Culture

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Aspiration of the blood clot or "thrombus" that causes a heart attack before re-opening a patient's artery with a balloon catheter does not improve survival compared to performing balloon dilation and stenting alone according to the results of the Thrombus Aspiration in ST- Elevation myocardial infarction in Scandinavia (TASTE) trial.

Stroke is the second cause of death worldwide. Atrial fibrillation is the most common clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmia in Europe, affecting approximately 1.5-2% of the general population.1 Prevalence is estimated to double in the next 50 years as the population ages.

In contrast, a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 identifies a subgroup of patients with very low stroke risk unlikely to benefit from anticoagulation treatment.

The findings were presented at the ESC Congress today by Ms Stina Jakobsson from Sweden. They reveal that reperfusion therapy and secondary prevention drugs produced the decline and brought stroke risk after AMI closer to that of non-diabetics.

Dr Benn Christiansen said: "We know that atrial fibrillation increases the risk of ischemic stroke. And in patients with atrial fibrillation or previous ischemic stroke, the risk of stroke increases with the number of risk factors. But until now, little attention has been paid to the association between stroke risk and risk factors in patients without prior stroke or atrial fibrillation. We wanted to explore that association and to quantify if stroke risk was of comparable size in patients with numerous risk factors."

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Saturday 31 August 2013: General practitioners (GPs) undertreat women with atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research presented at ESC Congress 2013 today by Dr Pierre Sabouret from France. The analysis of more than 15,000 patients showed that women were undertreated with antithrombotic medications compared to men regardless of their stroke risk and comorbidities.

Dr Gitt said: "There are wide variations between European countries in the achievement of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. However the effect of different reimbursement systems on meeting the targets was unknown."

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (08/30/2013) – A University of Minnesota research team featuring researchers from the Institute for Molecular Virology, School of Dentistry and Center for Drug Design has developed a new delivery system for a combination of two FDA approved drugs that may serve as an effective treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined 9 biotechnologically produced drugs for the treatment of adults with rheumatoid arthritis in whom prior pharmacological treatment had failed. According to the findings, for each drug the data provide proof, an indication, or at least a hint of a benefit in relation to at least one outcome criterion. This is the conclusion of the final report published by IQWiG on 26 August 2013.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Aug. 30, 2013 – Abbott (NYSE: ABT) A recent health economics and outcomes study, conducted by leading health economists and supported by Abbott, found that oral nutritional supplements provided to patients during hospitalization were associated with significant reductions in length of stay and hospitalization cost. Additionally, the 30-day readmission risk was significantly reduced for patients with at least one known subsequent readmission.

We know from earlier studies that mice can derive genetic benefits when females mate with multiple males, but until recently, the conditions under which females will voluntarily mate with multiple males were not clear. Kerstin Thonhauser and her colleagues from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni Vienna conducted a series of experiments in which female wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus) could mate freely with one or two males while not in danger of sexual coercion by a male. The results provide evidence for the infanticide avoidance explanation.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – More children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are experiencing remission of their symptoms, thanks to new biological therapies, but the remission is not well-understood. A new study published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy provides the first genomic characterization of remission in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Washington, DC (August 29, 2013) — Socioeconomic status is a more important barrier to living kidney donation than cultural factors, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings may be useful for determining ways to increase living kidney donation in the United States.

Research findings provide direct evidence that people with chronic diseases are more likely to be food insecure - that is suffering from inadequate, insecure access to food as a result of financial constraints. Previous research has shown that food insecurity rates are highest among low-income households, in households reliant on social assistance, reporting Aboriginal status, renting rather than owning their dwelling, and lone-parent female-led (see recent annual report from PROOF).

Several key elements in systems of care can reduce stroke deaths and disabilities, according to a new American Heart Association/American Stroke Association policy statement published in its journal Stroke.

Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, every 4 minutes someone dies of a stroke.