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A major medical paper on primary heart disease prevention admitted that cardiovascular disease risk factors have proven useless for predicting heart disease among our population and that reducing risks factors doesn’t translate into reduced clinical disease or fewer premature deaths. But the solutions to this conundrum were the most unbelievable examples of ad-hoc reasoning.

As Montana bars dealt with their first smoke-free weekend since the state’s indoor smoking ban went into effect, ingenuity ruled. In Missoula, according to a great piece by Michael Moore in the Missoulian, the Rhino Bar gave smokers their very own place to light up: a Butt Hutt, created by Dave Golden of Well Done Welding and Jim Bell, a general contractor. Moore describes the hut as a 4-by-8-foot “metal smoking dugout” in the alley behind the Rhino in Missoula. The no-smoking laws spark the type of debate that never seems to get extinguished. Pro-smokers argue that the bans hurt...

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) shows vitamin D plays a vital role in reducing the risk of death associated with older age. The research, just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the death rates of those 65 and older. The study found that older adults with insufficient levels of vitamin D die from heart disease at greater rates that those with adequate levels of the vitamin. "It's likely that more than one-third of older adults...

Leg size may be a more accurate indicator of risks than the waistline. We know having a large waistline is unhealthy. But larger thighs, it appears, may protect against heart disease and premature death. A study published on BMJ.com, the website of the British Medical Journal, found that men and women whose thighs are less than 23.6 inches have a higher risk of premature death and heart disease compared with those with thighs exceeding that size. Having thighs that are even bigger, however, confers no added benefit. The study is the first to suggest that thigh size matters. The measurement...

My cousin is not a freeper, but he's a good fella and the father of two

PARIS (AFP) – Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about three fold compared to those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported. Smaller quantities confer less protection, but are still better than none, according to the study, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine. Earlier research had established a strong link between cocoa-based confections and lowered blood pressure or improvement in blood flow. It had also shown that chocolate cuts the rate of heart-related mortality in healthy older men, along...

Enlarge ImageEvolving evidence. In a massive study, C-reactive protein didn’t boost the risk of heart attacks.Credit: Wikipedia A new study may be the last word in a controversy that's plagued cardiovascular disease research for years: whether a marker of inflammation known as C-reactive protein (CRP) drives heart attacks and strokes. In a survey of more than 128,000 people, researchers have found that genes that raise CRP levels don't make cardiovascular disease more likely. Although the study arrives at the same conclusion as earlier work, its massive size makes it statistically the most powerful test yet of this question and...

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Billy Mays, well known for pitching a variety of products in U.S. television commercials, had heart disease but did not appear to have suffered head trauma in a rough airplane landing prior to dying in his sleep on Sunday, a medical examiner in Florida said on Monday. The bearded, black-haired Mays, 50, who gained fame as an enthusiastic TV "pitchman" advertising an array of commercial products, was found dead by his wife at their home in Tampa, Florida. On Saturday, Mays was among the passengers aboard a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia that landed roughly at...

Peanut butter sandwiches, favoured by cartoon character Charlie Brown, could be the secret to beating heart disease, according to new research. A study in the US reveals snacking on peanuts or peanut butter at least five days a week can nearly halve the risk of a heart attack. A team of experts at Harvard Medical School in Boston came up with the findings after studying the eating habits of thousands of women with type two diabetes. The condition dramatically increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Poor diet and lifestyle has led to a surge in the numbers affected...

Obesity may protect against death from heart disease, scientists from Louisiana claim. Researchers found that obese heart patients respond better to strokes and heart attacks compared to normal or underweight patients. Although obesity is a leading cause of heart disease, paradoxically scientists say fat and even high cholesterol may have protective benefits. But researchers say losing weight is still best because obesity triggers more heart attacks and strokes. Cardiologist Carl J. Lavie, of the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, said: " Overweight heart patients do better than thin patients, but overweight patients who lose weight do best of...

It's been a dream for a decade: a single daily pill combining aspirin, cholesterol medicine and blood pressure drugs — everything people need to prevent heart attacks and strokes in a cheap, generic form. Skeptics said five medicines rolled into a single pill would mean five times more side effects. Some people would get drugs they don't need, while others would get too little. One-size-fits-all would turn out to fit very few, they warned. Now the first big test of the "polypill" has proved them wrong. The experimental combo pill was as effective as nearly all of its components taken...

