Heart
Breathing training can help heart failure patients
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People with heart failure and difficulty breathing may benefit considerably from using a device to train the muscles involved in breathing, Brazilian researchers report.
The Threshold Inspiratory Muscle Trainer (Healthscan Products, Inc.) applies a load while subjects breathe in, thus training the muscles to become stronger.
Dr. Jorge P. Ribeiro of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Allegre and colleagues randomly assigned 32 patients to either a 12-week home-based program using the device with an inspiratory load maintained at 30 percent of maximal inspiratory pressure, or to a placebo program in which the participants had no inspiratory load.
Mild thyroid disease not tied to heart problems
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Mild disease of the thyroid gland, a hormone-secreting organ in the neck, does not generally cause heart problems or stroke, new research shows. The one exception is a slightly overactive thyroid gland, which may raise the risk of atrial fibrillation, a common heart-rhythm disturbance in which the upper chambers beat erratically.
The findings are based on a study of 3233 older adults who had thyroid function testing performed between 1989 and 1990 and then were followed through June 2002 for heart problems and stroke. All of the subjects were 65 years of age or older when the study started.
Soy benefits heart health in healthy young men
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Soy proteins modulate the ratio of different lipids in the blood, in a way that should reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, in healthy subjects, according Canadian researchers.
Diet is one channel through which blood lipid levels can be modified. Lately, soy has received special attention, in particular soy proteins and soy “isoflavones”—estrogen-like plant compounds whose effects are still controversial—according to lead author Alison Duncan, from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
Cocoa consumers have lower disease risk: study
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In a group of elderly men, those who consumed the most cocoa had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease or any cause compared to those who did not drink cocoa or eat cocoa-containing foods, Dutch researchers said on Monday.
Cocoa is known to lower blood pressure, though previous studies have disagreed about whether it staves off heart disease over the long-term particularly since it is contained in foods high in fat, sugar and calories.
Some heart drugs may provide added benefits
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Taking prescription beta-blockers or statin drugs may boost the chances of having only mild chest pain instead of a heart attack as the first symptom of heart disease, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
The scientists studied 1,400 patients newly diagnosed with heart disease to try to pinpoint why some had heart attacks while others experienced chest pain, known as exercise-induced angina, which is far less dangerous.
Over 40 percent of mild heart attacks undetected
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Mild heart attacks in four out of nine people are undetected because patients do not recognize or dismiss the symptoms, Dutch scientists said on Tuesday.
Women, particularly those who are overweight, diabetics and the elderly are more likely to have an undiagnosed heart attack, which increases their risk of suffering future cardiac problems.
Advisers urge heart risk warning on ADHD drugs
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Drugs taken by millions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder should come with strong warnings that they may raise some patients’ risk of heart problems, a U.S. advisory panel said on Thursday.
The committee narrowly voted to recommend the warning even though members agreed it was unclear if the drugs contribute to sudden deaths, heart attacks and other complications.
Cholesterol high in those at risk for heart ills
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People who are at highest risk for cardiovascular disease generally have the lowest level of control of high cholesterol levels, investigators report.
“Given the significance of cardiovascular disease as a public health problem in the US and the proven benefits of lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention,” the researchers comment, “efforts to improve the treatment and control of (high cholesterol) and to eliminate disparities ... should be considered among our highest national healthcare quality improvement priorities.”
Nearly Half of People Who Need Cholesterol Treatment Don’t Get It
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Even though treatment for cholesterol disorders can reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel disease by about 30 percent over five years, many at-risk people aren’t getting adequate treatment, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues reporting in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Under-treatment of cholesterol disorders is a major public health challenge,” said lead author David Goff Jr., M.D., Ph.D. “In our study of middle-age and older adults with no symptoms of cardiovascular disease, about a third had cholesterol disorders that would require drug treatment under current guidelines. Yet, only 54 percent of those who needed treatment were getting it.”
Cutting heart risks early could add years to life
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The number of cardiovascular risk factors people have at age 50 can have a dramatic impact on their life expectancy, researchers are reporting.
The findings, based on a large, long-running U.S. study, suggest that 50-year-olds who are free of major risk factors like high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol are unlikely to suffer coronary heart disease or stroke in their lifetime.
Mind and Mood Affect the Heart
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Heart disease can be depressing-literally. About 50% of hospitalized heart patients have some depressive symptoms, and up to 20% develop major depression. And depression affects heart health: Patients who are depressed at the time of hospitalization for heart conditions are two to five times more likely than average to die or to suffer further cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or severe chest pain in the following year. The February issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter notes that recurrence of cardiovascular events is more closely linked to depression than to high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes.
Mind and mood can affect the cardiovascular system directly by creating a state of emergency readiness, in which stress hormone levels rise, blood vessels constrict, and heartbeat speeds up. If a person is seriously depressed or anxious, the emergency response becomes constant, damaging the blood vessels and making the heart less sensitive to signals telling it to slow down or speed up as the body’s demands change, reports the Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Urban Black Women Underestimate Heart Disease Risk
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Two out of three urban black women at high risk for heart disease do not consider themselves at risk, says Tulane University researcher Karen DeSalvo.
“Black women are more likely than other groups to die from heart disease,” says DeSalvo, associate professor and chief of general internal medicine. “We do not fully understand why they are at greater risk. The results of this study show the women themselves do not think they are at risk even when they are. We also determined that women who are poor or who believe they are under a lot of stress are the least able to accurately assess their personal risk of heart disease.”
Self-monitoring benefits patients on blood-thinners
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Self-monitoring by patients taking anti-clotting drugs is safe, effective and could lead to fewer deaths, researchers said on Friday.
Anticoagulants, or blood thinners, are a common treatment to prevent blood clots and strokes. Millions of people take the drugs but their reaction to the treatment must be tested regularly to prevent bleeding or hemorrhage.
Depression raises risk of cardiac arrest
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Even in patients without risk factors for heart disease, depression seems to increase the odds of suffering cardiac arrest, in which the heart suddenly stops beating properly, new research suggests.
“The association of depression with ... heart disease-related (death) has been widely recognized,” Dr. J. P. Empana and colleagues write in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “This finding may partly reflect an association between depression and sudden death, in part because (of nervous system imbalances) in depressed subjects.”
Baby Grace goes home after having heart surgery as a fetus
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A baby girl, who had the world’s first heart “stent” procedure in the womb was discharged from hospital on Friday and went home 17 days after her birth.
Baby Grace Vanderwerken received the tiny stent while still in her mother’s womb at 30 weeks into the pregnancy on November 7th, and was born on January 10th, weighing 4.2kg with a full head of dark hair.
