Heart attack is a medical condition of sudden interruption or insufficiency of the supply of blood to the heart, typically resulting from occlusion or obstruction of a coronary artery and often characterized by severe chest pain. Also called myocardial infarction.
A new stent design may put patients at risk – Stent shortening – a newly observed deformity in cases using a particular family of stents, can cause serious complications for patients, says researchers. In this case the stent clotted off and the patient had a heart attack.
Avastin Loses FDA Approval to Treat Breast Cancer – US health agency FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. has revoked the approval of the breast cancer indication for Avastin (bevacizumab) after concluding that the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use.
Professional dental cleanings may reduce risk of heart attack and stroke – Tooth scaling at least once a year reduced heart attack and stroke risks. Professional tooth scaling was associated with fewer heart attacks and strokes in a study from Taiwan presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2011.
FDA: 35 innovative new drugs approved in fiscal year 2011 — Report shows quick approvals of safe and effective medicines occur in the United States before other countries – Over the past 12 months, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 35 new medicines for patients, like two new treatments for hepatitis C; a drug for late-stage prostate cancer; the first new drug for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 30 years; and the first new drug for lupus in 50 years.
Healthy lifestyle habits lower heart failure risk – If you don’t smoke, aren’t overweight, get regular physical activity and eat vegetables, you can significantly reduce your risk for heart failure, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.
Heart attack patients winning the race to angioplasty treatment – The period from hospital arrival to angioplasty is called “door-to-balloon” time (D2B). A new study showed that 91 percent of patients were treated in a D2B time of less than 90 minutes in 2010, compared with 44 percent in 2005.
Soy/milk protein dietary supplements linked to lower blood pressure – Milk and soy protein supplements were associated with lower systolic blood pressure compared to refined carbohydrate dietary supplements. The study’s results suggest that partly replacing refined carbohydrates with foods or drinks high in soy or milk protein may help prevent and treat high blood pressure, said Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher of the study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Chantix associated with 72 percent increased risk of serious CV events — Popular smoking cessation drug significantly increases risk of hospitalization due to serious cardiovascular problems – Smoking cigarettes is a dangerous habit that many are struggling to break, but for the smokers who choose to use one of the most popular smoking cessation drugs on the market, new warnings about the risk of serious cardiovascular events are on their way. Use of varenicline ? marketed by Pfizer under the brand name Chantix ? is associated with a 72 percent increased risk of hospitalization due to a serious adverse cardiovascular (CV) event, such as heart attack or arrhythmia.
Blood pressure changes are age-related – The main causes of increases in blood pressure over a lifetime are modifiable and could be targeted to help prevent cardiovascular disease: although high blood pressure sometimes has no obvious symptoms, this condition, which affects about a third of the adult UK and US populations, can lead to life-threatening heart attacks and stroke, so reducing blood pressure is very important for health.
FDA announces new safety recommendations for high-dose simvastatin — Increased risk of muscle injury cited – Patients taking simvastatin 80 mg daily had an increased risk of muscle injury. The risk of muscle injury is highest during the first year of treatment with the 80 mg dose of simvastatin, and is frequently associated with a genetic predisposition for simvastatin-related muscle injury or myopathy.
