Culture | Page 1933 | Science Codex

Electronic monitoring device may help lower salt intake

Using an electronic monitoring device may help heart failure patients and their families stick to a low-salt diet, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

The Family Sodium Watcher Program (Family SWAP) focuses on a partnership between the heart failure patient and a caregiver/member of the family to adapt to the taste of a low-salt diet and includes using an electronic monitoring device to detect salt content in food and avoid high-salt food during the adaptation period.

High hospital admissions for acute aortic dissection coincide with peak flu season

Hospital admissions for acute aortic dissection were highest during peak flu season November-March, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a life-threatening condition in which blood leaks from the aorta, the major artery that carries blood from the heart to the body. The leak is often caused by a tear in the inside wall of the aorta. The most common symptom of aortic dissection is sudden and severe chest or upper back pain.

Young heart health linked to better overall health in later years

Maintaining a healthy heart while young may help prevent future disease and disability, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

In this study spanning more than three decades, participants who were at low risk for heart and blood vessel disease when young adults were 60 percent less likely to report disability as older adults. To determine risk level, researchers used blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index measurements, as well as diabetes and smoking status.

High mortality associated with STEMI heart attacks that occur in hospitalized patients

In 2013, University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers published a study with a surprising finding: Patients who suffered an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) heart attack while in the hospital for something else are more likely to die than patients who had the same type of heart attack outside the hospital.

Today the UNC researchers published a new study, based on data from more than 62,000 patients treated at hundreds of hospitals in California, which confirms their earlier finding.

Risk of death may be higher if heart attack occurs in a hospital

Prashant Kaul, M.D., of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues conducted a study to define the incidence and treatment and outcomes of patients who experience a certain type of heart attack during hospitalization for conditions other than acute coronary syndromes. The study appears in the November 19 issue of JAMA, a cardiovascular disease theme issue.

Device's potential as alternative to warfarin for stroke prevention in patients with a-fib

Vivek Y. Reddy, M.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and colleagues examined the long-term efficacy and safety, compared to warfarin, of a device to achieve left atrial appendage closure in patients with atrial fibrillation. The study appears in the November 19 issue of JAMA, a cardiovascular disease theme issue.

Use of beta-blockers for certain type of heart failure linked with improved survival

Lars H. Lund, M.D., Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues conducted a study to examine whether beta-blockers are associated with reduced mortality in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (a measure of how well the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each contraction).The study appears in the November 19 issue of JAMA, a cardiovascular disease theme issue.

Prevalence, risk of death of type of coronary artery disease in heart attack patients

Duk-Woo Park, M.D., of the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, and Manesh R. Patel, M.D., of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, N.C., and colleagues investigated the incidence, extent, and location of obstructive non-infarct-related artery (IRA) disease and compared 30-day mortality according to the presence of non-IRA disease in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack). Obstructive non-IRA disease is blockage in arteries not believed to be the cause of a heart attack.

Follow-up testing indicated for inherited cardiac syndrome that can cause sudden death

Giulio Conte, M.D., of the Heart Rhythm Management Centre, UZ Brussel-VUB, Brussels, Belgium and colleagues investigated the clinical significance of repeat testing after puberty in asymptomatic children with a family history of Brugada syndrome who had an initial negative test earlier in childhood. Brugada syndrome is a genetic disease that is characterized by abnormal electrocardiogram findings without structural heart disease and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. The study appears in the November 19 issue of JAMA, a cardiovascular disease theme issue.

Half of STEMI heart attack patients may have additional clogged arteries

DURHAM, N.C. - A blocked artery causes a deadly kind of heart attack known as STEMI, and a rapid response to clear the blockage saves lives.

But in more than half of cases studied recently by Duke Medicine researchers, one or both of the patient's other arteries were also obstructed, raising questions about whether and when additional procedures might be undertaken.

Beta blockers could benefit patients with HFPEF

A novel registry study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that beta blockers may benefit also patients suffering from a relatively unknown form of heart failure called HFPEF, which today lacks well-established treatment. HFPEF involves an impaired ability of the heart to fill with blood, and affects nearly 2% of the population. These new findings are being published in the scientific periodical JAMA.

Active asthma may significantly raise risk of heart attack

Recent asthma symptoms or asthma that requires daily medication may significantly raise the risk of heart attack, according to two research papers presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

"Physicians should do all they can to control every other modifiable cardiovascular risk factor in patients with asthma," said Matthew C. Tattersall, D.O., M.S., study author and an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mentally stressed young women with heart disease more likely to have reduced blood flow to heart

Young women with stable coronary heart disease are more likely than men to have reduced blood flow to the heart if they're under emotional stress, but not physical stress, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

Compared to men of the same age, when subjected to a mental stress test, women:

Patients with active asthma at higher risk for heart attack, Mayo Clinic research shows

CHICAGO -- Patients with active asthma -- such as any use of asthma medications, and unscheduled office or emergency visits for asthma -- are at a twofold risk of having a heart attack, according to Mayo Clinic research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.

Lay bystanders in higher income pennsylvania counties more likely to perform CPR

CHICAGO - Members of the public in counties with higher median household incomes are more likely to step into action to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, when they witness someone have a cardiac arrest, according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which was presented today at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2014.