Hospice Defibrillators

2010-03-15T13:18:25Z

This Aug. 2008 handout photo provided by Carol Filak shows Joseph Hoffman of West Orange, N.J., with his daughter Carol Filak of Clifton, Va. Filak had to repeatedly ask her father's cardiologist to turn off his implanted defibrillato...

Retired NFL players' arteries may not be so healthy

2010-03-16T12:32:13Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite all their hard work on the field, retired National Football League players may be facing the same health problems that plague obese men who stick to watching the game.</p><p>"We see these guys as supermen, they are the pinnacle of health," said Franche-Comte in 2006 and 2007, found that those hospitalized after suffering a cardiac attack were less frequently given an angiograph to study the heart's vessels.</...

FDA questions new use for Boston Science device

2010-03-16T11:46:01Z

<div><p>The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday a heart device from Boston Scientific appears effective for a new group of patients, though questions remain about the accuracy of the company's study of the device.</p><p>Boston Scientific has asked the FDA to approve its heart rhythm device t...

Long-term safety of drug-coated stents questioned

2010-03-16T11:15:38Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - New research shows more patients who got drug-coated stents right after suffering a severe heart attack later died from heart-related problems than those who received older, cheaper bare-metal models.</p><p>Seven years after the first drug-coated stent was approved in the United St...

Doctor says heart groups too cozy with industry

2010-03-16T10:45:33Z

<div id="subtitle">Doctor accuses Heart Association, Cardiology College, of letting industry influence policy</div><div><p>A prominent cardiologist accused leading heart organizations of being too cozy with industry and allowing those ties to influence its policies and education programs for doctors.</p><p>Cleveland Clinic...

Women more likely to die after heart attack: study

2010-03-16T10:00:09Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - When it comes to matters of the heart, women should be treated more like men.</p><p>Among patients admitted to the hospital for a heart attack, women were far less likely than men to get angiography in which blood vessels are injected with dye so that blockages are visible on an X-ray, or angioplasty to clear blockages, a study found....

Gene test 'helps pinpoint right dose of heart drug'

2010-03-16T09:17:13Z

<div><p>A simple genetic test can help pinpoint the precise dose of a potentially life-saving medication taken by millions to ward off blood clotting after heart surgery, a study published Tuesday found.</p><p>The clinical study led by two leading medical researchers -- Medco Research Institute specializing in pharmacy care, and the

Gene test helps pinpoint right dose of heart drug: report

2010-03-16T09:16:32Z

Women more likely to die after heart attack

2010-03-16T06:00:46Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - When it comes to matters of the heart, women should be treated more like men.</p><p>A large study found that among patients admitted to the hospital for a heart attack, women were far less likely than men to get angiography to find vessel blockages or angioplasty to clear them.</p><p>Women were about twice as likely as men...

Novartis drug fails to help after heart attack: study

2010-03-16T05:15:37Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - The addition of the Novartis blood pressure medicine Tekturna to current standard drugs in patients who had a heart attack failed to help prevent changes in the heart's shape and worsening of its blood pumping ability, according to data from a st...

Heart-shock device may disrupt quiet hospice death

2010-03-16T00:30:13Z

<div id="subtitle">HEALTHBEAT: Hospices slow to help patients decide when to switch off heart-shocking implants</div><div><p>If you have a heart-zapping defibrillator implanted in your chest but now are dying of something else, when do you have it turned off?</p><p>Carol Filak had heard about painful, repeated shocks that people sometimes experience from those implants in their final days. So when her father, Boston Scientific said Monday it is suspending sales of its heart-shocking defibrillator implants after failing to alert regulators to changes in manufacturing of the best-selling devices.</p><p>The company said it uncovered two production changes that were not cleared with the Pfizer study finds high-dose Lipitor cuts heart risk in riskier patients</div><div><p>NEW LIPITOR DATA: In some heart patients, the highest dose of Lipitor cut risk of heart attack and other complications by a third, compared to the lowest dose.</p><p>PATIENT POPULATION: Patients in this new data analysis had heart disease, kidney...

Pfizer: More Lipitor cuts heart complications more

2010-03-15T15:00:39Z

<div id="subtitle">Pfizer: Study finds high Lipitor dose cuts chances of heart complications over low dose</div><div><p>A reanalysis of research data found a high dose of popular cholesterol pill Lipitor lowers risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients with both heart disease and kidney disease, the drug's maker said Monday.</p><p>Pfizer Inc. said the new...

Arteries improve after smokers quit, study finds

2010-03-15T14:15:53Z

<div id="subtitle">Arteries, cholesterol improve soon after smokers quit, even if they gain weight, study finds</div><div><p>Quitting smoking can turn back time.</p><p>A year after kicking the habit, smokers' arteries showed signs of reversing a problem that can set the stage for heart disease, according to the first big study to test this.</p><p>The improvement came even though smokers gained an average of 9 pounds after they quit, researchers fou...

Impotence plus heart disease ups death risk: study

2010-03-15T13:18:04Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Men with heart disease who also complain of erectile dysfunction die sooner than other male heart patients, researchers reported on Monday.</p><p>They found that men who had both conditions were twice as likely to die from any cause and twice as likely to have a heart attack than men with heart disease alone.</p><p>The researchers expressed concern that using drugs...

Adding fat-lowering drug no help for diabetic hearts

2010-03-15T13:16:11Z

<div><p>ATLANTA (Reuters) - Adding a drug that lowers blood fats known as triglycerides to cholesterol-fighting statins provided no additional protection from heart attack, stroke and death from heart disease in patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to data from a large study.</p><p>The study run by the Reuters Health) - Even within the Veterans Affairs health system, where everyone should have the same access to care, African Americans are less likely than their white counterparts to be prescribed heart-protecting medications or undergo bypass surgery to treat blocked heart arteries, a new study finds.</p><p>The findings, based on data for nearly 475,000 VA patients, found that African A...

Tissue-freezing balloon beats drugs in ablation study

2010-03-15T10:17:45Z

<div><p>An experimental ablation therapy system that freezes heart tissue with a balloon catheter to treat a common heart rhythm disorder is far more effective than drug therapy, a study found Monday.</p><p>Researchers compared the safety and efficacy of the Arctic Front CryoAblation Catheter System produced by US firm Medtronic to drug therapy over at least one year in 245 patients in the

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