Oct
3
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 8:46 am (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
A comparison of two diagnostic methods used to detect deep vein thrombosis, or DVT — a blood clot in a deep vein in the leg or thigh — of the lower extremities indicates that a simpler method, with wider availability, has rates of DVT detection that are equivalent to a more complex method, according to a study in the October 8, 2008 issue of JAMA.
The imaging technique, compression ultrasonography, is a highly accurate method for the detection of DVT and has replaced other diagnostic methods in common practice. Two ultrasonography diagnostic methods often used are two-point and whole-leg.
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Sep
24
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 9:17 am (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
When someone’s heart suddenly stops beating, there’s a lot that bystanders and ambulance crews can do to get it started again. If the victim doesn’t respond, when should such efforts stop, according to the findings of a study published in the September 2008.
When should emergency crews rapidly transport a patient to a hospital with lights and sirens on, potentially endangering the lives of paramedics and other motorists and pedestrians — even though the care provided by the emergency crew is the same as what can be provided in the emergency department?
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May
21
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 12:15 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
People with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on commercial airline flights may have a greater risk of adverse events from cardiac stress than healthy people, according to research to be presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2008 International Conference in Toronto.
The researchers compared oxygen levels and ventilation of healthy people and people with severe OSA during simulated flight conditions replicating the oxygen and pressure levels of typical commercial flights that have “cabin altitudes” ranging from 6,000 feet and 8,000 feet, the maximum allowed, even if the airplane is flying at 30,000 feet. This is the first study to use these measurements to assess fitness to fly without supplemental oxygen.
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Apr
17
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 4:17 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
The DASH diet has been shown to reduce both systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure in individuals with high or normal blood pressure, according to background information in the article. The diet has also been shown to reduce low-density lipoprotein (“bad”) cholesterol and is recommended in national dietary guidelines as an example of a healthy eating pattern.
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Apr
14
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 4:01 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health.
Older men who take loop diuretics, commonly prescribed drugs for heart failure and hypertension, appear to have increased rates of hip bone loss than men who are not taking this medication, according to a report published in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Loop diuretics are one of the most commonly prescribed medications among older adults,” the authors write as background information in the article. These medications increase the amount of calcium excreted in urine, potentially damaging bones over the long term. In observational studies, use of loop diuretics has been associated with an increased risk of hip and other fractures.
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Mar
11
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 3:22 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
DURHAM, NC — Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say they may have figured out why poor sleep does more harm to cardiovascular health in women than in men.
Their study, appearing online in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, found that poor sleep is associated with greater psychological distress and higher levels of biomarkers associated with elevated risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. They also found that these associations are significantly stronger in women than in men.
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The number of elderly individuals newly diagnosed with heart failure has declined during the past ten years, but the number of those living with the condition has increased, according to a report in the February 25, 2008, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Heart failure affects nearly five million people in the United States, and more than 300,000 die each year as a result of the disease. Heart failure is primarily a disease of elderly persons and, consequently, places a significant and growing economic burden on the Medicare program,” according to background information in the article. The number of people age 65 or older hospitalized for heart failure from 1984 to 2002 rose by more than 30 percent.
Over the next decade, as further studies are conducted, it will be interesting to see the correlation between sleep apnea and heart failure, as well as survival rates, show up in the statistics.
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Jan
29
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 9:02 am (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health.
Use of calcium-channel blockers, alpha-blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors appears to offer no advantages in improving clinical outcomes compared with use of diuretics when treating hypertension among individuals with metabolic syndrome, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This appears particularly true for black patients.
Patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) and metabolic syndrome are at high risk for the complications of cardiovascular disease, according to background information in the article. The metabolic syndrome was defined as hypertension plus at least two of the following factors: diabetes or pre-diabetes; a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30; high triglyceride levels; or low levels of high-density lipoprotein (“good” cholesterol).
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May
28
2007
This entry was posted by admin on Monday, May 28, 2007 at 1:19 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Heart health, Top News.
Heart failure patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely to die than those without this sleep disorder, says a study published in a professional cardiology journal.
The study followed 164 patients with heart failure for more than seven years and those with OSA were found to have had double the death rate of patients who did not have sleep apnea. Of the 37 patients with untreated OSA, the death rate was 24 percent in contrast to 12 percent for the 113 patients with no sleep apnea.
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