CBNNews.com - Men should start taking a daily aspirin at age 45 to lower the risk of heart attack by 20 percent, according to recent U.S. Preventive Services findings. Doctors add that women should start a daily aspirin regimine at age 55 to protect against strokes. However, some medical experts have concerns.

Did Grandma seem forgetful at the holiday parties last month? It could be time to put her on a diet. Sharply reducing calories improves memory in older adults, according to one of the first studies of dietary restriction and cognitive function in humans. Research on the benefits of an extremely low-calorie diet stretches back to the 1930s, when scientists found that rats lived up to twice as long when they nibbled less than control animals. Since then, some studies with rodents and nonhuman primates have shown that this spare diet, known as calorie restriction, improves some markers of diabetes and...

The goats being raised on a farm in central Massachusetts are genetically engineered to make a human protein in their milk that prevents dangerous blood clots from forming. The company extracts the protein and turns it into a medicine that fights strokes, pulmonary embolisms and other life-threatening conditions. GTC has asked the Food and Drug Administration to OK the drug, called ATryn. An expert panel voted overwhelmingly Friday that it is safe and effective, putting it on the verge of becoming the first drug from a genetically engineered animal to be approved in the U.S. The agency is expected to...

Mayo Clinic cardiologist Apoor Gami, M.D., the lead researcher on the study, presented his findings at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans. "Nighttime low oxygen saturation in the blood is an important complication of obstructive sleep apnea," according to Virend Somers, M.D., Ph.D., the study's principal investigator. "Our data showed that an average nighttime oxygen saturation of the blood of 93 percent and lowest nighttime saturation of 78 percent strongly predicted SCD, independent of other well-established risk factors, such as high cholesterol. These findings implicate OSA, a relatively common condition, as a novel risk factor for...

A good night's sleep may be just what your arteries need. So finds a new five-year study in which middle-aged people who had an extra hour of sleep each night were less likely to have artery-stiffening calcium deposits. Lauderdale and her colleagues have been following a group of young adults for years, studying their heart arteries from a number of angles. The latest report linked the sleeping habits of 495 participants, ages 35 to 47, with the incidence of artery calcification, measured by CT scans. Calcium deposits can make the coronary arteries less flexible and ultimately lead to heart disease....

(HealthDay News) -- Intensive lowering of blood sugar in people with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes does not have a significant effect on reducing cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, a new study finds. "You can decrease cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes by good treatment of lipids [cholesterol], blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors," noted lead researcher Dr. William Duckworth, from the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care Center in Arizona. "But among older patients whose risk factors are controlled, intensive glucose control does not add any significant benefit," he said. The report was published...

Cardiologists have opened another front in the rancorous debate over expensive medical technologies, questioning the conclusions of a new study finding that high-resolution computer scans of the heart are almost as effective as conventional angiograms. The debate reveals a deep rift among heart specialists over the use of 64-slice or CT angiography, which produces mesmerizing 3-D images of the heart and blood vessels. CT scans are faster and less invasive than conventional angiograms, the gold standard for diagnosis and identification of blockages, but they expose patients to higher doses of radiation, which may increase the risk of cancer. Angiograms, on...

Drinking green tea may help prevent heart disease and stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Athens Medical School in Greece and published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention. "A couple of cups a day would probably be a good dose for people," researcher Charalambos Vlachopoulos said. "This is the first study to show these effects for green tea." Prior research has indicated that black tea can improve cardiovascular health, leading researchers suspect that green tea might even more effective. Many of the beneficial health effects of tea are attributed to its high content of antioxidant...

MUNICH, GERMANY (AP) - Fish oil supplements may work slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug to help patients with chronic heart failure, according to new research released Sunday. Chronic heart failure is a condition that occurs when the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood efficiently around the body.

Eating broccoli could reverse the damage caused by diabetes to heart blood vessels, research suggests.A University of Warwick team believe the key is a compound found in the vegetable, called sulforaphane. It encourages production of enzymes which protect the blood vessels, and a reduction in high levels of molecules which cause significant cell damage. Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have previously been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. People with diabetes are up to five times more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes; both are linked to damaged blood vessels. The...

