Hair provides proof of the link between chronic stress and heart attack

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have provided the first direct evidence using a biological marker, to show chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. Stressors such as job, marital and financial problems have been linked to the increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease including heart attack. But there hasn’t been a biological marker to measure chronic stress. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack. The research is published on-line in the journal Stress.

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Combining resistance and endurance training best for heart health

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A study of triathletes published in the online edition and October issue of Radiology reveals that the heart adapts to triathlon training by working more efficiently.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study using MRI to investigate effects of triathlon training on cardiac adaptations,” said lead researcher Michael M. Lell, M.D., associate professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany.

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Heart disorder hits national epidemic proportions

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A growing epidemic of the world’s most common heart rhythm disorder is resulting in an alarming number of hospital admissions in Australia, according to cardiology researchers.

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Mayo’s ’smart’ adult stem cells repair hearts

‘Landmark work’ moves beyond the bench

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic investigators, with Belgian collaborators, have demonstrated that rationally “guided” human adult stem cells can effectively heal, repair and regenerate damaged heart tissue. The findings — called “landmark work” in an accompanying editorial — appear in today’s Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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Optical imaging technique for angioplasty

College Park, MD (August 10, 2010) — A new optical imaging technique described in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, which is published by the American Institute of Physics, holds the potential to greatly improve angioplasty, a surgery commonly performed to treat patients with a partially or completely blocked coronary artery that restricts blood flow to the heart.

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Stem cells offer a strategy to fix a broken heart

These days people usually don’t die from a heart attack. But the damage to heart muscle is irreversible, and most patients eventually succumb to congestive heart failure, the most common cause of death in developed countries.

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Gladstone scientists discover new method for regenerating heart muscle by direct reprogramming

Contact: Valerie Tucker
vtucker@gladstone.ucsf.edu
415-734-2019
Gladstone Institutes Read more

NIH genomic mapping study finds largest set of genes related to major risk factor for heart disease

Scanning the genomes of more than 100,000 people from all over the world, scientists report the largest set of genes discovered underlying high cholesterol and high triglycerides — the major risk factors for coronary heart disease, the nation’s number one killer. Taken together, the gene variants explain between a quarter and a third of the inherited portions of cholesterol and triglyceride measured in the blood. The research, representing scientists from 17 countries, appears in two papers in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature.

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Snake venom studies yield insights for development of therapies for heart disease and cancer

BETHESDA, Md., July 29, 2010 – Researchers seeking to learn more about stroke by studying how the body responds to toxins in snake venom are this week releasing new findings that they hope will aid in the development of therapies for heart disease and, surprisingly, cancer.

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Biomarkers found for postmenopausal cardiovascular disease

Analysis of blood protein data from the Women’s Health Initiative cohorts has revealed new biomarkers for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Genome Medicine found that beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) levels were significantly elevated in postmenopausal women with CHD, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) was strongly associated with stroke.

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