http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—The largest protein known to exist in the human body functions as a molecular spring, and University of Arizona researchers are gaining new insights into its role in heart disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-protein-link-heart-disease.html Medical research Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:50:01 EST news290755542 Serelaxin may be more effective for relieving dyspnea in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) than reduced (HFrEF) during the first 24 hours, according to results from RELAX-AHF presented in today's late breaking trial session1 at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. Results were also presented from VIVIDD, the first trial of the anti-diabetes drug vildagliptin in patients with heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-relax-ahf-positive-hfpef-patients.html Cardiology Sun, 26 May 2013 10:56:22 EST news288784564 Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to the results of a multicentre randomised double blind trial presented today at Heart Failure 2013 congress. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade and should be added to standard treatment, according to lead author Professor Svend Aage Mortensen (Copenhagen, Denmark). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drug-heart-failure-mortality-decade.html Cardiology Sat, 25 May 2013 06:50:22 EST news288683408 A major factor in the advance of heart disease is the death of heart tissue, a process that a team of scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine think could be prevented with new medicines. Now, the researchers are one step closer to achieving that goal, thanks to their discovery of a key molecule in an unexpected place in heart cells – mitochondria, tiny energy factories that house the controls capable of setting off cells' self-destruct sequence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-clues-heart-disease-unexpected.html Cardiology Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:42:31 EST news284985742 (Medical Xpress)—University of Otago researchers have discovered a potential new tool to help doctors in emergency departments quickly and accurately diagnose patients with heart failure and pneumonia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-discovery-heart-failure-pneumonia-diagnosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:18:46 EST news284195881 A UCLA study shows that heart failure medications recommended by national guidelines are highly cost effective in saving lives and may also provide savings to the health care system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-heart-failure-medications-highly-cost-effective.html Cardiology Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:30:39 EST news283692631 Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (a measure of heart function), administration of sildenafil (commercially known as Viagra) for 24 weeks, compared with placebo, did not result in significant improvement in exercise capacity or clinical status, according to a study published online by JAMA. Some studies have suggested that phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (a class of drugs that includes sildenafil) may improve cardiovascular function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-sildenafil-heart-failure-result-significant.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:30:01 EST news282221479 Researchers from Cleveland Clinic and Sweden-based Sahlgrenska University Hospital have found that a commonly used drug to treat anemia in heart failure patients –darbepoetin alfa – does not improve patients' health, nor does it reduce their risk of death from heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-anemia-drug-health-anemic-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:38:37 EST news282195509 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 Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, long-term treatment with the medication spironolactone improved left ventricular diastolic function but did not affect maximal exercise capacity, patient symptoms, or quality of life, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-long-term-medication-symptoms-heart-failure.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:00:05 EST news281108264 Medical literature long has touted the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for the heart. But until now, researchers have not studied the potential benefit for people on hemodialysis, who are among the highest-risk patients for sudden cardiac death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fish-oil-dialysis-patients-sudden.html Cardiology Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:40:07 EST news279387405 Despite a substantial increase in the number of people suffering the debilitating and often deadly effects of heart failure, treatments for the condition have not advanced significantly for at least 10 years. An analysis by researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine shows new breakthroughs could be closer than we thought. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-stage-paradigm-treatment-heart-failure.html Cardiology Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:06:36 EST news278787979 (HealthDay)—Hospital nurses with good work environments who are caring for fewer patients have significantly fewer elderly Medicare patients with heart failure, acute myocardial infarction (MI), and pneumonia who are readmitted to the hospital within the first 30 days, according to research published in the January issue of Medical Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-staffing-medicare-patient-readmissions.html Health Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:40:01 EST news276530008 Digoxin, a drug widely used to treat heart disease, increases the possibility of death when used by patients with a common heart rhythm problem − atrial fibrillation (AF), according to new study findings by University of Kentucky researchers. The results have been published in the prestigious European Heart Journal, and raises serious concerns about the expansive use of this long-standing heart medication in patients with AF. