http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers have identified a possible treatment window of several years for plaques in the brain that are thought to cause memory loss in diseases such as Alzheimer's. The Mayo Clinic study is published in the Feb. 27 online issue of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-treatment-window-memory-problems.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:00:01 EST news281193393 (Medical Xpress)—Heart disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Doctors say that it is important to detect heart disease early before it becomes too serious. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found a way that they believe could help detect heart disease before it progresses too far as well as identify patients who are at risk for strokes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-micro-bubbles-artery-inflammation.html Cardiology Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:55:01 EST news274542892 Fifteen new genetic regions associated with coronary artery disease have been identified by a large, international consortium of scientists—including researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine—taking a significant step forward in understanding the root causes of this deadly disease. The new research brings the total number of validated genetic links with heart disease discovered through genome-wide association studies to 46. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-international-inflammation-plaque-buildup-heart.html Genetics Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:00:47 EST news273667172 Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a genetic factor that prevents blockages from forming in blood vessels, a discovery that could lead to new therapies for cardiovascular diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-genetic-factor-key-blood-vessel.html Medical research Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:34:06 EST news272550839 Two daily doses of a probiotic lowered key cholesterol-bearing molecules in the blood as well as "bad" and total cholesterol, in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-daily-doses-probiotic-bad-total.html Cardiology Mon, 05 Nov 2012 11:42:01 EST news271338112 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 63 percent of the deaths that occurred in 2008 were attributed to non-communicable chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, Type 2 diabetes and obesity—for which poor diets are contributing factors. Yet people that live in societies that eat healthy, plant-based diets rarely fall victim to these ailments. Research studies have long indicated that a high consumption of plant foods is associated with lower incidents of chronic disease. In the October issue of Food Technology magazine, Senior Writer/Editor Toni Tarver discusses recent discoveries in nutritional genomics that explain how plant-based diets are effective at warding off disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-plant-based-diets-remedy-chronic-diseases.html Health Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:18:11 EST news269709484 Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital are one step closer to understanding why plaque bursts in coronary arteries and causes heart attacks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-closer-actions-cells-involved-atherosclerosis.html Cardiology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:43:22 EST news266514197 Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can trigger a heart attack. The culprit? Inflammatory cells produced by the immune system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-vaccine-heart-disease-discovery-possibility.html Immunology Tue, 14 Aug 2012 09:34:16 EST news264155644 Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a tear of the layers of the artery wall that can block normal blood flow into and around the heart, is a relatively rare and poorly understood condition. It often strikes young, otherwise healthy people -- mostly women -- and can lead to significant heart damage, even sudden death. Now, in the first study of its kind of such patients, Mayo Clinic researchers have started to uncover important clues about SCAD, including its potential risk factors, optimal treatment approaches and short- and long-term cardiovascular outcomes, including a higher-than-expected rate of recurrence. They also found a surprising link to fibromuscular dysplasia, another rare condition that causes a narrowing in some arteries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-reveals-important-clues-rare-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:00:12 EST news261672796 Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered that a naturally occurring molecule may play a role in preventing plaque buildup inside arteries, possibly leading to new plaque-fighting drugs and improved screening of patients at risk of developing atherosclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-molecule-atherosclerosis.html Cardiology Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:12:06 EST news261231103 In human coronary arteries, atherosclerotic plaques tend to spread downstream because of the changes in blood flow patterns the plaque causes, researchers have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-atherosclerotic-plaques-downstream-linked-stress.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:23:16 EST news240574987 A simple blood test could someday quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-blood-smokers-higher-heart-disease.html Cardiology Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:15:40 EST news238734900 MRI scanning could become a powerful new tool for assessing how well cholesterol drugs are working, according to Loyola University Health System cardiologist Binh An P. Phan, MD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-mris-powerful-tools-cholesteral-therapy.html Medical research Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:52:03 EST news237815325 Cases of heart disease in the United States have declined in the last several years, down to six percent of the population in 2010 compared to 6.7 percent in 2006, health authorities said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-heart-disease-decline.html Cardiology Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:27:27 EST news237731234 An accomplice to the protein that causes plaque buildup in Alzheimer's disease is the focus of a potential new treatment, according to research by a Georgia Health Sciences University graduate student. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-award-winning-alzheimer-vaccine.html Neuroscience Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:09:59 EST news236254185 Coronary computed tomographic (CT) angiography, which can detect plaque buildup in heart vessels, is sometimes used as a screening tool to assess the risk for a heart attack. However, the usefulness of the test on low-risk patients who do not have coronary symptoms, such as chest pain, has been unclear. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-ct-angiography-low-risk-heart-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 23 May 2011 17:31:11 EST news225390650