Coronary

Transdermal HRT not cardioprotective in postmenopausal women with Coronary Artery Disease

Transdermal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not reduce the risk of cardiac events in postmenopausal women with existing coronary artery disease (CAD). In the PHASE trial (Papworth HRT Atherosclerosis Study), researchers randomized 255 postmenopausal women with angiographically proven coronary artery disease to receive either transdermal HRT--17-beta-estradiol with or without cy...

Coronary stent leads to complications

It is believed that the rate of clot formation inside a coronary stent is three times higher than the previous procedures. Now a days, the majority of angioplasties involve placement of a stent - a tiny metal device, inside the coronary artery to keep it open. But the very act of placing a stent in the artery irritates the vessel walls and may promote formation of a clot - ironically, the actual...

Coronary heart disease bids Adieu

According to a report in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Coronary heart disease is reduced by lowering plasma homocystine levels with a diet supplement of folic acid alone or in combination with cyanocobalamin. Dr.Tice from the University of California at San Francisco and colleagues used the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model to assess the cost effectiveness of lower...

Older Men Surviving Coronary Bypasses

The survival rate for older men undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery is rising, even though more patients than ever are undergoing the procedure.// Coronary artery bypass surgery uses a blood vessel from another part of the body to reroute blood around narrowed or clogged arteries in the heart. A buildup of substances such as fats or plaque causes this narrowing, known as atherosclerosis. <b...

The Benefits of abciximab with clopidogrel for percutaneous coronary intervention Questioned

Primary findings from the Intracoronary Stenting and Antithrombotic Regimen-Rapid// Early Action for Coronary Treatment Trial (ISAR-REACT) has indicated that abciximab use in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after pretreatment with 600 mg clopidogrel for less than 2 hours offered no clinically measurable benefit at 30 days. The trial included 2159 patients...

The Link Between Oxidized Phospholipids And Coronary Artery Disease

According to a recent study published for the first time, researchers have made the first causal connection between concentrations of oxidized phospholipids and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD).// As levels were also closely related to those of Lp(a) lipoprotein, the researchers suggest that that the established ability of the latter to promote atherosclerosis may be partly me...

Cigarette Smoking Leads To Development Of Type 2 Diabetes In Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Type 2 diabetes, characterized by insulin resistance and/or abnormal insulin secretion and increased glucose production, continues to expand unabated throughout the world. The development of new diabetes can be attributed // to decreased physical activity, decreased functional capacity, increased body mass index, preexisting glucose and insulin abnormalities, advanced age and heredity....

Erectile dysfunction: an early warning sign of clinically silent coronary artery disease?

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the inability of a man to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for his sexual needs or the needs of his partner. Most men experience this at some point in their lives//, usually by age 40, and are not psychologically affected by it. Some men, however, experience chronic, complete ED (impotence), and often leads to diminished self-esteem. According to a...

New Cardiac Angiography Technique For Improved Imaging Of Coronary Veins

Researchers from Germany have discovered a novel, less invasive imaging technique for visualization of coronary veins. This technique, called ECG-gated cardiac modified discrete cosine transform, or MDCT, is associated with very few complications // . It is further believed to result in an improved diagnostic quality and treatment. A comparison of the new technique with conventional ang...

Effectiveness Of Drug-Releasing Coronary Stents

A new study appearing in the February 22 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association has found no significant differences in the effectiveness of the coronary stents coated with either sirolimus or paclitaxel. Drug-releasing stents are known to be more effective in easing the examination of the blood vessels in a procedure called as angiography. // Such stents also improve the p...

Children Are At The Risk Of Inheriting Coronary Disease

According to a study, children of parents who have a past history of heart disease are at a great risk of inheriting it. Researchers have also found that the influence// from mother is greater than that of father. Children could inherit coronary diseases if their parents have a past history of heart conditions, with mothers having a greater influence, says a study. Researc...

Statin Therapy in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome Improves Survival

A significant improvement in the survival rates has been documented in Acute Coronary Syndrome patients, instituted aggressive statin therapy, based on a analysis reported at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) // 29th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, May 10–13. By combining data from nine randomized clinical trials and evaluating clinical outcomes...

Meditation may Improve Cardiac Risk Factors in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

CHICAGO - A relaxation technique known as transcendental meditation may decrease blood pressure and reduce insulin resistance among patients with coronary // heart disease, according to a report in the June 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Transcendental meditation, derived from the ancient Vedic tradition in India, is taught through a sta...

