Heart Archives

Blood pressure changes are age related but important for health

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.

Wives’ inability to fall asleep at night has interpersonal consequences in marriage

Study finds that wives’ sleep problems have negative impact on marital interactions — Wives’ inability to fall asleep at night has interpersonal consequences in marriage – The quality of interactions among married couples is affected by wives’ inability to fall asleep at night, but not by husbands’ sleep problems, suggests new research presented in Minneapolis, Minn., at SLEEP 2011, the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS). Results show that, among wives, taking longer to fall asleep at night predicted their reports of more negative and less positive marital interactions the next day.

New safety recommendations for high dose 80 mg simvastatin

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.

Use of clot busters for stroke increased from 2005 to 2009

Use of clot busters for stroke increased from 2005 to 2009, but still low — American Heart Association rapid access journal report – The use of clot-busting drugs to treat acute ischemic stroke increased from 2005 through 2009 – but is still low, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Low carb, higher fat diets cause no arterial health risks

Low-carb, higher-fat diets add no arterial health risks to obese people seeking to lose weight – Overweight and obese people looking to drop some pounds and considering one of the popular low-carbohydrate diets, along with moderate exercise, need not worry that the higher proportion of fat in such a program compared to a low-fat, high-carb diet may harm their arteries, suggests a pair of new studies by heart and vascular researchers at Johns Hopkins.

Surgical removal of tonsils and appendix may lead to heart attack

Surgical removal of the tonsils and appendix associated with risk of early heart attack — But because of the young age of participants, the absolute risk differences were small – The surgical removal of the appendix and tonsils before the age of 20 was associated with an increased risk of premature heart attack in a large population study performed in Sweden. Tonsillectomy increased the risk by 44% (hazard ratio 1.44) and appendectomy by 33% (HR 1.33).

New form of cholesterol revealed in people at high risk of heart disease

Super-sticky ‘ultra-bad’ cholesterol revealed in people at high risk of heart disease – Scientists from the University of Warwick have discovered why a newly found form of cholesterol seems to be ‘ultra-bad’, leading to increased risk of heart disease. The discovery could lead to new treatments to prevent heart disease particularly in people with type 2 diabetes and the elderly.

Niacin and statin treatment did not protect heart

NIH stops clinical trial on combination cholesterol treatment — Lack of efficacy in reducing cardiovascular events prompts decision – The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has stopped a clinical trial studying a blood lipid treatment 18 months earlier than planned.

1 in 5 young adults has high blood pressure – hypertension

Nearly 1 in 5 young adults has high blood pressure, study shows – The number of young adults in the United States with high blood pressure may be much higher than previously reported, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Baked or broiled fish lowers heart failure risk

Heart failure risk lower in women who often eat baked/broiled fish – The risk of developing heart failure was lower for postmenopausal women who frequently ate baked or broiled fish, but higher for those who ate more fried fish, in a study reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

Gene variation linked to infertility in women

Gene variation linked to infertility in women, study finds — Altered gene involved in both faulty cholesterol regulation and pregnancy hormone production – A variation in a gene involved in regulating cholesterol in the bloodstream also appears to affect progesterone production in women, making it a likely culprit in a substantial number of cases of their infertility, a new study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.

Master switch gene for obesity and diabetes discovered

‘Master switch’ gene for obesity and diabetes discovered — Researchers have found that a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels is in fact a ‘master regulator’ gene, which controls the behavior of other genes found within fat in the body – A team of researchers, led by King’s College London and the University of Oxford, have found that a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels is in fact a ‘master regulator’ gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within fat in the body.