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.
Common gene variants increase risk of hypertension, may lead to new therapies – A new study has identified the first common gene variants associated with an increased incidence of hypertension ? a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.
By 2010 India’s population will suffer approximately 60% of the world’s heart disease. – Heart disease is the number one killer in the world and India carries more than its share of this burden. Moreover, the problem is set to rise: it is predicted that by 2010 India’s population will suffer approximately 60% of the world’s heart disease.
Implantable defibrillators lower risk of death in older heart patients, reported by American Heart Association, USA. – Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can improve survival in patients with heart damage – even those in their 70s – according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
High blood pressure in the doctor’s clinic may not predict heart risks. Round-the-clock blood pressure measurements, especially those during the night, are better predictors of major cardiovascular problems. – Continuously measuring blood pressure may help predict heart disease and related deaths among individuals with treatment-resistant hypertension, while blood pressure readings taken in a medical clinic do not appear to predict future heart risks, according to a report in November 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Diabetes medications (rosiglitazone – Avandia) in same class carry different risks of heart failure, death – Older adults who take the diabetes medication rosiglitazone appear to have a higher risk of death and heart failure than those taking the related medication pioglitazone, according to a report in the November 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Bicuspid aortic valve is the most common congenital cardiac anomaly in the adult population, and these adults do not appear to have lower survival rates compared to the general population. – Young adults with a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital heart abnormality, experience subsequent cardiac events but do not appear to have lower survival rates compared to the general population, according to a study in the September 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
A new drug telmisartan is as effective as the popular drug ramipril in reducing cardiovascular death in high risk patients and it has fewer side effects. – A major Canadian-led global study has found that a new blood pressure medication is effective in reducing cardiovascular death, with fewer side effects than the current standard of care. The study found a new drug telmisartan is as effective as the popular drug ramipril in reducing cardiovascular death in high risk patients and it has fewer side effects.
Cardiac effects associated with breast cancer treatment appear lower with dose-dense delivery of conventional chemotherapy – A new pilot study by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) found that breast cancer patients can be treated safely with a “dose-dense” regimen of standard chemotherapy agents and the antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin), a drug that has previously been shown to cause cardiac toxicity.
Special issue of JACC features intriguing link between statins and Atrial Fibrillation (AF) prevention, tools to ensure the highest-quality AF care, and more. – When we’re young, a racing heart often means love is in the air. If you’re a “baby boomer,” it might mean you’ve just joined the 2.2 million Americans who have atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregularity in the heart’s rhythm that grows more common as we age and markedly increases the risk for stroke.
Hospital quality gap persists, resulting in 171,424 preventable deaths, according to HealthGrades’ Sixth Annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study. – Patients treated at top-rated hospitals in US are nearly one-third less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to all other hospitals, according to a study released by HealthGrades (Nasdaq: HGRD), the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.
