Health News

Recreational Cocaine Use Can Lead To Heart Attacks

Date: Nov-06-2012
Recreational cocaine users have been found by researchers to have higher blood pressure, harder arteries, and thicker heart muscle walls than individuals who do not use the drug, according to findings showcased at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012. Using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), experts from Australia calculated the impact of the drug on 20 individuals, who, aside from cocaine use, were healthy. The researchers determined that when compared with non-users, the people using cocaine had an increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack...

The Lives Of Many Mothers And Children Saved In India

Date: Nov-06-2012
Infant mortality has fallen by half, and the number of women who died from complications during pregnancy and childbirth by three-quarters. This is the result of a four-year health care project in one of India's poorest districts. "We're overjoyed that mortality could be reduced with relatively simple means like mobile health care centres. It was successful because pregnant women and new mothers got the opportunity to actively seek care...

Vitamin D Levels Decrease During Winter Months In Women With Health Conditions

Date: Nov-05-2012
Women with health issues such as arthritis and diabetes are much more likely to have inadequate levels of vitamin D during the winter than in the summer, according to new research introduced at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Annual Meeting. Medical professionals have long known that all people's vitamin D levels drop in the wintertime, especially in the northern part of the country. This new study points out that vitamin D deficiency is connected with certain health issues, and that extra action may be needed to keep vitamin D levels steady...

Imeglimin-Sitagliptin Therapy Shows Significant Benefits In Type 2 Diabetes

Date: Nov-05-2012
Imeglimin, a novel compound being developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, showed increasing effectiveness as an add-on therapy to sitagliptin, in patients inadequately controlled by sitagliptin monotherapy, in a Phase II trial conducted by Poxel SA. The study accomplished its main endpoint of superiority in blood sugar levels (HbA1c) reduction, compared to a placebo. The reduction seen in Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) was also significant. The decrease in HbA1c and FPG are critical in controlling diabetes...

Even Healthy People Need To Limit Their Salt Consumption

Date: Nov-05-2012
Salt is a major part of the American diet, however, consumption of sodium should be limited to less than 1,500 milligrams per day, even for healthy individuals, according to new studies and the revised American Heart Association presidential advisory, published in the journal Circulation. The recommendations surfaced after researchers analyzed a number of recent animal, laboratory, observational and clinical trials, which confirmed the American Heart Association's 2011 advisory which stated that humans should only consume 1,500 mg of salt (sodium) each day...

Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections And Improving Patient Safety Conference, 22 November 2012, London

Date: Nov-05-2012
Government Knowledge will be hosting a timely and unique conference bringing together key stakeholders, policymakers and professionals from across the public, private and third sectors to discuss future strategies and policy for improving patient safety across the health and social care sectors. in the 12 months leading up to September 2011, the National Patient Safety Agency recorded over 1.3 million patient safety incidents in England and Wales...

Diabetics Benefit More In Long Term From Heart Bypass Than Stents

Date: Nov-05-2012
Diabetics with more than one clogged heart artery are more likely to benefit in the longer term from heart bypass surgery than drug-coated stents, according to a late-breaking clinical trial whose results were presented at a meeting in the US over the weekend. The trial investigators suggest that at first, fitting a stent to prop the clogged vessels open seems like a cheaper option, but say their study found fewer deaths and heart attacks in the longer term in diabetic patients who had the more expensive option of bypass surgery instead...

Innovative Pacemaker Powered By Your Own Heartbeat

Date: Nov-05-2012
Today's battery-powered pacemakers have to be removed every 5 to 7 years when their batteries run out, a costly and inconvenient exercise. But new technology presented at a meeting in the US at the weekend suggests this may one day no longer be necessary: aerospace engineers from the University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor have developed a prototype pacemaker that can be powered by the heartbeat of the very heart it is treating. Pacemakers are implanted medical devices that use electrical impulses to control the heart muscle to regulate the beating of the heart...

High Blood Pressure Ages The Brain

Date: Nov-05-2012
New research led by the University of California (UC) Davis found accelerated brain aging among young middle-aged people with high blood pressure, and even among those whose blood pressure would not be considered high enough to warrant clinical intervention. The researchers say their findings emphasize the need for "early and optimum control of blood pressure"...

Underlying Connection Between "Good" Cholesterol And Collagen In Heart Health

Date: Nov-05-2012
Arterial stiffening has long been considered a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Keeping arteries soft and supple might reduce disease risk, but the mechanisms of how arteries stave off hardening has remained elusive.  Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Wistar Institute, and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have discovered that the protein apolipoprotein E (apoE) plays a major role in maintaining arterial softness by suppressing production of the extracellular matrix, a network of connective tissue in the body...