Free Republic

Enlarge Image Young at heart. Cross-sections of mouse ventricles show the visible change in size when old hearts are immersed in young blood. Credit: Francesco Loffredo It's time to turn back the clock on an aging ticker. Drawing on an odd experimental technique invented more than a century ago but rarely done now, researchers have found that a blood-borne protein makes old mouse hearts appear young and healthy again. It's not clear yet whether humans would react the same way, but scientists are hopeful that this discovery may help treat one of the heart's most frustrating ailments. "This is probably...

Syrian Rebel Bites Heart of Dead Soldier: Video BEIRUT (Reuters) - A video of a Syrian rebel commander cutting the heart out of a soldier and biting into is emblematic of a civil war that has rapidly descended into sectarian hatred and revenge killings, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The New York-based group said an amateur video posted on the Internet on Sunday shows Abu Sakkar, a founder of the rebel Farouq Brigade who is well known to journalists as an insurgent from Homs, cutting into the torso of a dead soldier. The video has caused outrage among both...

Low magnesium levels have been found to be the best predictor of heart disease, contrary to the traditional belief that cholesterol or saturated fat play the biggest roles....

I am a disabled combat veteran. I served in Iraq and worked in Afghanistan. I took an IED because my country asked me too, and I was injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. I have a Purple Heart and an ARCOM with Valor. I fully expect to be treated differently when I am visiting another country - when I am in America I expect equality and toleration; but what I experienced today is something that I never would have thought I'd have to go through in my own country. The country I fought for! I am a skydiver with...

I offer the single most politically incorrect statement a modern American — indeed a modern Westerner, period — can make: I look first to the Bible for moral guidance and for wisdom. I say this even though I am not a Christian (I am a Jew, and a non-Orthodox one at that). And I say this even though I attended an Ivy League graduate school (Columbia), where I learned nothing about the Bible except that it was irrelevant, outdated, and frequently immoral. I say this because there is nothing — not any other work, religious or secular, or body of...

People who suffer heart attacks are at increased risk of having a second and potentially fatal occurrence because of the damage the heart attack does to cardiac muscle tissue. Now scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a new biomaterial - an injectable hydrogel  - that can repair the damage from heart attacks, and help promote the growth of new heart tissue.   Millions of people around the world suffer heart attacks every year and survive. These traumatic events occur when blood supply to the heart muscles is somehow blocked, robbing them of oxygen and causing them...

Sarver Heart Center’s newest video makes it easy to learn Continuous Chest Compression CPR. Every three days, more Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest than the number who died in the 9-11 attacks. You can lessen this recurring loss by learning this hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. Watch physician researchers Gordon A. Ewy, MD, and Karl Kern, MD, demonstrate the easy, life-saving method that they developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

NEW YORK (AP) - A clown suffered a fatal collapse in front of spectators at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Sixty-seven-year-old Robert Blasetti went into cardiac arrest as he made balloon animals at Sixth Avenue and West 39th Street on Thursday. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Spokesman Orlando Veras said Macy's was "saddened to report" that a parade marcher had suffered a medical emergency. He declined to say whether the man was a Macy's employee. Also, a civilian New York Police Department worker also became fatally ill during the parade. He suffered an apparent...

The head of public relations at Chick-fil-A died Friday morning of an apparent heart attack, according to a local news report. WBRL News 3 in Georgia identified the employee as Donald A. Perry, the company’s vice president of Corporate Public Relations. His death comes as Chick-fil-A finds itself embroiled in a public relations fiasco with the gay community and supporters of same-sex marriage protesting the company because of statements made by company president Dan Cathy. Perry joined Chic-fil-A in 1983, according to information posted on the website of Hillcrest Church of Christ. He became an elder of the church in...

