Heart
Caffeine curbs heart’s blood flow during exercise
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Drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee decreases blood flow to the heart during exercise, researchers report, and the reduction may be most pronounced at high altitudes. While healthy people may tolerate the reduced blood flow fairly easily, it may be harmful to people with coronary artery disease.
Dr. Philipp A. Kaufmann and colleagues from University Hospital Zurich, examined the immediate effects of caffeine on blood flow to the heart at rest and after exercise in healthy young adult volunteers exercising at normal oxygen levels or simulated low-oxygen levels that occurs at high altitudes.
Heart Injury Due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Increases Long-Term Risk of Death
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Of patients who were hospitalized and treated for moderate to severe carbon monoxide poisoning, those who sustained heart muscle injury due to their exposure had an increased risk of death during a mid-point follow-up period of 7.6 years compared to those without injury to the heart, according to an article in the January 25 issue of JAMA.
Despite a decline in the annual death rate from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, CO remains the most common type of accidental poisoning in the United Sates, contributing to 40,000 emergency department visits each year, according to background information. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from 1968 through 1998 CO poisoning contributed to an average of 1,091 unintentional deaths and 2,385 suicidal deaths in the U.S. annually. Symptoms of CO poisoning include weakness, nausea, dizziness, lethargy, confusion and headache. In addition to neurological effects, heart damage has also often been reported in CO poisoning cases.
Impotence may provide a warning sign of coronary heart disease
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Erectile dysfunction may provide a warning sign of significant coronary heart disease researchers from the University of Chicago report in the January 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Although recent studies suggest an association between erectile dysfunction and atherosclerotic vascular disease, this is the first study to link ED with abnormal results on cardiac stress testing, including evidence for severe coronary artery blockages and markers of a poor cardiovascular prognosis.
Erectile Dysfunction Common, Linked with Severity of Heart Disease
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Erectile dysfunction (ED) affects approximately one in five American men, appears to be associated with cardiovascular and other chronic diseases and may predict severity and a poor prognosis among those with heart disease, according to three studies in the January 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
New medications for ED, introduced in 1998, prompted a 50 percent increase in physician visits related to the condition from 1996 to 2000, according to background information in one of the articles. Most previous estimates of the impact of ED have either excluded some men based on age, ethnicity or profession or were compiled before these medications became available. This led the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Panel on Impotence to call for national epidemiological data to provide information about prevalence and risk factors for ED, the authors write.
Aspirin Use Rises Among Heart Disease-Wary Americans
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It’s cheap, it’s easy, it works and more Americans are using aspirin regularly to prevent cardiovascular disease and the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, according to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“We saw an increase in aspirin use among U.S adults since 1999, with a majority of adults using aspirin to reduce the chance of a heart attack or stroke,” said lead author Umed Ajani, epidemiologist with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “Aspirin use among those with diabetes is also increasing to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications. The trend is encouraging, especially in times when prevalence of other cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes, is increasing.”
‘Statin’ drug may be helpful in heart failure
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Treatment with Lipitor (atorvastatin), one of the popular cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs, can help the heart pump better in patients with heart failure, according to a new report.
By contrast, findings from a much smaller study showed that aside from lowering cholesterol levels, Lipitor did not benefit patients with heart failure. Both reports are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Caffeine before a workout can damage the heart
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According to a new study, if you were thinking that a cup of coffee might make that workout at the gym easier, think again!
The researchers at University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, are suggesting that caffeine can directly damage the heart during exercise, and that includes high caffeine sports drinks.
Aspirin’s heart benefits varies by sex - study
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The benefits of taking aspirin regularly differs between men and women, reducing the risk of heart attacks in men while reducing the risk of strokes in women, researchers said on Tuesday.
A review of six previous studies found regular aspirin use lowered women’s risk of suffering a stroke by 17 percent compared to nonusers, while not having any effect on their chances of having a heart attack or of dying from cardiovascular disease.
World Record for Number of Heart Transplants in One Year Set
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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed 119 heart transplants in 2005, a one-year record for any one medical center in the history of heart transplantation worldwide.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia has the largest heart transplant program in the country, having performed more than 1,700 transplants since the inception of its heart transplant program in 1977.
Neighborhood affects risk of heart attack
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The economic situation of people’s neighborhoods may affect their risk of suffering a heart attack, a study in Sweden suggests.
Researchers found that among 3,610 adults living near the urban area of Stockholm, those living in lower-income neighborhoods had a higher rate of heart attack than those in more affluent areas. And the risk was not fully explained by a person’s own income, education and occupation - factors that many studies have linked to disease and death risk.
Heart transplants don’t last as long in black kids
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Transplanted hearts survive a significantly shorter time in black children than in other racial groups, according to a review of the records of 4227 pediatric heart transplant recipients, 717 (17 percent) of whom were black.
Dr. William T. Mahle and colleagues from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta found that the rate of heart transplants surviving for 5 years was 51 percent for black recipients versus 69 percent for other recipients.
Common Syndrome Multiples Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke
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The old saying “three out of five ain’t bad” might be true in sports. But when it comes to your heart, three out of five can definitely be bad, says a University of Michigan expert.
More and more doctors agree that there are five basic factors that can lead to heart disease and diabetes – and that anyone with at least three of these characteristics is at especially high risk. Many Americans, even those who think they’re perfectly healthy, have at least three, says Melvyn Rubenfire, M.D., director of Preventive Cardiology at the U-M Cardiovascular Center.
Blood-thinner dose errors can cause bleeding
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Some heart patients are given too large a dose of blood thinner at the hospital, which can lead to excessive bleeding, researchers said on Tuesday.
The dosing errors found in 42 percent of more than 30,000 cases stemmed from factors including physicians using a “one size fits all” dosing criteria, underestimation of the importance of using the right dosage or a lack of information about a patient’s weight or other indicators.
Post cardiac surgery heart irregularities reduced by medication
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Use of the medication amiodarone is associated with one-half the incidence of atrial tachyarrhythmias (rapid, abnormal heart beat) following cardiac surgery, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.
Atrial tachyarrhythmias, usually atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, often occur immediately after cardiac surgery and are the most common postoperative complication, according to background information in the article. The incidence of sustained atrial tachyarrhythmias after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is approximately 30 percent; after valve surgery, approximately 40 percent; and after combined CABG and valve replacement/repair surgery, approximately 50 percent.
Mice breathing bad air suffer heart disease
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Breathing polluted air found in urban areas promotes heart disease, especially when accompanied by a fatty diet, researchers who tested the theory on mice said on Tuesday.
The animal study was aimed at determining how air pollution—specifically small airborne particles spewed by car exhaust and power plants—combined with a high-fat diet sped up the deterioration of the body’s cardiovascular system.
“We established a causal link between air pollution and atherosclerosis,” said the study’s lead author, Lung Chi Chen of New York University’s School of Medicine.
