Future therapies for failing hearts are likely to include stem-like cells and associated growth factors that regenerate heart muscle. Scientists have just taken an important step towards that future by identifying a stem-like “progenitor” cell that produces only heart muscle cells.
Working with heart muscle cells from diabetic rats, scientists at Johns Hopkins have located what they say is the epicenter of mischief wreaked by too much blood sugar and used a sugar-gobbling enzyme to restore normal function in the glucose-damaged cells of animal heart muscles.
In what may be a major leap forward in the quest for new treatments of the most common form of cardiovascular disease, scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have found a way to halt and reverse the progression of atherosclerosis in rodents by loading microscopic nanoparticles with a chemical that restores the animals’ ability to properly handle cholesterol.
Heart attack patients age 65 and older who have reduced heart function might still benefit from implanted defibrillators, according to a Duke Medicine study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But fewer than 1 in 10 eligible patients actually get a defibrillator within a year of their heart attacks, the study found.
In a Viewpoint published today in the Journal of the Medical Association (JAMA), researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University and Boston Children’s Hospital call on the federal government to drop restrictions on total fat consumption in the forthcoming 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Mild elevations in blood pressure considered to be in the upper range of normal during young adulthood can lead to subclinical heart damage by middle age — a condition that sets the stage for full-blown heart failure, according to findings of a federally funded study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins
Using optogenetics, researchers have established a new approach for pacing the heart and synchronizing its mechanical activity without a conventional electrical pacemaker. Could help avoid many drawbacks of electrical pacemakers.
The current monitoring of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) such as pacemakers and defibrillators may be underestimating device problems, according to UC San Francisco researchers who propose systematic methods to determine accurate causes of sudden death in those with CIEDs as well as improved monitoring for device concerns.
Regenerative medicine researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a cell that replenishes adult heart muscle by using a new cell lineage-tracing technique they devised.
Patients with atrial fibrillation who stopped taking blood thinners before they had elective surgery had no higher risk of developing blood clots and less risk of major bleeding compared to patients who were given a “bridge” therapy, according to research led by Duke Medicine.
Patients with moderate heart failure now have a new option to help manage their chronic disease and reduce their chance of being readmitted to the hospital.
Now research conducted in fruit flies, rats and monkeys by scientists at Johns Hopkins, UC San Diego, and other institutions reveals that levels of a protein called vinculin increase with age to alter the shape and performance of cardiac muscle cells — a healthy adaptive change that helps sustain heart muscle vitality over many decades.
Despite the intense activity and high hopes that surround the use of stem cells to reverse heart disease, scientists still face multiple roadblocks before the treatment will be ready for clinical prime time. Researchers are now finding ways to maximize the healing potential of stem cells by helping them overcome the inhospitable conditions of a damaged heart – bringing the promise of stem cell therapy for heart disease one step closer to reality.
For healing the heart after a heart attack, stem cell therapies show promise but are slow to implement. Researchers develop a new treatment called microsphere therapy that can be kept on-hand and administered more readily than stem cells.
Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: new drug for heart disease, astronomy, sleep, stroke, diabetes, materials science, MERS, and U.S. Politics.
The University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center performs 500th procedure to fix heart valves using tiny tubes threaded through blood vessels.
An experimental drug improves the ability of heart muscle cells damaged by heart failure to pump blood, according to the results of a study led by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
In clinical trials, a new drug class known as PCSK9 Inhibitors reduced bad cholesterol markedly and is expected to be approved by the FDA this summer. An expert in lipid management discusses some of the barriers to its use.
Ray Hull, professor of communication sciences and disorders in audiology/neurosciences at Wichita State University, has concluded research analyzing 84 years of work from scientists worldwide into the connection between cardiovascular health and the ability to hear and understand what others are saying. Hull’s work connected the dots from 70 scientific studies to confirm a direct link.
Adults who use proton pump inhibitors are between 16 and 21 percent more likely to experience a heart attack than people who don't use the commonly prescribed antacid drugs, according to a massive new study by Houston Methodist and Stanford University scientists.
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