Microcirculation in Eye May Indicate Coronary Heart Death Risk

A new study suggests that a middle-aged person dying of coronary heart disease can be predicted by examining his eyes for minimized curvature of the arterioles// and venules in the eyes. Arterioles and venules are small branches of main arteries and veins, and their condition reflects the general state of the smaller blood vessels in the body, or microcirculation. During t...

Trans Fats Increase Coronary Heart Disease

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers at Oxford University found that an increase of as little as 2 per cent in the consumption of common foods// containing trans fatty acids can lead to a 23 per cent increase in coronary heart disease. Trans fats are added to improve taste, texture and shelf life of food and is added to most fast foods, confectionary, sandw...

Patient’s Individual Cardiologist Best Judge For Deciding Appropriate Treatment In Chronic Coronary Artery Diseas

A new research conducted at the Heart Institute of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Brazil showed that following individual doctor's advice was the key to// getting the best care in case of chronic coronary artery disease. The findings of the study to be published in the September edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that patients assigned...

Pessimistic Attitude Could Lead to Coronary Heart Disease

Men with negative personalities may face risk of developing coronary heart disease, says a new study. // Researchers led by Edward Suarez at Duke University studied 2,105 white men who had served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. The men got heart checkups and completed personality surveys to gauge their anger, hostility, depression and anxiety over a period of...

Bivalirudin, a new anti-clotting drug may be a safer option for treatment of acute coronary conditions

A novel anti-clotting drug named bivalirudin is turning out to be a better option than combination drug therapy for patients suffering heightened //coronary conditions, for instance heart attacks. Lead researcher Dr. Gregg W. Stone, a professor of medicine and director of cardiovascular research and education at Columbia University said, "We use it at Columbia in the vast majority of...

Drug Used in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery may Increase Risk of Death

Aprotinin, a drug used for limiting blood loss in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, is associated with an increased risk of death during five years following// the surgery, according to a new study. Aprotinin was first approved for use in high-risk patients needing coronary artery surgery in the United States in 1993. As background information in the article, the authors state that...

Women Wary of Coronary Diseases Get Two More Risk Factors to Worry About

Scientists have revamped the traditional risk factor list for coronary diseases in women, by including two more// risk factors. Publishing results in the Journal of the American Medical Association,, the researchers led by Paul Ridker of Brigham’s Hospital and colleagues of Women’s Hospital, expressed the methods used to change the 40-year old risk factor list of cardiovascular diseas...

Fish Oil in Combination With Statins Cuts Risk of Major Coronary Events

Japan - Scientists have once again commended the benefits of fish-oil supplements in promoting cardiovascular health. The recent study exclaims the benefits of using fish oil// supplements containing omega-3 fatty acid or eicosapentaenoic acid with statin therapy, in reducing the risk of major coronary events. During a study involving more than 18,000 patients suffering hypercholester...

New Genetic Biomarkers Could Predict Coronary Heart Disease

New genetic markers may be able to predict whether a person is likely to have coronary heart disease (CAD) in the future//. Research carried out by Dr. M. Balasubramanyam and Dr.V.Mohan at the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (India) shows that people who are pre-diabetic or who have Type 2 diabetes have much shorter telomeres1 and, since these people are prone to CAD, an early test could indi...

Starting Time of Hormone Therapy may Augment the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Women who initiate hormone therapy closer to menopause tend to have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to women who begin treatment// further from menopause, according to a study. Studies examining the effects of the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy on coronary heart disease (CHD) have yielded mixed results, depending on the type of study conducted. There may be a...

More Fat Leads to Less Coronary Artery Calcification

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences studying links between an early sign of heart disease called coronary artery calcification and body fat have found that, paradoxically, more fat may have some advantages, at least for people particularly women who have type 1 diabetes. Cardiovascular complications, including heart disease, are a leading ca...

Women Taking Oestrogen Therapy Showed Reduced Coronary Artery Calcification

The Research study found that younger menopausal women (aged 50-59) who received a standard dose of oral conjugated estrogens had significantly less coronary artery calcification at the end of the study period compared with those taking placebo. Coronary artery calcification is a marker of plaque in the arteries and a predictor of future cardiovascular events. In the five years since...