FDA Announces Possible Safety Concern for HIV Drug Combination – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced preliminary data suggesting that Invirase (saquinavir) in combination with Norvir (ritonavir) may have potentially important adverse effects on the heart.
Landmark heart treatment study — Atrial fibrillation treatment with catheter shows better results than drug therapy – Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, according to a landmark study published in the Jan. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Banning smoking in public places and workplaces is good for the heart — Inhaling secondhand smoke greatly increases risk of heart attack, even among young and nonsmokers. – Public smoking bans appear to significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks, particularly among younger individuals and nonsmokers, revealed by researchers in a new study.
Dabigatran vs. warfarin as long-term anticoagulant therapy in atrial fibrillation – The anticoagulant dabigatran is more effective than warfarin in the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, revealed by researchers in a study RE-LY (Randomized Evaluation of Long-term anticoagulant therapY).
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approves Sanofi’s Multaq dronedarone to Treat Heart Rhythm Disorders – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Sanofi’s Multaq tablets (dronedarone) to help maintain normal heart rhythms in patients with a history of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (heart rhythm disorders or arrhythmia).
New therapy found to prevent heart failure – Implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) reduced a 29 percent reduction in heart failure or death in patients with heart disease, revealed by researchers.
Women with chest pain less likely then men to get proper treatment from paramedics – Penn study shows gender disparities in pre-hospital care. – Women with chest pain are less likely than male patients to receive recommended, proven therapies while en route to the hospital, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Heart disorder atrial fibrillation linked to Alzheimer’s disease dementia. Study of more than 37,000 patients shows relationship between atrial fibrillation and development of Alzheimer’s disease. – Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City believe that they have made a breakthrough connection between atrial fibrillation, a fairly common heart rhythm disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease, the leading form of dementia among Americans.
Type of physician certification associated with risk of complications from ICDs – Patients whose implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are implanted by nonelectrophysiologists are at increased risk of complications and are less likely to receive a specific type of ICD when clinically indicated, according to a study in the April 22/29 issue of JAMA.
You’re sitting at your desk and suddenly your heart is beating in overdrive or worse, lurching along like a car on fumes. It is a shocking, uncomfortable and frightening sensation. – Irregular heart rhythms are a common cause of sudden cardiac death or SCD, a condition that accounts for 450,000 deaths annually in the United States.
Feeling down and out could break your heart, literally. Research links depression to cardiac death in women without known heart disease. – Relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death (SCD) and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD).
Older adults at high risk for drug interactions. More attention needed for non-prescription meds. – At least one in 25 older adults, about 2.2 million people in the United States, take multiple drugs in combinations that can produce a harmful drug-drug interaction, and half of these interactions involve a non-prescription medication, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the Dec. 24/31, 2008, issue of JAMA.