There's been a lot of controversy over the use of embryonic stem cells in recent years, but adult stem cells, which few people oppose using, are already giving some patients a new lease on life. Donald Reid is hoping adult stem cells will give him more time. The 57-year-old has clogged arteries and heart disease so bad he's not a candidate for surgery. Instead, he's joined an experimental study. It involves a machine that takes his blood and pulls out stem cells. But these aren't stem cells from an embryo. These are Donald's own adult stem cells. In the coming...

Study: Stem Cells Used To Fix Your Broken Heart It's Called The Marvel Study The Largest Clinical Trial Investigating Adult Stem Cells To Treat Congestive Heart Failure For More Info, Call Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Center At (954) 229-8400 MIAMI (CBS4) ― Doctors are discovering a new way to fix your broken heart. A study is underway in South Florida that could revolutionize the way heart attack patients help their damaged hearts by using their own stem cells. It's called The Marvel Study and under the direction of Dr. Alan Neiderman with the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research...

After 21 years of unsuccessful heart treatments, including several heart procedures, 68-year-old Coenie de Jongh was desperate. So when his cardiologist suggested a last-resort experimental therapy, it represented a literal life line.  Coenie, from Bloubergstrand near Cape Town, had his first heart attack at the young age of 40. A bypass operation followed and his condition improved, but seven years later Coenie’s health started deteriorating again. More operations and more intense treatment followed, but in 2002 his health took a real turn for the worse.  His condition was so bad he struggled to find a cardiologist who was willing to...

New research links drinking lowfat milk to lower risk for heart disease Grabbing as little as one glass of lowfat or fat free milk could help protect your heart, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers found that adults who had at least one serving of lowfat milk or milk products each day had 37 percent lower odds of poor kidney function linked to heart disease compared to those who drank little or no lowfat milk. To determine heart disease risk, researchers from several universities in the United States and Norway measured the...

President Bush returned to the White House last evening from the North American Leaders' Summit in New Orleans. Today, President Bush opened two days of Mideast diplomacy, welcoming Jordan's King Abdullah II to the White House for a brief breakfast meeting. President Bush, accompanied by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. presented the Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Michael DeBakey, Wednesday, April 23, 2008, during a ceremony in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. U.S. President George W. Bush spoke at an East Room event marking National Small Business Week at...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (April 6) - A man who received a heart transplant 12 years ago and later married the donor's widow died the same way the donor did, authorities said: of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No foul play was suspected in 69-year-old Sonny Graham's death at his Vidalia, Ga., home, investigators said. He was found Tuesday in a utility building in his backyard with a single shotgun wound to the throat, said Greg Harvey, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Graham, who was director of the Heritage golf tournament at Sea Pines from 1979 to...

Treatment with adult stem cells harvested from blood or bone marrow may benefit some patients with certain kinds of cardiovascular disorders and autoimmune diseases, a new U.S. analysis shows. There are two types of stem cells, according to background information in the study. Embryonic stem cells are harvested from embryos four to five days after fertilization. Adult stem cells are located in tissues throughout the body and provide a reservoir for replacement of damaged or aging cells. While stem cell therapy shows great promise, "clinical application has lagged due to ethical concerns [over embryonic stem cells] or difficulties harvesting or...

In the US, most deaths are attributable to chronic afflictions, such as heart disease and cancer. Typically the medical community has attributed these diseases to accumulated damage, such as plaque formation in arteries or mutations in genes controlling cellular replication. This view is changing. Scientists are now beginning to recognize that many of these chronic illnesses are due to microbial infections. A recent report in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that schizophrenia, a mental illness leading to errors in perception, is associated with the pathogen, Toxoplasma gondii. "Our findings reveal the strongest association we've seen yet between infection with...

Science and Race by: Amanda Busse, January 22, 2008 Identifying race as a source of disease may seem like a practice from the Jim Crow era, resolved after scandals like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study; however, current studies linking genetics with disease could have similar implications for race, according to a report recently published by the Center for American Progress. “The problem with including race in gene-based medical research is that recent scientific developments undermine the notion that race, as a biological fact, is still in question,” said Jamie Brooks, the project director on race, health and justice at the Center...

A new study indicates that ultrafine particles—particles of less than 0.18 micrometers—from vehicle emissions may be the most damaging components of air pollution in triggering plaque buildup in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. The findings appear in an open access article in the 17 January online edition of the journal Circulation Research. A team from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); the University of Southern California; the University of California, Irvine; and Michigan State University contributed to the research, which was led by Dr. Andre Nel, UCLA’s chief of nanomedicine. The study was primarily funded...

