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A new intervention which keeps lungs regularly expanding when using a heart-lung machine during heart valve surgery might protect lung function and exercise capacity in adult patients after the operation, a clinical trial has found. The research could benefit similar patients globally undergoing cardiac surgery. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to find out if keeping the lungs regularly expanding, known as low frequency ventilation (LFV), during heart-lung machine in patients undergoing heart valve surgery could be linked to better postoperative lung function and exercise ability. The study also wanted to find out the feasibility and safety of...

Story at a Glance: •There is a widespread belief that elevated cholesterol is the “cause” of cardiovascular disease. However, a large body of evidence shows that there is no association between the two and that lower cholesterol significantly increases one’s risk of death. •An alternative model (which the medical industry buried) proposes that the blood clots the body uses to heal arterial damage, once healed, create the characteristic atherosclerotic lesions associated with heart disease. The evidence for this model, in turn, is much stronger than the cholesterol hypothesis and provides many important insights for treating heart disease. •The primary approach...

COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis (C-VAM) has a mild initial clinical course, but myocardial injury is common, according to a study. Supriya S. Jain, M.D. and colleagues examined the clinical characteristics, myocardial injury, and longitudinal outcomes of C-VAM. A total of 333 patients aged 30 years or younger with C-VAM were compared to 100 patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The presence of myocardial injury as evidenced by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was the primary outcome. Patients with C-VAM were mainly White (67%), adolescent (age, 15.7 ±2.8 years) males (91%). The researchers found that...

Joshua Lupton, M.D., has no memory of his own cardiac arrest in 2016. He only knows that first responders resuscitated his heart with a shock from a defibrillator, ultimately leading to his complete recovery and putting him among fewer than one in 10 people nationwide who survive cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. He attributes his survival to the rapid defibrillation he received from first responders—but not everybody is so fortunate. Now, he and co-authors say the study suggests the position in which responders initially place the two defibrillator pads on the body may make a significant difference in returning...

A research team from the University of Bonn has succeeded for the first time in using light stimuli to stop life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia in mouse hearts. Furthermore, as shown in computer simulations at Johns Hopkins University, this technique could also be used successfully for human hearts. The study opens up a whole new approach to the development of implantable optical defibrillators, in which the strong electrical impulses of conventional defibrillators are replaced by gentler, pain-free light impulses. The Journal of Clinical Investigation has now published the results. Ventricular fibrillation! When the heart muscle races and no longer contracts in an...

Vutrisiran significantly improved mortality, cardiovascular events and markers of disease progression in patients with transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), according to late-breaking research. "ATTR is a progressive, fatal disease in which misfolded transthyretin protein accumulates as amyloid deposits in various parts of the body, often damaging the heart. HELIOS-B was a randomized, double-blind trial in patients with ATTR-CM (hereditary or wild-type) who had evidence of cardiac amyloidosis by echocardiography and confirmed ATTR amyloid deposition. Patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to vutrisiran 25 mg or placebo administered subcutaneously once every three months for up to 36 months. If the...

To the known risk factors for cardiovascular disease—high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, overweight and obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity—a new one has to be added, clonal hematopoiesis. This condition is triggered by acquired mutations in blood stem cells and was already known to be associated with an elevated cardiovascular risk. Now, a new study resolves this by establishing clonal hematopoiesis as a new risk factor for atherosclerosis—the formation of lesions in the arterial wall that underlies most cardiovascular disorders. In a second study, the CNIC scientists propose the ancient medication colchicine as the central plank of personalized strategies to...

An international study has found a surprising connection between constipation and an increased risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. The study analyzed data from over 400,000 participants in the UK Biobank. The research team analyzed data from 408,354 individuals, identifying 23,814 cases of constipation. The findings showed that individuals suffering from constipation were more than twice as likely to suffer from a major cardiac event as those without constipation. Moreover, the study highlighted a particularly concerning link between constipation and hypertension. Hypertensive individuals who also suffered from constipation were found to have...

The traditional lipid panel may not give the full picture of cholesterol-related heart disease risk for many Americans, according to a study. There are different types of cholesterol particles that can cause heart disease, including low-density lipoproteins (LDL), very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), and intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL). LDL-C is a measure of the weight of cholesterol in LDL particles and is one of the most common tests people use to measure cholesterol risk. Every LDL, VLDL, and IDL particle has a single protein on its surface called apolipoprotein B (apoB). Prior research has shown that the number of "bad" cholesterol particles,...

A person's fitness levels could provide greater insight into the progression of atrial fibrillation, according to a new study by researchers. About 100 patients with atrial fibrillation underwent cycle fitness tests followed by invasive and non-invasive testing to assess cardiac structure and function. "Our findings suggest that people with atrial fibrillation who are less fit demonstrate significant functional and electrical changes in the heart linked to disease," said Dr. Jonathan Ariyaratnam. "This indicates that cardiorespiratory fitness is another important independent risk factor for the development and progression of atrial fibrillation." The study found participants with reduced fitness had increased left...

