Newswise Feature Channel: Cardiovascular Health

SLU Study: Black Patients with Heart Failure Less Likely to Receive Palliative Care

Saint Louis University — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:30:44 EST

A study by researchers at Saint Louis University shows that only one in eight patients with heart failure in the United States receive palliative care consultations within five years of diagnosis. The study also highlighted significant racial and geographic disparities. Black people were 15% less likely to receive palliative care compared to their white counterparts.

Defibrillation Devices Can Save Lives Using 1,000 Times Less Electricity

American Institute of Physics (AIP) — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 11:00:00 EST

In this week's Chaos, researchers used an electrophysiological computer model of the heart's electrical circuits to examine the effect of the applied voltage field in multiple fibrillation-defibrillation scenarios. They discovered far less energy is needed than is currently used in state-of-the-art defibrillation techniques. The authors applied an adjoint optimization method and discovered adjusting the duration and the smooth variation in time of the voltage supplied by defibrillation devices is a more efficient mechanism that reduces the energy needed to stop fibrillation by three orders of magnitude.

New Study Finds Obesity Can Be Prevented in Very Young Children

University of North Carolina School of Medicine — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 10:00:52 EST

A large study co-led by Kori Flower, MD, MS, MPH, division chief of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine demonstrates that combining text messaging with in-person clinic counseling reduces obesity in the first two years of life.

Out of Africa: UT Southwestern Cardiologist Gets to the Heart of Zambia's No. 1 Health Threat

UT Southwestern Medical Center — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 17:45:01 EST

On a Thursday morning in Dallas, Fiona Strasserking, M.D., chats with her UT Southwestern colleague while internal medicine residents from the University of Zambia log on to their Zoom call. Rafic Berbarie, M.D., Associate Professor in UTSW's Division of Cardiology, is today's guest lecturer and the topic is "Evaluation of Chest Pain."

Prolonged Sitting Can Sabotage Health, Even if You're Young and Active

University of Colorado Boulder — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 14:55:10 EST

A new study of 1,000 adults found that meeting minimum physical activity guidelines isn't enough to counteract the health hazards of prolonged sitting.

Preventing Obesity in Very Young Children Could Be in the Palm of Parents' Hands

Johns Hopkins Medicine — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 17:05:00 EST

A study co-led by a Johns Hopkins Children's Center clinician-researcher shows that adding text messaging and other electronic feedback to traditional in-clinic health counseling for parents about feeding habits, playtime and exercise prevents very young children from developing obesity and potentially lifelong obesity-related problems.

Loyola Medicine Is Nationally Recognized for Efforts to Improve Blood Pressure Control

Loyola Medicine — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:45:37 EST

Thirteen Loyola Medicine primary care practices have been recognized by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association for its commitment to improving blood pressure (BP) control rates, earning Gold Plus or Gold level recognition as part of Target: BP(tm).

COVID-19 Sharply Boosts Risk for Blood-Fat Disorders

Albert Einstein College of Medicine — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:40:39 EST

A new study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine involving more than 200,000 adults found that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a 29% increase in risk for developing dyslipidemia, a condition involving abnormal lipid (fat) levels in the blood. Seniors and people with type 2 diabetes were even more strongly affected, experiencing an approximately two-fold increased risk for developing dyslipidemia, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. The research was published today in the print edition of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

NIH Announces Prize Winners in Year-Long Challenge to Develop Fetal Diagnostic and Monitoring Technologies

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:00:36 EST

NIH has announced winners of the RADx(r) Tech Fetal Monitoring Challenge, a $2 million prize competition to speed development of innovative medical technologies for fetal health diagnosis, detection and monitoring.

Yale-Led Study Links Heart Health and Brain Health Outcomes

Yale School of Medicine — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:55:19 EST

SynCardia Granted Second Patent Covering Fully Implantable Artificial Heart

SynCardia Systems, LLC — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 08:10:07 EST

SynCardia Systems, LLC., a Picard Medical Inc. company, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a second patent (US patent no. 12,121,711 B2) that will expand the coverage of SynCardia's fully implantable artificial heart technology (SynCardia Emperor). The USPTO allowed the first patent (US patent no. 11,918,797) relating to its groundbreaking "Next Generation Total Artificial Heart" designs in March of this year.