There's new hope for the five million people in the United States who live with heart failure. Scientists say they have been able to grow a rat heart in a lab. They were also successful at getting it to start beating. About 50,000 people die each year waiting for a heart donor. But that all may change thanks to a rat heart, built by scientists at the University of Minnesota. "Everyone has cells," Dr. Doris Taylor told CBN News. "What's lacking is a way to put that together in a 3-D structure that lets you create an organ," she explained....

Nashville, Tenn. - This week, PETA sent a letter to all the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates--including Sen. Fred Thompson--explaining that a 10-cent-per-pound "sin" tax on meat could go a long way in protecting the environment, reducing health-care costs, and adding dollars to the U.S. Treasury. PETA points out that meat is the leading cause of global warming--according to a 2006 United Nations report, the meat industry emits 40 percent more global-warming gases than all the cars, trucks, SUVs, Hummers, airplanes, and ships in the world combined--and has been conclusively linked to serious illnesses, including heart disease, some types of...

A nonprofit foundation seeks funds to finance the procedure and travel expenses. HERMITAGE, Pa. — A parent's love knows no bounds and, apparently, no international boundaries. Erika Hirschmann's parents are taking her to Thailand for an experimental surgery. In 1996 Erika Hirschmann contracted a virus and went into congestive heart failure. Nine years later she started suffering chest pains, and doctors determined she had pulmonary hypertension — essentially high blood pressure of the lungs that stemmed from her weakened heart. This past April she suffered a stroke and in May more problems with her heart. Now doctors want the 29-year-old...

CHICAGO (AFP) - Women who use oral contraceptives are at increased risk for developing hardened arteries, a condition that can lead to heart attack or stroke, according to a study released Tuesday Belgian researchers found that women who had used the hormones were more likely to have plaques, or a buildup of fatty tissue, on their arteries than women who didn't use this form of birth control. Atherosclerosis, or furring of the arteries, typically occurs with age. Complications include heart attack or stroke, which occur when unstable pieces of plaque break off and block a blood vessel leading to the...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorOctober 8, 2007Stockholm, Sweden (LifeNews.com) -- Three researchers who work with controversial embryonic stem cells shared the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for their role in looking at mouse genes and using their studies to determine the human genes that cause diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Pro-life advocates oppose embryonic stem cell research on human beings because days-old unborn children must be killed to obtain their cells. They support the use of animal and adult stem cells.Americans Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies and British scientist Sir Martin Evans split the prestigious award and its prize of...

As America gets fatter, policymakers are seeking creative approaches to legislating health. They may have entered the school cafeteria -- and now they're eyeing your neighborhood. Amid worries of an obesity epidemic and its related illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, Los Angeles officials, among others around the country, are proposing to limit new fast-food restaurants -- a tactic that could be called health zoning. The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A., a part of the city where fast food is at...

Medicine: Cardiac patients in Britain may soon be getting replacement heart valves grown from their own adult stem cells. You may not have heard about this miracle on the evening news. Few people read the British journal Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, but the current issue contains details of the research by a British research team led by Sir Magdi Yacoub that may end the scourge of heart disease as we know it. In April we wrote about research led by Yacoub, who's been called the world's leading heart surgeon. His team had managed in the laboratory to grow...

Cardiac patients will soon be able to 'grow their own' heart valves and have them transplanted within weeks of seeing a doctor. The groundbreaking treatment, developed by British surgeons, will create heart tissue from stem cells from the patient's body. The technique offers hope to millions who suffer heart disease. Scientists said the valves would not be rejected after a transplant because the tissue will have come from the patient and be genetically identical. In April, a team led by heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub of Harefield Hospital, in West London, revealed that they had used bone marrow stem cells...

Senior Citizen Health & Medicine Diabetes Patients Fixate on Blood Sugar and Neglect What May Kill Them Most die from heart disease and should focus on cholesterol, other protection Aug. 20, 2007 – Diabetes is high on the radar for senior citizens, who are well aware of the increase of this chronic and deadly disease, and because few do not have friends whose lives have been forever negatively changed the rituals of diabetes care and management. Although high blood pressure and arthritis are the most prominent chronic conditions for older Americans, type 2 diabetes, apparently fueled by the obesity epidemic,...

