May 9, 2012
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) — A “spare tire” around the midsection raises the odds of sudden cardiac death in obese people, a new study finds.
A larger waist-to-hip ratio matters even more than body-mass index when it comes to sudden cardiac death risk, said study researcher Dr. Selcuk Adabag, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Body-mass index is a measure of weight relative to height used to determine normal weight and obesity.
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May 7, 2012
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) — A new study finds that heart attack survivors who live close to major roads are at increased risk for death from all causes during a 10-year span.
U.S. researchers looked at more than 3,500 heart attack survivors with an average age of 62 and found that those who lived less than about 330 feet from a major road were 27 percent more likely to die over 10 years than those who lived about 3,300 feet or more away.
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May 7, 2012
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) — Exercise can slow muscle wasting, boost strength and reduce inflammation caused by aging and heart failure, a new study confirms.
In heart failure — also called congestive heart failure — the heart doesn’t pump blood well enough to meet the body’s needs. About 5.7 million adult Americans have heart failure, according to the American Heart Association.
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May 2, 2012
WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) — New research has uncovered how some cox-2 painkillers increase the risk for both heart attacks and stroke.
The once popular cox-2 drugs, Vioxx and Bextra, were pulled off the market in 2004 and 2005, respectively, after research showed that both raised the chances of cardiovascular trouble. Meanwhile, Celebrex, a painkiller in the same drug class that remains on the market, carries a “black box” warning alerting patients to potential heart risks.
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May 1, 2012
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) — Taser guns used by law enforcement can cause heart rhythm problems, sudden cardiac arrest and death, according to a new study.
Tasers, which are widely used by police forces in the United States and other countries, are designed to stun suspects by delivering a 50,000-volt shock.
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April 30, 2012
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) — The odds you’ll survive a heart attack vary widely depending on where you’re treated in the United States, according to a new study by Yale University researchers.
Hospitals that follow five simple strategies — including good teamwork and having cardiologists on hand 24/7 — have twice the 30-day survival rates of other medical centers, the study found.
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April 25, 2012
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) — When patients with atrial fibrillation stop taking anti-clotting drugs, their stroke risk goes up quickly, new research finds.
That risk increases about the same whether they are taking warfarin or a newer, more expensive drug, Xarelto (rivaroxaban).
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April 19, 2012
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) — In what the researchers say is the largest study on the issue to date, adults who consumed higher amounts of low-fat dairy products also had a somewhat lower long-term risk of stroke.
The study involved nearly 75,000 Swedish adults who were tracked for an average of 10 years after completing a dietary questionnaire.
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April 18, 2012
WEDNESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) — Scientists report they were able to repair mouse hearts that were damaged by heart attacks.
Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes successfully converted scar tissue in the mice into beating heart muscle. Their findings, they said, might eventually lead to a similar treatment for people who’ve had heart attacks.
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April 18, 2012
WEDNESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) — Being upbeat is good for your heart, a new study suggests.
Many previous studies have shown that negative mental states — such as depression, anger, anxiety and hostility — can harm the heart.
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