Three out of 10 specialist units will stop performing heart surgery on children following an NHS review which decided resources were spread too thinly. The Royal Brompton in Chelsea, west London, Leeds General Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital in Leicester will not stop providing surgery immediately as plans to implement the new streamlined service are still being developed. Once they stop providing surgery, probably after 2013, the units will still see patients for diagnosis, monitoring and non-surgical treatment. The consultation process by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) of England

A scientific study likely to stir the souls of chocoholics has suggested that eating dark chocolate every day for 10 years could reduce the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes in some high-risk patients. The researchers, whose work was published in the British Medical Journal on Friday, stressed the protective effects have only been shown for dark chocolate containing at least 60 to 70 percent cocoa - not for milk or white chocolate. This is probably due to higher levels of flavonoids in dark chocolate.

The Heart of a WarriorSo far away from home in distant and often desolate lands our young men fight for freedoms with blood stained hands with heavy hearts embrace brothers who die in their arms the reality of war in the action and way of so many harms the call of duty, honor and country ring loudly in their ears willingness to fight and die maturity far beyond their years Shouldering the burden of any moment they too may fall they fly the flag of freedom while standing tall at the wall the depth of purpose as warriors they must...

Conservative commentator and website editor Andrew Breitbart died of heart failure and had up to a 60 percent narrowing of a major artery, a Los Angeles County coroner’s office report released Wednesday said. The office ruled that the cause of Breitbart’s death was heart failure and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with focal coronary atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Coroner’s officials deemed the death "natural." Breitbart collapsed near his Westwood home on the west side of Los Angeles March 1. He was 43. Paramedics found Breitbart unable to breath and shocked him with a defibrillator four times. He was in full arrest...

The office of the Los Angeles County coroner has completed its investigation into the death of Andrew Breitbart on March 1, and has confirmed that he died of natural causes, namely heart failure. Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey told Breitbart News that the final autopsy report would be released next week. A press release issued by the Department of Coroner (below) notes: "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%," a negligible amount. The press release concludes: "No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected."

1) A right heart is a NEW heart (Ezek. 36:26). It is not the heart with which a person is born—but another heart put in them by the Holy Spirit. It is a heart which has new tastes, new joys, new sorrows, new desires, new hopes, new fears, new likes, new dislikes. It has new views about the soul, sin, God, Christ, salvation, the Bible, prayer, heaven, hell, the world, and holiness. It is like a farm with a new and good tenant. “Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). 2) A right...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney walked onstage without any assistance and spoke for an hour and 15 minutes without seeming to tire in his first public engagement since he underwent a heart transplant three weeks ago.

A spokesperson for the family of former Vice President Dick Cheney says he is "doing great", and is up and walking less than a week after receiving a heart transplant. Kara Ahern says Mr. Cheney has been making a lot of phone calls to family and friends. Mr. Cheney also received a great deal of mail from people all over the country during his time at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Ahern tells Fox News, the former Vice President has been calling people he doesn't know personally, "perfect strangers", who have sent in cards and notes wishing him well. Ahern says, "most...

A vaccine delivered in an injection or nasal spray to prevent heart attacks could be available within five years. Scientists have discovered that the drug stimulates the body's immune system to produce antibodies which prevent heart disease by stopping fat building up in the arteries. It is the first time that the underlying cause of heart disease has been targeted. Current treatments focus on using drugs to reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The vaccine can cut the build up of fat in arteries by up to 70 per cent, according to tests by researchers at Lund University in Sweden....

At 71, former Vice President Dick Cheney was older than average for a heart transplant, but doctors said on Sunday that advances in care have made it possible for older patients to still be good transplant candidates. And not only was he older than the typical patient, but he waited longer than average as well -- 20 months vs six months to a year. Doctors said Cheney must have been...

Has anyone had, or knows someone who has had, ablation treatment for Afib?

RUSH: Now, this health story. The website's called Signs of the Times, and the story here is by Dr. Dwight Lundell. "Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease." The upshot of it is that everything that we think we're doing to promote cardiovascular health is actually contributing to cardiovascular problems. This story prints out six pages. The doctor wrote it. So many times I have mentioned over the years about diet, health, food, how we are being manipulated by government goals, wrong medical ideas. Food activists with a logo and a fax machine putting out bogus information...

