Track loved ones' surgery online (Canada)

Sitting in a hospital waiting room waiting for updates on your loved one's surgery can be stressful. Our new online tracking system, "OR Status," is the first in Ontario to help reduce anxiety by keeping families in the loop on a patient's surgical progress. The real-time updates can be viewed online on a computer or handheld device, allowing family and friends to track the progress of a patient from the comfort of their home or from any location where they have internet access. Debra Anger, who registers people for surgeries at Sunnybrook, is now providing each patient with a unique surgery booking number that they can share with whoever they like. Once a family has the booking number, they can view the operating room tracking board online at sunnybrook.ca/orstatus. Family and friends can see exactly when a patient enters and leaves the operating room, with the information automatically refreshed every minute. A staff member or volunteer still comes to the waiting room to provide family and friends with information, but the service provides another option for families, especially for those with loved ones outside the city or even the country. "My sister and I could leave the hospital waiting room to go for a coffee or stretch our legs without worrying as we knew exactly when our mom went into the operating room. We felt much more involved in the process," says Christine Andrews, whose mother recently underwent knee replacement surgery. "If you can have one less thing to worry about during the stressful time around surgery, it's wonderful. Peace of mind is a priceless thing," she adds

Heart attack rates down by 50% in the UK

National Health Service data shows mortality rate at half the 2002 level, with fewer people smoking and better NHS care contributing factors. The number of people dying from a heart attack has halved in the last decade, with falling rates of smoking, greater use of statins to lower cholesterol, and better NHS care thought to be behind the fall. Fewer people in England are suffering a heart attack, and fewer of those who do are dying as a result, according to research by Oxford University reported in the British Medical Journal. They used official NHS data on hospital admissions and mortality to study 840,175 men and women who between them had 861,134 heart attacks between 2002 and 2010. Overall, mortality rates among men fell by 50% and among women by 53%. The steepest falls in heart attacks were noted among middle-aged people. Rising rates of diabetes and obesity among younger people is thought to lie behind their not seeing the same dramatic drop. Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said: "This impressive fall in death rates is due partly to prevention of heart attacks by better management of risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol and due partly to better treatment of heart attack patients when they reach hospital."

Drinking eight teas a day 'cuts blood pressure and heart disease'

Having a cup of tea has long been the preferred way for the English to relax. But now scientists have found tea really does lower the blood pressure and could prevent heart disease. Drinking eight cups of black leaf tea, such as Earl Grey or English Breakfast, a day "significantly" cuts blood pressure, researchers at the University of Western Australia found. Volunteers with normal to high blood pressure were given three drinks a day containing 429 milligrams of the plant chemicals polyphenols - the equivalent of eight and a half teas a day. A second group were given a tea-flavoured placebo. After six months, the blood pressure of the tea-drinking group had fallen by between two and three mmHg, the measurement of pressure used in medicine. A blood pressure fluctuating with the heartbeat between 112 and 63 mmHg is considered healthy, while a reading fluctuating between 140 and 90 is deemed high. If the experiment was emulated by the general population, the number of people with high blood pressure would be cut by ten per cent and the risk of heart disease would fall by between seven and ten per cent. "Our study has demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge that long-term regular consumption of black tea can result in significantly lower blood pressures in individuals with normal to high-normal range blood pressures," the team, led by Dr Jonathan Hodgson, wrote in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Previous studies suggest adding milk to tea does not affect the body's ability to absorb polyphenols. Green tea is widely considered to have numerous health benefits because it is high in antioxidants. It is said to aid weight loss, prevent glaucoma, reduce the risk of cancer and even treat acne.

Heart failure 'affects memory'

Having heart failure, where part of the organ dies, can affect a person's brain to such an extent that they forget to take their medication, according to a study. Researchers found individuals with heart failure had worse short and long-term memory recall than those who were healthy. MRI scans also showed loss of grey matter in parts of the brain important for memory, reasoning and planning, according to Professor Osvaldo Almeida of the University of Western Australia. Writing in the European Heart Journal, he and colleagues warned that "patients with heart failure may have trouble following complex management strategies, and, therefore, treatment messages should be simple and clear". Natasha Stewart, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The biggest implication of this research is that patients may find it difficult to stick to treatment regimes and forget to take their medication. "It is important to speak to your GP and your heart failure nurse about what is best for you. "Together you can find a way to make your meds a part of your daily routine so that they are less easily forgotten."

Purple potatoes may lower blood pressure

Two small helpings of purple potatoes a day decreases blood pressure by about 4 percent without causing weight gain, U.S. researchers said. Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton and colleagues said purple-skinned potatoes, a boutique variety increasingly available in food stores, are noted for having high levels of healthful antioxidant compounds. Purple potatoes are renowned in Korean folk medicine as a way to lose weight, so Vinson's team decided to investigate the effects of eating six to eight small microwaved purple potatoes twice a day. The study involved 18 volunteers, most of whom were overweight with high blood pressure. The volunteers ate potatoes or no potatoes for four weeks, and then switched to the opposite regimen for another four weeks while researchers monitored systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body weight and other health indicators, Vinson said. The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found the average diastolic blood pressure - the bottom number - dropped by 4.3 percent and systolic pressure - the top number - decreased by 3.5 percent. The majority of subjects took anti-hypertensive drugs and still had a reduction in blood pressure

New method tests arterial stiffness (Japan)