Researchers found that a targeted gene therapy may make acute myeloid leukemia (AML) more sensitive to chemotherapy, while also protecting the heart against toxicity often caused by cancer treatments. Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common type of leukemia in adults and the resulting chemotherapy treatment can put patients at an increased risk for cardiac damage. Dr. Xunlei Kang led a study looking at similarities between leukemia and cardiovascular disease. They found a shared target—AGTR1, a receptor responsible for cell reproduction, was overabundant in the blood cells of patients with leukemia. The researchers used losartan, a common medicine for treating...

“There were no signs that he had a problem. Nothing that could have predicted it.” That is what Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie told BBC Breakfast about her 24-year-old brother Josh, who collapsed and died of a cardiac arrest while playing cricket in 2021. Three years later, he is one of 12 young football fans lost to sudden cardiac death being memorialised in murals in their hometowns. It is part of a British Heart Foundation (BHF) drive to raise awareness of the devastating affect heart disease can have on people, regardless of their age. Every week in the UK, an estimated...

Periodontitis, an inflammation of the structures supporting the teeth, significantly increases the risk of stroke in people under 50 years of age who do not have any known predisposing causes. A study indicates that the more the inflammation had progressed in the mouth, the more serious the stroke. In the focus were individuals who had a stroke between the ages of 20 and 50. The study found that periodontitis was significantly more common among stroke patients. Not only did periodontitis increase the risk of stroke, its severity affected that of the stroke too. According to the study, dental procedures carried...

The oral microbiome is the community of bacteria that live in the mouth. It helps us digest our food and keep our mouth healthy. Changes to the composition of the oral microbiome have been linked to periodontal diseases and some cancers. New research is a follow-up to a larger study investigating the use of mouthwash. Researchers wanted to explore further and investigate whether the mouthwash used had an impact on the oral microbiome of the patients. Researchers found that two species of opportunistic bacteria were significantly more abundant in the mouth after three months of daily use of the alcohol-based...

Physician-scientists show that carpal tunnel syndrome preceded the development of cardiac amyloidosis by 10–15 years and individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome were at a high risk of developing cardiac amyloidosis. "Cardiac amyloidosis may be responsible for one in 10 cases of heart failure," said Naman S. Shetty, M.D. "Early identification of cardiac amyloidosis may allow the initiation of disease-modifying therapeutic agents." "We found that individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome exhibited a 13 percent higher risk of developing heart failure and a threefold higher risk of amyloidosis compared to those without carpal tunnel syndrome," Shetty said. Shetty says the development of...

Orange peels may hold a key to better cardiovascular health, new research shows. Recent research has shown that some gut bacteria help develop cardiovascular disease. When they feed on certain nutrients during digestion, gut bacteria produce trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). Levels of TMAO can help predict future cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic. Yu Wang and her team investigated the potential of orange peel extracts—rich in beneficial phytochemicals—to reduce TMAO and trimethylamine (TMA) production. Scientists tested two types of extracts: a polar fraction and a non-polar fraction. To get the polar fractions, scientists used polar and non-polar solvents...

The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be associated with improved pulmonary hypertension in women, according to research. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a type of pulmonary vascular disease—disease that affects blood vessels along the route between the heart and lungs. Pulmonary hypertension is classified by the World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (WSPH) into five groups (G1-5PH) based on its suspected cause. The heart's right ventricle accepts blood from the body's veins and propels it to the lungs, where it is oxygenated, and its carbon dioxide is eliminated. For this study's purposes, endogenous hormones were deemed to be those that...

The CDC claims there's nothing to see around the issue of vaccinated young athletes suddenly dropping dead. Stung by media reports of young athletes dropping dead seemingly often and everywhere, and sensitive to the claim that studies relying on the passive VAERS reporting system drastically underreport vaccine events including deaths, the CDC looked at Oregon death certificates in an effort to eliminate reporting bias on COVID-19 vaccination deaths. Here are excerpts of the abstract of its April 11, 2024 study: COVID-19 vaccination has been associated with myocarditis in adolescents and young adults, and concerns have been raised about possible vaccine-related...

Examining long-term outcomes for people with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common heart rhythm disorder, a new study found that 55% survived to 10 years. The researchers say AF needs to be treated as a chronic illness with serious long-term consequences. AF, or AFib, and its close medical cousin, atrial flutter, are associated with complications such as stroke, heart failure, and heart attack. While there’s an understandable focus on treating these conditions to prevent acute complications, less research has looked at what’s happening in the long term. Now, a study led by researchers from the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Faculty...

Half of all patients discharged from hospital after a heart attack are treated with beta-blockers unnecessarily. This is according to a new study. Today, when patients are discharged from hospitals after an acute heart attack, they are regularly treated with beta-blocker drugs such as metoprolol and bisoprolol. Now new research shows that about half of them do not benefit from the treatment and should not receive it at all. These are the patients who have suffered a small heart attack and have retained heart function afterward. The study began in September 2017 and patients were followed up until November 2023....