9:55 AM PST -- A rep for Davy tells TMZ the singer died from a heart attack this morning. ---------------- Davy Jones -- lead singer of The Monkees -- has died ... TMZ has learned. An official from the medical examiner's office for Martin County, Florida confirmed with TMZ they received a call from Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Jones had passed away. Jones is survived by his wife Jessica and 4 daughters from previous marriages. He was 66-years-old.

Pay Attention to Your Ticker Heart attacks don't always strike out of the blue -- there are many symptoms we can watch for in the days and weeks leading up to an attack. But the symptoms may not be the ones we expect. And they can be different in men and women, and different still in older adults. Last year, for example, a landmark study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Institute found that 95 percent of women who'd had heart attacks reported experiencing symptoms in the weeks and months before...

Paramedics drop organ in front of photographers after it was rushed to hospital by police helicopter for transplantIt was a heart-stopping moment – or nearly so: rushing from a helicopter, two Mexican medics dropped a human heart being ferried to hospital for a transplant. And to compound their embarrassment, press photographers were there to capture the mishap. Thankfully, the transplant was carried out successfully, although that has not stopped the medics being widely ridiculed online. The heart was being transported by a police helicopter to a hospital in Mexico City on Wednesday, in what police described as "a rapid,...

Cutting back on salt may not be as beneficial for your heart as once thought, a new study suggests. While a diet low in salt reduces blood pressure, it increases the levels of cholesterol, fat and hormones in the blood that are known to increase the risk of heart disease, the study found. Overall, the good and bad consequences of a low-salt diet may cancel each other out, so the diet has relatively little effect on the development of disease, said study researcher Dr. Niels Graudal, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

Every three days, more Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest than the number who died in the 9-11 attacks. You can lessen this recurring loss by learning Continuous Chest Compression CPR, a hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. It’s easy and does not require mouth-to-mouth contact, making it more likely bystanders will try to help, and it was developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. "This video is worth sharing," said Gordon A. Ewy, MD, director of the UA Sarver Heart Center and one of the research pioneers who developed this method....

Enlarge Image Heart attack. Following a big meal, oily nutrients in the bloodstream of Burmese pythons (shown) spur massive growth of their hearts. Credit: Stephen M. Secor At the end of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the titular villain undergoes a literal change of heart. His blood-pumping organ swells to three times its prior size. The ticker of the Burmese python (Python molurus) similarly balloons, but the cause isn't Christmas cheer—it's a big meal. A new study of recently fed snakes suggests that a precise mixture of fatty acids in the blood drives this cardiac growth, unveiling...

Heart Attack Grill Owner Serves 8,000-Calorie BurgerBy Mikaela Conley | ABC News – Tue, Oct 11, 2011 If you’re going to laugh in the face of obesity by opening a restaurant that serves an 8,000-calorie burger, you might as well open it in Sin City. And that’s just what Heart Attack Grill owner Jon Basso is doing. On Wednesday, the owner opens the doors to his third Heart Attack Grill location, this time in Las Vegas. The restaurant offers a Quadruple Bypass Burger that contains four beef patties, cheese, bacon and reportedly, about 8,000 calories. Along with its staple sandwich,...

A doctor from Israel says: "In Israel the medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man's testicles; we put them into another man, and in 6 weeks he is looking for work." The German doctor comments: "That's nothing, in Germany we take part of the brain out of a person; we put it into another person's head, and in 4 weeks he is looking for work." A Russian doctor says: "That's nothing either. In Russia we take out half of the heart from a person; we put it into another person's chest, and in 2 weeks he is...

US President Barack Obama says the US economy has suffered a "heart attack" and survived but is not recuperating quickly enough, as he geared up to unveil a major jobs plan. Obama appeared on the Tom Joyner Morning Show in what also appeared to be an effort to reach out to black voters (Snip) "This is a situation where the economy essentially had a heart attack, and the patient lived, and the patient is getting better, but it's getting better very slowly." Obama is preparing a major speech on jobs and deficit cutting next week which is designed to revive

PARIS -- Willy Wonka may have been on to something with that chocolate factory, according to a meta-analysis that suggests chocolate can provide a heart benefit. In six studies, people who ate the most chocolate -- about two pieces of chocolate per week -- had a 37% lower risk of any cardiovascular disease compared with those who ate less (RR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.90), according to Oscar Franco, MD, PhD, of the University of Cambridge in England. And in three studies, those who consumed the most had a 29% lower risk of stroke (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.52...

