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Drinking beetroot juice every day for six months after having a stent fitted reduced the chance of angina patients having a heart attack or needing a repeat procedure, according to new research. The researchers found that 16 percent of angina patients had a serious heart or circulatory incident, like a heart attack or need for another procedure, in the two years after having a stent fitted. However, when patients had beetroot juice daily, this dropped to 7.5 percent. Thousands of coronary heart disease patients each year in the UK have a stent implanted, in a procedure known as a percutaneous...

Continuous-Use Contraceptives to be Introduced in Britain Within Months By Hilary White LONDON, September 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The first contraceptive pill that provides a dose of active hormones every day that would halt menstruation, could be in use in Britain within a few months, according to the New Scientist. The drug, called Lybrel, is lauded for its ability to interrupt a woman’s normal fertility cycle and entirely stop her menstruation, potentially permanently. Its supporters say that once freed from their normal biological functions, women will be better able to compete with men in the workplace. The US Food and...

What is enhanced external counterpulsation? Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) is a treatment for angina (also called angina pectoris), or chest pain. Angina occurs when the muscle cells of the heart do not get enough blood to properly maintain their pumping function. The lack of blood supply is most likely to cause pain during physical activity, when the heart pumps fastest and needs the most oxygen. In most people, angina is caused by coronary artery disease. Results of clinical trials show that EECP is a safe and effective choice for people who are considered at high risk for bypass surgery and...

Despite great strides in heart disease treatment, and perhaps paradoxically because of them, chest pain is on the rise. More people visit emergency rooms for chest pain each year than for any other symptom except abdominal complaints. The American Heart Association estimates that 6.8 million Americans have the chronic, stable form of angina pectoris: chest discomfort caused by reduced coronary blood flow. Unstable angina, the more worrisome cousin of stable angina, led to more than three-quarters of a million hospitalizations in 2001, the latest numbers available. Researchers expect the number of Americans living with angina to grow as new treatments...