Heart disease

Nov. 4, 2009 -- Searching for a needle in a haystack may seem futile, but it’s worth it if the needle is a hard-to-detect protein that may identify a person at high risk of a heart attack circulating within a haystack of human serum (liquid component of blood).    » read more »

Oct. 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of heart attacks and heart disease associated with exposure to secondhand smoke, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report also confirms there is sufficient evidence that breathing secondhand smoke boosts nonsmokers' risk for heart problems, adding that indirect evidence indicating that even relatively brief exposures could lead to a heart attack is compelling.    » read more »

Statement of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Washington, D.C. (March 2, 2009)— Our public health organizations strongly support the bipartisan legislation introduced today to provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with effective authority to regulate tobacco products. There are few steps Congress can take that will make a bigger difference for America’s health than to finally regulate tobacco products, the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States.    » read more »

August 06, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Cholesterol, both good and bad, gets plenty of attention when the subject is reducing the risk of heart disease. Yet triglycerides, a form of fat that circulates in the blood, merit similar attention, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

Some studies suggest that the increase in heart disease risk from elevated triglycerides may rival that of high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol. Another concern is that high triglyceride levels increase the risk of pancreatitis, a painful, life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas.    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers have long suspected that socioeconomic factors like education level and income also might affect survival rates following heart attack. In the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers present new data suggesting that people with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to die after heart attack than more affluent, educated people.    » read more »

April 2, 2008 -- "The full results of the study released today, showing that Vytorin had no effect on heart disease, put the lie to Merck and Schering-Plough’s $200 million advertising campaign urging Americans to take this drug.

While these corporations profited, Americans were left in the dark. The millions who take this drug, taxpayers who subsidize its use through the Medicaid and Medicare programs, and Merck and Schering-Plough’s investors deserve to know why it took so long for the results to be made public.

This new information underscores our concerns and advances our investigation, which we will pursue aggressively."

Source: New York Attorney General

CHICAGO — More than half of American adults considered to have normal body weight in America have high body fat percentages — greater than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women — as well as heart and metabolic disturbances, new Mayo Clinic research shows. The finding conflicts with the widely held belief that maintaining a normal weight automatically guards against disorders such as high levels of circulating blood fats and a tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, which often leads to type 2 diabetes.    » read more »

February 11, 2008 -- A Mayo Clinic analysis of two decades of autopsy results shows a long-term decline in the prevalence of coronary disease has ended and the disease may be on the upswing. The findings appear in today's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.    » read more »

The number one killer of women – heart disease took the lives of more than 14,300 Illinois women in 2005

February 1, 2008 -- SPRINGFIELD – In honor of National Wear Red Day today, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich urged women today to take control of their health and lower their risk of heart disease – the number one killer of American women. In fact, one in every four women dies of heart disease. The latest statistics show that more than 14,300 women in Illinois died from heart disease in 2005.    » read more »

- Media Integration Spans the Entire Daypart, Including "The View," "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital"
- Heart-Healthy Storylines and Product Integrations Reinforce Campbell's Support of American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Movement

14 January 2008 -- Vitamins play important roles in keeping our bodies healthy. As Rose Hoban reports, in the past few years, researchers have been learning more about some vitamins, discovering that they have more complex roles in human health than previously understood.

Scientists know that Vitamin D is essential to the development and maintenance of healthy bones. But Dr. Thomas Wang from Harvard University says there's a lot more to the Vitamin D story.    » read more »

01/10/2008 -- American Heart Association President Daniel W. Jones, M.D. today urged Congress to pass legislation to help Americans control their risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. With obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other risk factors on the rise, the association is calling on elected officials to support measures that focus on research and prevention.    » read more »

DALLAS, Jan. 8 — The same vitamin D deficiency that can result in weak bones now has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Framingham Heart Study researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.    » read more »

06 December 2007 -- Children who are overweight are at significant risk of developing heart disease as adults. That's the conclusion of two studies published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, which predicts what experts have long suspected about the health hazards of obesity in kids.

The largest of the two studies was conducted in Denmark by Jennifer Baker and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen.    » read more »

November 26, 2007 -- "The Vice President visited his doctors at George Washington University Hospital this afternoon for evaluation and treatment of atrial fibrillation (an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart) which was discovered incidentally this morning during examination for a lingering cough from a cold.

An electrical impulse was used to restore the upper chambers to normal rhythm. The procedure went smoothly and without complication. The Vice President has returned home and will resume his normal schedule tomorrow at the White House. "

Source: White House