In Sept. 2008, Roger Fisher said that he was happy to receive the publicity for the song "Barracuda", co-written with the Wilson sisters from Heart, which was being used by the McCain/Palin campaign. The Wilson sisters said that "Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women." Roger told Reuters back then that he pledged to give part of the royalties from the song's use by McCain/Palin campaign to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign. I wonder if he and the Wilson sisters feel the same way about Barack Obama these days...

The letter she wrote to her family before the birth of Trig gives us a glimpse into the soul of the penultimate "NON-quitter." In her email Palin imagines a letter from God to the family about to launch on its challenging child-rearing experience together. "Then, I put the idea in your hearts that his name should be 'Trig', because it's so fitting, with two Norse meanings: "True" and "Brave Victory"." "I've given Trig's mom and dad peace and joy as they wait to meet their new son. I gave them a happy anticipation because they asked me for that.I'll give...

If a person's blood becomes too thick it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. But a Temple University physicist has discovered that he can thin the human blood by subjecting it to a magnetic field. [snip] Because red blood cells contain iron, Tao has been able to reduce a person's blood viscosity by 20-30 percent by subjecting it to a magnetic field of 1.3 Telsa (about the same as an MRI) for about one minute. Tao and his collaborator tested numerous blood samples in a Temple lab and found that the magnetic field polarizes the...

CLEVELAND - Contrary to what we’ve been told, eliminating or severely limiting fats from the diet may not be beneficial to cardiac function in patients suffering from heart failure, a study at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reports. Results from biological model studies conducted by assistant professor of physiology and biophysics Margaret Chandler, PhD, and other researchers, demonstrate that a high-fat diet improved overall mechanical function, in other words, the heart’s ability to pump, and was accompanied by cardiac insulin resistance. “Does that mean I can go out and eat my Big Mac after I have a heart...

Which is more dangerous: dietary salt or the government’s dietary guidelines? A new study confirms some old truths. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (May 4), reports that among 3,681 study subjects followed for as long as 23 years, the cardiovascular death rate was more than 50 percent higher among those on who consumed less salt. The researchers concluded that their findings, “refute the estimates of computer model of lives saved and health care costs reduced with lower salt intake” and they do not support “the current recommendations of a generalized and indiscriminate reduction...

NEW ORLEANS (AFP) – A new type of heart valve made with cow tissue and inserted by catheter was hailed on Sunday as a major breakthrough that could eliminate the need for open heart surgery in some patients, US doctors said Sunday. The method is aimed at high-risk patients who suffer from severe aortic stenosis, a clogged valve that impedes the pathway of oxygen-rich blood by making the heart work harder to pump blood through a narrowing opening. The condition affects nine percent of Americans over 65. Without treatment, up to half of patients die within two years. The technique...

Strokes are rising dramatically among young and middle-aged Americans while dropping in older people, a sign that the obesity epidemic may be starting to shift the age burden of the disease. The numbers, reported Wednesday at an American Stroke Association conference, come from the first large nationwide study of stroke hospitalizations by age. Government researchers compared hospitalizations in 1994 and 1995 with ones in 2006 and 2007. The sharpest increase — 51 percent — was among men 15 through 34. Strokes rose among women in this age group, too, but not as fast — 17 percent. "It's definitely alarming," said...

February is “American Heart Month,” and our e-mail inboxes are filling up with information about all sorts of cardiovascular-related events, including a celebrity-studded game of Capture the Flag at UCLA. Apparently, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, singer Natasha Bedingfield, actor Ryan Kwanten and others will serve as captains of CTF teams that will compete for money to fund heart research at UCLA and UC Davis. CTF games will also be played in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Boston, according to a news release. The part that caught my eye was the source of the research money at stake in these games –...