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-common-drug-deaths-atrial-fibrillation.html Cardiology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:33:41 EST news273252814 (HealthDay)—Pilates exercises may be a beneficial adjunctive treatment for patients with heart failure, offering functional capacity improvements, according to a study published in the December issue of Cardiovascular Therapeutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-pilates-beneficial-adjunctive-therapy-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:10:03 EST news272217461 (HealthDay)—People suffering from heart failure may have a nearly 60 percent higher risk of developing cancer, a preliminary study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-heart-failure-patients-higher-cancer.html Cardiology Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:50:01 EST news271523192 (Medical Xpress)—Controlling depression in patients with heart failure can improve health status, social functioning and quality of life, according to a new study by psychiatrists and cardiologists at the UC Davis and Duke University schools of medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-depression-health-heart-failure-patients.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:02:48 EST news270928960 Restoring diminished levels of a protein shown to prevent and reverse heart failure damage could also have therapeutic applications for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), suggests a new preclinical study published online October 9 in Circulation Research from researchers at the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University . http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-loss-heart-failure-protein-linked.html Medical research Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:10:51 EST news269093441 (Medical Xpress)—A new study from Karolinska Institutet demonstrates that a change in the ECG wave called the QRS prolongation is associated with a higher rate of heart-failure mortality. According to the team that carried out the study, which is published in the scientific periodical The European Heart Journal, the discovery suggests that more heart-failure cases than the most serious could be helped by pacemakers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-pacemaker-heart-failure-patients.html Cardiology Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:07:01 EST news268650412 The appetite is controlled via a complex system that involves the hypothalamus, the brainstem and the cerebral cortex. Hormones also have an important role to play in this system. Researchers from the Clinical Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the MedUni Vienna's University Department of Internal Medicine III have demonstrated that ghrelin, a hormone in the gastrointestinal tract, is regulated differently in fat and thin people, thereby contributing to deviations from the individual's ideal weight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-hormone-implications-underweight-overweight-people.html Overweight and Obesity Thu, 13 Sep 2012 10:59:32 EST news266752716 A new Johns Hopkins study has unraveled the changes in a key cardiac protein that can lead to heart muscle malfunction and precipitate heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-out-of-tune-protein-muscle-demise.html Cardiology Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:51:47 EST news266683895 Recommendations for the practical management of CRT patients have been set out for the first time in an international consensus statement on cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in heart failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-crt-consensus-standardize-patients-worldwide.html Cardiology Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:10:12 EST news265360204 Copeptin predicts prognosis in patients with heart failure, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today, August 25, by Professor Stefan Störk from Germany. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-copeptin-prognosis-hf-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:10:01 EST news265282877 The novel angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, LCZ696, demonstrated beneficial effects in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), according to results of the PARAMOUNT (Prospective compArison of ARNI with ARB on Management Of heart failUre with preserved ejectioN fracTion) trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-efficacy-lcz696-patients-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:45:22 EST news265283103 A novel non-invasive device which separates healthy and damaged heart muscle and restores ventricle function improves 3 year outcomes in patients with ischemic heart failure, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2012. The findings were presented by Professor William T. Abraham at an ESC press conference on 25 August and by Dr Marco Costa at an ESC Congress scientific session on 27 August. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-heart-device-year-outcomes-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:40:03 EST news265280308 The number of new cases of heart failure in Ontario decreased 33% over a decade, suggesting preventive efforts may be working. However, mortality rates remain high for people with the disease, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-heart-failure-decreasing-ontario-people.html Cardiology Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:00:01 EST news264677184 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 Heart-brain-stomach link of major importance for diabetes and heart failure discovered: as a recent study by the MedUni Vienna has demonstrated, the hormone BNP, generated by the heart, also has an appetite-inhibiting effect. This discovery may open up new therapeutic opportunities for people with chronic heart failure or diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-weak-heart-poor-appetite.html Diabetes Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:50:01 EST news261300671 Cardiovascular researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a genetic variant in a cardiac protein that can be linked to heart rhythm dysfunction. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-variant-heart-rhythm-dysfunction.html Cardiology Wed, 30 May 2012 12:00:01 EST news257590200 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