Feature Channels: Heart Disease

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• In patients with chronic kidney disease who lowered their salt intake for two weeks, excess extracellular fluid volume, blood pressure, and protein excretion in the urine all dropped considerably. • If maintained long-term, the effects could reduce a patient’s risk of progressing to kidney failure by 30%.

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Current medical guidelines use a one-size-fits-all treatment approach that leads to some patients being on too many medications and others being on too little.

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Results of a Johns Hopkins study published today in the journal Diabetes Care found that young and middle-aged women with type 2 diabetes are at much greater risk of coronary artery disease than previously believed.

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Among patients with early stages of breast cancer, those whose hearts were more directly irradiated with radiation treatments on the left side in a facing-up position had higher risk of heart disease, according to research letter by David J. Brenner, Ph.D, D.Sc, of Columbia University Medical Center, New York, and colleagues.

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Body temperature follows a 24-hour rhythm, peaking during the day, low at night. The benefit might be the conservation of energy while sleeping. It is also critical to be able to adapt to changes in ambient temperature regardless of the time of day. A new mouse study shows how body temperature rhythms are synchronized while maintaining the ability to adapt to changes in environmental temperature day or night.

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People with rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory conditions are at higher risk of heart disease. Who is in the most danger, why and how best to prevent and detect cardiovascular complications are important questions for physicians and researchers.

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Obstructive sleep apnea is known to be associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. Now a new study indicates that OSA is associated with subclinical myocardial injury, as indicated by increased high sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) levels. Elevated hs-TnT levels are predictive of both coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure (HF) in the general population. This is the first study to demonstrate an independent association between sleep apnea severity and this marker of early myocardial injury.

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There is an association between the influenza virus and cardiovascular events like heart disease and stroke; those with cardiovascular disease should protect themselves against the flu.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a protein expressed by human bone marrow stem cells that guides and stimulates the formation of blood vessels. Their findings, which could help improve the vascularization of engineered tissues, were reported online on October 12 in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

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The incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery can be reduced in patients when the drug pregabalin is used before surgery and for 14 days post-surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. The study also found that patients at risk of developing long-term post-operative persistent pain can be predicted by conducting pain sensitivity tests at the time of surgery.

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Long-term memory loss, difficulty understanding verbal or written communication or impaired ability to pay attention may still occur five years after heart surgery if a patient has a certain gene variation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. This gene was found to be related to a decline in cognitive capabilities compared to those who do not have the variation.

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University of Utah researchers have found that deficiency of an antioxidant response protein called nuclear erythroid-2 like factor-2 (Nrf2) delays or prevents hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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A global hunt for genes that influence heart disease risk has uncovered 157 changes in human DNA that alter the levels of cholesterol and other blood fats – a discovery that could lead to new medications.

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Mitochondria are the power plants of cells, manufacturing fuel so a cell can perform its many tasks. These cellular power plants also are well known for their role in cell suicide. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Padua-Dulbecco Telethon Institute in Italy have shown that mitochondria remarkably also orchestrate events that determine a cell’s future, at least in the embryonic mouse heart. The new study identifies new potential genetic culprits in the origins of some congenital heart defects.

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Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing joins worldwide effort to increase awareness and seek a cure for cardiovascular disease.

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Genes in mitochondria, the “powerhouses” that turn sugar into energy in human cells, shape each person’s risk for heart disease and diabetes.

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A biological ability to compensate for the body’s reduced response to insulin may explain why women typically develop heart disease 10 years later than men, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

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University at Buffalo translational researchers are developing a richer understanding of atherosclerosis in humans, revealing a key role for stem cells that promote inflammation.

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Two treatments that slow the development of diabetes also may protect people from heart disease, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).