Perguntas e Respostas da Mayo Clinic: Exame de calcio coronario avalia doenca cardiaca e risco de acidente vascular cerebral

Mayo Clinic — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 07:00:32 EST

PREZADA MAYO CLINIC: Recentemente, fiz uma tomografia computadorizada (TC) do meu peito para avaliar uma pneumonia. Eu nao tinha pneumonia, mas obtive um alto indice inesperado de calcio nas minhas arterias coronarias. O calcio que eu ingiro pode causar isso? Pensei que o calcio estava relacionado com a saude ossea. No momento estou sendo avaliado pelo meu risco de doenca cardiaca e acidente vascular cerebral. Os outros membros da minha familia devem checar os seus escores de calcio?

Preguntas y respuestas de Mayo Clinic: La exploracion de calcio coronario evalua la enfermedad cardiaca y el riesgo de accidente cerebrovascular

Mayo Clinic — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 07:00:32 EST

ESTIMADA MAYO CLINIC: Recientemente me hicieron una tomografia computarizada (TC) de mi pecho para evaluar una neumonia. No tenia neumonia, pero obtuve un alto indice inesperado de calcio en mis arterias coronarias. ?Puede el calcio que ingiero causar eso? Pense que el calcio estaba relacionado con la salud osea. Actualmente estoy siendo evaluado por mi riesgo de enfermedad cardiaca y accidente cerebrovascular. ?Deberian los otros miembros de mi familia verificar sus scores de calcio?

أسئلة وأجوبة مايو كلينك: يقيّم فحص الكالسيوم التاجي خطر التعرض لأمراض القلب والسكتة الدماغية

Mayo Clinic — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 03:00:57 EST

الأعزاء في مايو كلينك: أجريتُ مؤخرًا تصويرًا مقطعيًا محوسبًا لصدري لتقييم ما إذا كنت مصابًا بالالتهاب الرئوي. لم أكن مصابًا بالتهاب الرئة، ولكن كانت لدي نسبة مرتفعة وغير متوقعة من الكالسيوم في الشرايين التاجية. هل للكالسيوم الذي أتناوله دور في ذلك؟ لأنني كنت أظن أن الكالسيوم مرتبط بصحة العظام؟ والآن يجري تقييم خطر إصابتي بأحد أمراض القلب والسكتة الدماغية. هل يجب على أفراد أسرتي الآخرين قياس نسبة الكالسيوم لديهم؟

Research Shows New Method Helps Doctors Safely Remove Dangerous Heart Infections Without Surgery

Mayo Clinic — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 14:45:46 EST

Doctors at Mayo Clinic used a new catheter-based approach to draw out resistant pockets of infection that settle in the heart, known as right-sided infective endocarditis, without surgery. Unless treated quickly, the walled-off infections can grow, severely damaging heart valves and potentially affecting other organs as well. In a recent study, over 90% of the participants had their infection cleared, and they had lower in-hospital mortality compared to those whose infections remained.

Randomized Trial Demonstrates Benefits of Large-bore Mechanical Thrombectomy Over Catheter-directed Thrombolysis for Treatment of Intermediate-risk Pulmonary Embolism

Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:00:02 EST

Findings from the first international randomized controlled trial to compare patient outcomes following treatment with large-bore mechanical thrombectomy (LBMT) versus catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) for intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) found that LBMT is superior with respect to the hierarchically-tested aggregated outcome of all-cause mortality, intracranial hemorrhage, major bleeding, clinical deterioration and/or escalation to bailout therapy, and postprocedural ICU admission and length of stay. Findings were reported today at TCT 2024, the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. Results were also published simultaneously in Circulation.

After a Heart Attack, the Heart Signals to the Brain to Increase Sleep to Promote Healing

Mount Sinai Health System — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:00:00 EST

Mount Sinai study shows how the heart and brain interact to influence sleep patterns and help with recovery

Routine Colchicine Administration After Acute Myocardial Infarction Does Not Improve Outcomes

Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:55:05 EST

The largest trial to examine the impact of colchicine in acute myocardial infarction (MI) found that both acute and long-term colchicine use did not reduce cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or ischemia-driven revascularization.

Orbital Atherectomy Prior to Coronary Stent Implantation Does Not Lead to Better Outcomes Compared to Conventional Balloon Angioplasty

Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:05:34 EST

Results from the large-scale randomized ECLIPSE trial found that a lesion preparation strategy of routine orbital atherectomy had similar outcomes compared with conventional balloon angioplasty prior to implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES) in severely calcified coronary arteries.

Standing Desk Not the Answer to Decreasing Blood Pressure, Research Shows

West Virginia University — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 10:45:42 EST

Alternating between sitting and standing at work decreases sedentary behavior, but it has no effect on lowering blood pressure, according to a study led by a West Virginia University epidemiologist. Researchers also found that too much standing during work may have negative effects on cardiovascular health.