Heart failure is a condition in which the heart has lost the ability to pump enough blood to the body’s tissues. With too little blood being delivered, the organs and other tissues do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients to function properly.
HIV Infection May Be a Risk Factor for Heart Failure – Patients with HIV infection without a prior history of coronary heart disease may be at a higher risk of developing heart failure, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Low Health Literacy Associated With Higher Rate of Death Among Heart Failure Patients – An examination of health literacy (such as understanding basic health information) among managed care patients with heart failure, a condition that requires self-management, found that nearly one in five have low health literacy, which was associated with a higher all-cause risk of death.
Tai chi exercise appears to be associated with improved quality of life, mood and exercise self-efficacy in patients with chronic heart failure – Tai chi, the ancient Chinese meditative exercise, may improve quality of life, mood and exercise self-efficacy in chronic heart failure patients, according to research led by a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
New study adds weight to diabetes drug link to heart problems — Research: Comparative cardiovascular effects of thiazolidinediones: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies – A new study published on bmj adds to mounting evidence that rosiglitazone – a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes – is associated with an increased risk of major heart problems.
Therapy to prevent heart failure more effective in women than men — Never before has a therapy proven more beneficial for women than men in preventing heart disease ? until now. – Women receive a significantly greater benefit ? a 70 percent reduction in heart failure and a 72 percent reduction in death ? from cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) than men, revealed by US researchers.
New guidelines for preventing falls in the elderly include: start tai chi, cut-back on meds – In the first update of the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatric Society’s guidelines on preventing falls in older persons since 2001, they now recommend that all interventions for preventing falls should include an exercise component and that a number of new assessments should be used, including; feet and footwear, fear of falling, and ability to carry out daily living activities.
Electronic medical records not always linked to better care in hospitals, study finds – Use of electronic health records by hospitals across the United States has had only a limited effect on improving the quality of medical care, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Heart’s sounds can help diagnose heart failure – For emergency department patients with shortness of breath and a risk of heart failure, physicians usually grab one thing first: a stethoscope.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center cardiologists discover cancer risks in blood pressure meds – University Hospitals Case Medical Center cardiologists have uncovered new research showing an increased risk of cancer with a group of blood pressure medications known as angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs).
For heart failure patients, risk of in-hospital death has decreased; readmission rate has increased – An analysis of Medicare data from 1993 through 2006 for older patients hospitalized for heart failure indicates that along with a decrease in hospital length of stay, the rate of in-hospital and 30-day mortality has decreased, while the rate of hospital readmission and discharge to skilled nursing facilities has increased, according to a study in the June 2 issue of JAMA.