Vitals Major Finding: Eplerenone reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization by 37%, compared with placebo. Data Source: Phase III randomized trial in 2,737 patients with NYHA class II heart failure. Disclosures: EMPHASIS-HF was funded by Pfizer. Dr. Zannad reported receiving grants from and consulting for Pfizer. Two coauthors are Pfizer employees, and several others reported Pfizer grants and consultancy. CHICAGO — Adding eplerenone to standard therapy significantly cut the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization by more than one-third in patients with mild heart failure in the phase III EMPHASIS-HF trial. The primary composite...

Cheney Back in Public, Thinner, With Heart Pump *snip* The LVAD is implanted next to the heart to help its main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, pump blood through the body. Such devices are used mainly for short periods, to buy potential transplant candidates time as they await a donor organ. Cardiologists said that in Cheney's case, the pump is likely a "bridge" that will keep him alive until he can receive a heart transplant. Many cardiac experts said at the time of his surgery that Cheney may be only one step away from a transplant but could find himself...

San Francisco (AP) Nearly 15 years after sentencing, an inmate is getting an unexpected chance at freedom - and the judge a shot at redemption. Students at San Francisco's novel Three Strikes Project, which has successfully overturned 14 life prison terms handed down for non-violent crimes under California's unforgiving sentencing law, are joined by an unusual coalition in their latest bid.

Dick Cheney's new implant—a ventricular assist device—needed 'cause his heart is screwed, "leaves most recipients without a pulse because it pushes blood continuously instead of mimicking the heart's own pulsatile beat."

  The First Friday Devotion in the Catholic Church History of First Friday First Friday devotions among Catholics are related to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ. First Friday practices date to the last decades of the 17th century, when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary and spoke to her of His Sacred Heart. Among the promises Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary, the 12th specifically referenced practices for Fridays:In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the...

Chest tight and short of breath. No pain in chest or extremeties. Heart enzymes at 5.8.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is rebounding from five weeks in the hospital this summer, and plans about 10 stops on the speaking circuit in coming months – along with some hunting trips as well, according to friends. Cheney spent much of the summer at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute, a stay that was prolonged by a bout of pneumonia. He had a left ventricular assist device implanted, a pump that is used in dire cases, and that can be used as a bridge to a heart transplant. The former vice president hasn’t decided whether to seek a heart...

Soy does not lower cholesterol, does not prevent heart disease, and does not deserve an FDA-approved soy heart-health claim. This amazing announcement comes from none other than the American Heart Association (AHA) published in the Jan. 17, 2006, issue of its journal Circulation. Athletes at Risk Not long before this announcement, University of Colorado researchers reported in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation that soy worsens cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that is very much on the rise, afflicting 1 in 500 Americans. Cardiomyopathy, defined as a weakening of the heart muscle or change in structure...

Ralph and Wynona Passow bought their first camels a decade ago to rid their farm of weeds. The camel herd has grown to more than 30.Lanky legs and neck sprawled too far forward, then too far backward. That black, furry newborn was going to stand and nurse somehow, Passow decided. The mother camel blinked long, dreamy eyelashes and watched carefully as Passow coaxed the big baby to the mother's side. "The females are lovely," Ralph Passow said, watching his wife try to turn the baby toward the patient mother. "But the male camels will kill you." About 30 minutes earlier,...

Enlarge Image Cellular alchemy. A cocktail of three genes can turn common structural cells in the heart into beating muscle cells. Credit: M. Ieda et al., Cell,142 (6 August 2010) ©Elsevier Inc. Cell biologists often seem like modern-day alchemists. Instead of turning lead or straw into gold, they're looking for ways to turn one kind of cell into another, potentially more useful, cell. Now, one research team has found a way to turn a very common heart cell into a cell missing in injured hearts. A healthy heart is a mix of several kinds of cells, including cardiomyocytes, the muscle...