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 30 — A federal drug advisory committee voted overwhelmingly on Monday to recommend that the diabetes drug Avandia remain on the market, even after finding that it raised the risks of heart attacks. Panel members said that studies concerning Avandia were too murky to merit drastic regulatory action and that other diabetes medicines might have similar risks... The votes — 20 to 3 on the heart attack risk and 22 to 1 on the marketing — were cast after an extraordinary meeting in which officials from the Food and Drug Administration, which brought the committee together, openly...

Regular aspirin use may significantly reduce the incidence of both cancer and heart disease, according to a large new study, but other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or Nsaids, have no effect. Researchers studied 22,507 postmenopausal women, following them for 10 years. All reported their aspirin and Nsaid use as part of a detailed physical and behavioral health questionnaire. None of the women had cancer or heart disease at the start of the study. After controlling for age, exercise, diet and other factors, those who used aspirin had a 16 percent reduced risk of getting cancer, and a 13 percent reduced risk...

TONY EASTLEY: If you're over 65, chances are you or your spouse has coronary artery disease. One in two older Australians have the condition and heart disease is still the number one cause of premature death and disability in this country. Scientists have already managed to create heart tissue that beats, and they believe stem cells could be the missing piece of a puzzle that will finally allow them to make a new heart muscle from a person's own tissue. Jane Cowan reports. JANE COWAN: One of the things that makes heart disease so difficult to treat is that heart...

Source: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Date: May 13, 2007 Clues To 'Broken Heart Syndrome' Science Daily — The causes of "broken heart syndrome" remain a mystery, but doctors will soon have an easier time recognizing and treating this rare, life-threatening condition, thanks to new data. Researchers from Brown University in Providence, RI, have developed the largest registry of patients in the United States with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, informally known as broken heart syndrome because it is often preceded by an emotional or physical shock of some kind and almost always strikes women. One thing is certain: Patients are usually...

Source: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Date: May 7, 2007 Fish, Seafood Better Than Olive Oil, Nuts Against Heart Disease Science Daily — Researchers have found that a diet rich in fish, seafood, and grains -- also called polyunsaturated fats -- is better at preventing heart disease than a diet containing olive oil, nuts, and avocados -- called monounsaturated fats. Although both types of fats are healthy, people should probably include more of the first than the second in their diet to keep a healthy heart, the scientists say. Too much cholesterol has long been linked to increasing...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A treasure hunt for genes has found that up to three-quarters of people of European descent have DNA that raises their risk for heart disease -- and these genes are close to a stretch of DNA linked to diabetes. The findings, made by two independent groups of researchers, may help explain why so many people have heart disease even if they do not have clear risk factors such as smoking, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. And they could lead to a test to predict the risk of heart disease, the biggest cause of death across the...

Dr. Russel Blaylock explains how to reduce inflamation. Get the full story about cholesterol.

U-M team reports success of rapid 3-D cell-growth technique that produces pulsing, organized tissue A length of bioengineered heart muscle, or BEHM, grown at the University of Michigan using rat cardiac muscle cells and a fibrin gel base. Click here for more information. ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It looks, contracts and responds almost like natural heart muscle – even though it was grown in the lab. And it brings scientists another step closer to the goal of creating replacement parts for damaged human hearts, or eventually growing an entirely new heart from just a spoonful of loose heart cells.  This...

Trial involves injecting patients' own (autologous) stem cells into areas of their hearts with poor blood flow CHICAGO - Rush University Medical Center is one of the first medical centers in the country, and currently the only site in Illinois, participating in a novel clinical trial to determine if a subject’s own stem cells can treat a form of severe coronary artery disease. The Autologous Cellular Therapy CD34-Chronic Myocardial Ischemia (ACT34-CMI) Trial is the first human, Phase II adult stem cell therapy study in the U.S. designed to investigate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of blood-derived selected CD34+ stem cells...

Why can some people eat whatever they want and never have heart problems and others just look at French fries and their cholesterol and risk jumps?Major research done in Southern California might produce the answer and a new way to prevent heart disease.NBC's Dr. Bruce Hensel said the answer may be a gene that protects the heart no matter how high your cholesterol. That finding was detailed in a documentary called "The Cure." The new work; using that gene to reverse heart problems is now being done at the Cleveland Clinic and in Los Angeles. It all started while studying...