New findings from a landmark research study led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) -- a collaborative program between Scripps Health and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) -- shows a promising new blood test may be useful in helping doctors predict who... (read more)
Fewer women than men suffering from a heart attack appear to experience chest pain symptoms, according to a study of more than one million people in the US. Overall men have significantly more heart attacks, but under the age of 55 women are more likely to die from one. Without displaying the classic chest pain symptoms of a heart attack, researchers say some women may not be getting the right kind of treatment. ... (read more)
A UCSF stem cell study conducted in mice suggests a novel strategy for treating damaged cardiac tissue in patients following a heart attack. The approach potentially could improve cardiac function, minimize scar size, lead to the development of new blood vessels -- and avoid the risk of tissue rejection. n the investigation, reported online in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers iso... (read more)
Breathing in dirty air may be linked to a higher chance of suffering a heart attack in the next few days, suggests a fresh look at past studies undertaken by French researchers. While it's well established that people who spend years living in polluted cities or near major highways are at increased risk of heart problems, the new findings suggest even short-term exposure to pollution can be harmful. "... (read more)
Damage caused by a heart attack has been healed using stem cells gathered from the patient's own heart, according to doctors in the US. The amount of scar tissue was halved in the small safety trial reported in the Lancet medical journal. The authors said there was also an "unprecedented" increase in new heart muscle. The British Heart Foundation said it was "early days", but cou... (read more)
Damage caused by a heart attack has been healed using stem cells gathered from the patient's own heart, according to doctors in the US. The amount of scar tissue was halved in the small safety trial reported in the Lancet medical journal. The authors said there was also an "unprecedented" increase in new heart muscle. The British Heart Foundation said it was "early days", but could &quo... (read more)
People who take the recently approved blood-thinning medication dabigatran could have a slightly increased risk of heart attack compared with people who use the old standby drug warfarin, new research suggests. When dabigatran was approved in 2010, it became the first new medication for blood-clot prevention in about 50 years. Sold under the brand name Pradaxa, dabigatran has been taken by an estimated 500,... (read more)
There is no question that Americans have an unhealthy appetite for salt, but one big reason may be overexposure to salty foods in infancy. New research shows that infants who are exposed to foods with high amounts of sodium are more likely to develop an affinity for salt later on in life than infants who are not fed as much salt. In the study, which was published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinic... (read more)
For people who initially survive a heart attack, a significant cause of death in the next few days is cardiac rupture -- literally, bursting of the heart wall. A new study by University of Iowa researchers pinpoints a single protein as the key player in the biochemical cascade that leads to cardiac rupture. The findings, published Nov. 13 as an Advance Online Publication (AOP) of the journal Nature Medicine, sug... (read more)
Women who don’t get enough vitamin D, found in sunshine, fish and fortified foods including milk and orange juice, have a higher chance of heart failure and stroke than those with sufficient amounts, a Danish study found. Researchers observed 2,016 healthy women ages 45 to 58 for 16 years, characterizing low vitamin D as levels less than 20 nanograms per milliliter. Of the women with the defici... (read more)
Women are a lot more likely to suffer a broken heart than men, researchers say. The good news is that it probably won't kill you. In the first national study of its kind, researchers at the University of Arkansas looked at rates of "broken heart syndrome" — when a sudden shock or prolonged stress causes heart attack-like symptoms or heart failure — and found that it overwhelmingly affects women. ... (read more)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewers said Merck's cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin was effective in reducing the rate of heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems in patients with kidney disease. The FDA reviewers also said Merck's blockbuster drug, which pairs a new type of cholesterol fighter Zetia with Merck's older statin drug Zocor, is unlikely to cause or promote cancer. "Risk... (read more)
Smokers tend to suffer heart attacks years earlier than non-smokers, suggests a new study from Michigan. "Individuals who smoke are much more likely to have a heart attack, and will present with a heart attack a decade or more earlier," said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a cardiologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wasn't involved in the new study. The f... (read more)
Men who do vigorous exercise three times a week were found to have a significantly lower risk of having a heart attack, compared to those of the same age who did not, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in the American College of Sports Medicine. The authors added that other important markers included hemoglobin A1c, apolipoprotein B and vitamin D. Lead author... (read more)
The American College of Emergency Physicians is suing the state of Washington over its new policy of paying for only three non-emergency trips to the emergency room per year for low-income Medicaid patients, ABC News reports. The state has defined 700 symptoms as non-emergencies, including difficulty breathing, dizziness, early-pregnancy hemorrhage, gall stones, abdominal pains and chest ... (read more)
Myocardial infarction is the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids (fatty acids) and white blood cells (especially macrophages) in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause damage or death (infarction) of heart muscle tissue (myocardium).
Classical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction include sudden chest pain (typically radiating to the left arm or left side of the neck), shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, sweating, and anxiety (often described as a sense of impending doom). Women may experience fewer typical symptoms than men, most commonly shortness of breath, weakness, a feeling of indigestion, and fatigue. Approximately one quarter of all myocardial infarctions are "silent", without chest pain or other symptoms.
Among the diagnostic tests available to detect heart muscle damage are an electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography, and various blood tests. The most often used markers are the creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) fraction and the troponin levels. Immediate treatment for suspected acute myocardial infarction includes oxygen, aspirin, and sublingual nitroglycerin.
Most cases of STEMI (ST elevation MI) are treated with thrombolysis or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). NSTEMI (non-ST elevation MI) should be managed with medication, although PCI is often performed during hospital admission. In people who have multiple blockages and who are relatively stable, or in a few emergency cases, bypass surgery may be an option.
Heart attacks are the leading cause of death for both men and women worldwide. Important risk factors are previous cardiovascular disease, older age, tobacco smoking, high blood levels of certain lipids (triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein) and low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, excessive alcohol consumption, the abuse of certain drugs (such as cocaine and methamphetamine), and chronic high stress levels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_attack
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