hour surgery last October at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer's patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-ohio-state-implants-brain-pacemaker.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:56:43 EST news278175392 It has the makings of a science fiction movie: Zap someone's brain with mild jolts of electricity to try to stave off the creeping memory loss of Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-brain-pacemakers-zap-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Sun, 20 Jan 2013 08:30:57 EST news277893043 Imagine living without a heart. It is possible—if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid's soccer game or go on a hike. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-ucla-doctors-heart-total-artificial.html Surgery Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:40:07 EST news274097801 An experimental device converted energy from a beating heart to provide enough electricity to power a pacemaker, in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-device-heartbeat-power-pacemaker.html Cardiology Sun, 04 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271242383 There is now strong evidence that some interventions can prevent falls in people over the age of 65 who are living in their own homes. However, the researchers who reached this conclusion say that care is needed when choosing interventions, as some have no effect. The full details are published this month in The Cochrane Library. This is an update of a previous report that contains data from 51 additional trials, enabling the authors to reach many more conclusions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-interventions-falls-people-home.html Health Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:48:21 EST news266586469 The analysis was conducted using five editions of the EHRA White Book, which is produced by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-esc-analysis-reveals-arrhythmia-treatment.html Cardiology Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:07:14 EST news265457227 Implantable devices for treating cardiac arrhythmias, which include ICDs, are already underused in parts of Eastern and Central Europe and there is a risk that the financial crisis could exacerbate the problem. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the ESC, is tackling this issue through ICD for Life. The initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of ICDs and sudden cardiac death in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-dont-lifesaving-icds-financial-crisis.html Cardiology Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:55:21 EST news265456506 Spinal cord stimulation improves heart function and could become a novel treatment option for heart failure, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2012 today, August 25, by Professor Hung-Fat Tse from Hong Kong. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-spinal-cord-heart-function.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:20:06 EST news265282904 A novel blood test that predicts sudden death risk in heart failure patients is set to help physicians decide which patients would benefit from implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). The findings were presented at the ESC Congress 2012 today, August 26, by Professor Samuel Dudley from Chicago, IL, US. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-blood-sudden-death-patients-benefit.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:38:38 EST news265282713 Dr. Pierce Vatterott and his team of nurses and technicians worked smoothly and efficiently in the chilly catheter lab at St. Paul's United Hospital. It was complex and potentially risky work, removing four leads - wires that connect a defibrillator to the heart - from an 84-year-old man. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-device-eases-tricky-task-defibrillator.html Cardiology Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:29:52 EST news261574163 The US House of Representatives ignored a White House veto threat and voted Thursday to repeal a tax on medical devices, an element of President Barack Obama's health care law which Republicans say kills jobs and hinders innovation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-house-votes-repeal-tax-medical.html Health Fri, 08 Jun 2012 05:20:05 EST news258348925 Brain pacemakers have a long-term effect in patients with the most severe depression. This has now been proven by scientists from the Bonn University Medical Center. Eleven patients took part in the study over a period of two to five years. A lasting reduction in symptoms of more than 50 percent was seen in nearly half of the subjects. The results are now being presented in the current edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-therapeutic-approach-patients-severe-depression.html Neuroscience Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:20:47 EST news252760793 (AP) -- A heart device might save your life but leave you miserable. That awful possibility is the reason for new advice urging doctors to talk more honestly with people who have very weak hearts and are considering pumps, pacemakers, new valves or procedures to open clogged arteries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-advice-urges-wider-heart-decisions.html Cardiology Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:47:59 EST news250188473 An irregular heartbeat that you don't even feel but can be picked up by a pacemaker is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, says a new McMaster University study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-atrial-arrhythmias-pacemakers.html Cardiology Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:49:29 EST news245526560 Many heart patients in India are too poor to afford pacemakers. But a study has found that removing pacemakers from deceased Americans, resterilizing the devices and implanting them in Indian patients "is very safe and effective." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-reusing-pacemakers-deceased-patients-safe.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:11:11 EST news242413855 Undergoing a knee replacement involves sophisticated medical equipment, but innovative prosthetic design may not offer the same benefits for all knee replacement recipients, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a perspective article in the October 20 issue of New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-size-knee-medical-devices.html Other Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:48:55 EST news238294019 Using a laser to remove wires connecting implanted pacemakers and defibrillators to the heart is as safe in people age 80 or older as it is in younger patients, according to research reported in Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-laser-heart-device-wires-safe.html Cardiology Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:30:42 EST news237569431 An association has been found between infection associated with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) and increases in mortality and hospital care costs, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine. The article is part of the journal's Health Care Reform series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-cardiovascular-implantable-electronic-device-related-infections.html Cardiology Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:51:49 EST news235065096 New research from the Jefferson Heart Institute shows that patients in the United States who receive cardiac electrophysiological devices (CIEDs), including permanent pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are now at greater risk of contracting an infection over the life span of the device. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-infection-patients-cardiac-electrophysiological-devices.html Cardiology Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:25:47 EST news233249132 (AP) -- Even the human bloodstream isn't safe from computer hackers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-insulin-vulnerable-hacking.html Medical research Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:46:34 EST news231659168 A new meta-analysis study, led by physician researchers at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and to be published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that three-lead cardiac pacemakers implanted in those with heart failure fail to help up to 40 percent of patients with such devices. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-pacemaker-implantation-heart-failure-benefit.html Cardiology Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:00:18 EST news227199160