Human Recombinant Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 (FGF-1141), for the Treatment of Subjects with Severe Coronary Heart Disease, a Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Dose-varying Study (ACORD)
Treatment for no-option heart patients with coronary artery disease. Procedure includes the injection into the heart of a protein growth factor, administered by the Cordis Corp. MyoStar injection catheter, to stimulate the growth of blood vessels around blocked coronary arteries.
Read more! A Little Chocolate May Do the Heart Good3/30/2010 12:00:00 AM (CST)
Researchers say a square a day could lead to fewer heart attacks and strokes
Hide Article A Little Chocolate May Do the Heart Good3/30/2010 12:00:00 AM (CST)
A Little Chocolate May Do the Heart Good
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- For those who believe in the Easter bunny (or at least in what he is believed to bring), good news awaits.
Just one small square of chocolate a day might help lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk for heart disease.
After analyzing the diet and health habits of 19,357 people, aged 35 to 65, for at least 10 years, German researchers found that those who ate the most chocolate (an average of 7.5 grams, or 0.3 ounces, a day) had lower blood pressure and were 39 percent less likely to have a heart attack than those who ate the least amount of chocolate (an average of 1.7 grams, or 0.06 ounces, a day).
"To put that in terms of absolute risk, if people in the group eating the least amount of chocolate [of whom 219 per 10,000 had a heart attack or stroke] increased their chocolate intake by 6 grams [0.2 ounces] a day, 85 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 10,000 people could be expected to occur over a period of about 10 years," study leader Dr. Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition, said in a news release from the European Heart Journal, which published the findings online Tuesday.
"If the 39 percent lower risk is generalized to the general population, the number of avoidable heart attacks and strokes could be higher because the absolute risk in the general population is higher," he said.
Six grams of chocolate is equivalent to about one small square of a 100 gram (3.5 ounce) bar, the researchers said.
But Buijsse cautioned that eating chocolate shouldn't increase a person's overall intake of calories or reduce the consumption of healthy foods.
"Small amounts of chocolate may help to prevent heart disease, but only if it replaces other energy-dense foods, such as snacks, in order to keep body weight stable," he said.
The IMPELLA LP 2.5 system will be superior to the intra aortic balloon pump in preventing the composite rare on intra and post procedural major adverse events.
Read more! Air Pollution May Raise Blood Pressure9/14/2009 12:00:00 AM (CST)
Inhaling microscopic particles could raise risk of heart disease, study finds
Hide Article Air Pollution May Raise Blood Pressure9/14/2009 12:00:00 AM (CST)
Air Pollution May Raise Blood Pressure
MONDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breathing polluted air for even two hours can boost blood pressure, potentially raising the risk of cardiovascular disease in those exposed to smog, a new study suggests.
Although the increase may not mean much for healthy people, "this small increase may actually be able to a trigger a heart attack or stroke," study author Dr. Robert D. Brook, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, said in a university news release.
An estimated nearly one in three Americans suffer from high blood pressure, meaning the heart is straining to push blood through the circulatory system.
In the study, which appears in a recent issue of Hypertension, researchers tested 83 people as they breathed levels of air pollution similar to those in an urban city near a roadway.
"We looked at their blood vessels and then their responses before and after breathing high levels of air pollution," study co-author Robert Bard, a University of Michigan clinic research coordinator, said in a news release.
The air pollution caused diastolic pressure -- the lower number in a blood pressure reading -- to rise within two hours. Blood vessels were impaired for as long as 24 hours.
Tests showed that microscopic particles in the air, rather than ozone gases, caused the rise in blood pressure and impaired blood vessel function.
"If air pollution levels are forecasted to be high, those with heart disease, diabetes or lung disease should avoid unnecessary outdoor activity," Brook said.
We are seeking individuals with significant narrowing or blockage in an artery in the heart to participate in a research study at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.
