Peninsula Heart Centre NEWS
Primary Transcatheter Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Is Effective in Improving Migraine in Patients With High-Risk Anatomic and Functional Characteristics for Paradoxical Embolism
Study Question: What is the effectiveness of transcatheter patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure in improving migraine in a group of patients with high-risk anatomic and functional characteristics for paradoxical embolism? Methods: In this single-center, nonrandomized,...
Aptamers: the emerging class of future anticoagulation for vascular disease
Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy , 04/29/10 Kuliczkowski W et al. – Representing an attractive new therapeutic class, aptamers are nucleic acid ligand with a high affinity and specificity for proteins involved in the clot growth. Potential antidote control of...
Coronary CTA a cost-effective alternative to cardiac catheterization for the evaluation of CAD, study suggests
ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2010) — According to a study conducted at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), non-invasive coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a cost-effective alternative to invasive cardiac catheterization in the care of patients who have...
Blood test identifies people at risk for heart attack that other tests miss
ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2010) — A simple blood test can identify people who are at risk for a heart attack, including thousands who don't have high cholesterol, according to researchers at Oregon Health & Science University. The new test measures gamma-prime...
Potential target for treatment of obesity-related diseases identified
ScienceDaily (2010-04-16) -- Scientists have identified a specific gene as potential new target for treating obesity-related diseases. Two recent research studies examined the role of a gene called STAT4 in the development of type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related...
Can a pill keep your DNA young?
Telomeres—repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that become shorter with each cell division—have long tantalized biologists seeking to understand and control the aging process. When its telomeres become too short, a cell stops dividing and eventually...
Antibiotic used on drug-eluting stents may lead to advances in heart disease and cancer treatment
ScienceDaily (Apr. 14, 2010) — Research led by T. Cooper Woods, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and Director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Laboratory at Ochsner Clinic Foundation,...
Sleep apnea tied to increased risk of stroke; Even mild sleep apnea puts men in danger, study finds
ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2010) — Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from a landmark study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of...
An Explanation For The So-Called ‘Broken-Heart Syndrome’
It seems an infarction, but it’s not. It’s called Tako-Tsubo syndrome, or stress-induced cardiomyopathy, and it’s a rare disease which at first used to be confused with the far more common (and dangerous) cardiac infarction. Patients arrive to the emergency room with the characteristic heart attack symptoms: acute pain in the chest, an electrocardiogram with the typical changes and the release of those enzymes associated with the usual heart disease. Yet, as soon as a coronarography is performed, in order to discover the location where the occlusion preventing the blood reaching the heart was formed, nothing is found. In the infarction this occlusion causes a number of heart cells to die.
Dangerous plaques in blood vessels rupture by overproducing protein-busting enzymes
ScienceDaily (2010-03-30) -- Researchers have gathered evidence that dangerous plaques in blood vessels can rupture by overproducing protein-digesting enzymes. Such ruptures can lead to artery-blocking clots. Almost everyone over age 60 has arterial plaque. Ruptures...