Japanese researchers have developed a new method to measure arterial stiffness, a contributor to heart disease that has been difficult to assess. Hidehiko Komine of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tokyo and colleagues said the new method also can influence blood pressure readings since these rely on the time taken for arteries to return to normal volume and flow after compression. This simple, non-invasive, calculation is able to interpret standard oscillometric measurements to quantify both arterial stiffness and blood pressure simultaneously, the researchers said. Arterial stiffness is also associated with type 2 diabetes and is involved in the development of the circulatory problems. However, arterial stiffness can be addressed, if caught early enough, by diet and exercise so early detection is essential. Typically arterial pressure is measured using tonomography or ultrasound but both of these are difficult to perform and consequently are often inaccurate, Komine said. "Interpreting oscillating blood pressure provided the same accuracy of measurement for arterial stiffness as either of the established methods," Komine said in a statement. "Not only did arterial stiffness index match brachial arterial stiffness measured by tomography but it also correlated with ultrasound measurement of the stiffness of arteries supplying the heart. This means that, using the oscillating cuffs already in place in many clinical settings, arterial stiffness index could provide an early indicator of cardiovascular disease." The findings were published in the BioMedical Engineering OnLine

CT scan better than cardiac stress test to find heart blockages (USA)

A CT scan is better than a cardiac stress test finding heart blockages, according to a national study headquartered at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA. The study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology could help spare patients from unnecessary, invasive heart procedures, said Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, Beaumont's director of advanced cardiac imaging education. She said the national study showed that CT imaging works very well as a 'gatekeeper' to the catheterization lab. As many as 10 percent of stress imaging studies, often done as patients exercise on a treadmill, are inconclusive, often leading to an invasive procedure known as cardiac catheterization. But only one-third of the patients had obstructions requiring an intervention, recent federal data from a large study show. Blue Cross/Blue Shield/Blue Care Network of Michigan funded the study as part of a statewide quality improvement initiative. Beaumont is the coordinating center for the consortium

Men can inherit a form of heart disease from father via Y chromosome

Men can inherit heart disease from their father say scientists who have tracked the condition to the Y chromosome that dads pass to sons. By studying the DNA of over 3,000 men they found a particular version of the sex chromosome increases the risk of coronary artery disease by 50%. As many as one in five British men carry this version of Y. And the risk it confers is in addition to other heart risk factors like cholesterol, The Lancet reports. Experts already know that men develop heart disease a decade earlier than women, on average. By the age of 40, the lifetime risk of heart disease is one in two for men and one in three for women. Lifestyle factors like smoking and blood pressure are important contributors. This latest work suggests the male Y chromosome can also play a role in coronary artery disease - a common form of heart disease that kills thousands each year in the UK

Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms' (UK)

Measuring blood pressure in both arms should be routine because the difference between left and right arm could indicate underlying health problems, says a study review. The Lancet research found that a large difference could mean an increased risk of vascular disease and death. Although existing guidelines state that blood pressure should be measured in both arms, it is not often done. But a heart charity said it was too early to judge the findings. The arm with the higher pressure can vary between individuals, but it is the difference between arms that counts, the study suggests. Dr Christopher Clark and colleagues, from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Exeter, reviewed 28 previous study papers looking at this area. Most people in the study had an elevated blood pressure risk and about one-third had a normal level of risk. The study concluded that a difference in systolic blood pressure of 10 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) between arms could identify patients at high risk of asymptomatic peripheral vascular disease

Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant performed at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (Canada)

Heart failure is a leading cause of death in Canada. As part of the ongoing IMPACT-CABG clinical trial to treat advanced heart failure, physicians at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre performed the first cardiac stem cell transplant in Ontario using stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow, isolated completely within the operating room, and implanted into the heart at the time of coronary bypass surgery. Researchers hope that stem cell therapy may be developed into a novel treatment for the 50,000 Canadians diagnosed each year with advanced heart failure. The first patient to receive this type of stem cell therapy, James Culross, a 67-year-old man from Etobicoke, will be discharged this week after 2.83 million stem cells were injected into seven sites where his heart had been damaged by a heart attack in November 2011. The stem cells were injected following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, by a multi-disciplinary team led by Dr. Terrence Yau, Cardiac Surgeon and Director of the Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy Program at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. A second patient underwent successful stem cell implantation and CABG surgery at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre

CDC report finds large decline in lower-limb amputations among U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes

The rate of leg and foot amputations among U.S. adults aged 40 and older with diagnosed diabetes declined by 65 percent between 1996 and 2008, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the journal, Diabetes Care. The age-adjusted rate of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations was 3.9 per 1,000 people with diagnosed diabetes in 2008 compared to 11.2 per 1,000 in 1996. Non-traumatic lower-limb amputations refer to those caused by circulatory problems that are a common complication among people with diabetes rather than amputations caused by injuries. The study, "Declining Rates of Hospitalization for Nontraumatic Lower–Extremity Amputation in the Diabetic Population Aged 40 years or Older: U.S., 1988–2008," is published in the current online issue of Diabetes Care

Heart attacks deaths halved in the last decade, experts say (UK)

The death rate from heart attacks in England has halved in the last decade, says an Oxford University study. The research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at more than 800,000 men and women who suffered heart attacks between 2002 and 2010. They found that fewer heart attacks occurred in later years and, of those that did occur, fewer were fatal. Researchers say improvements in NHS care and better prevention measures have contributed to the decline. The Oxford researchers used national hospital and mortality data to analyse 840,175 men and women in England who had suffered a total of 861,134 heart attacks over eight years. Comparing 2002 with 2010, they found death rates falling by 50% in men (78.7 per 100,000 population to 39.2) and by 53% in women (37.3 per 100,000 to 17.7). A declining mortality rate was also seen in all age groups and for both sexes

CARG Newsletter - January 2012

The CARG Newsletter - February 2012 is now available online

February is Heart Month in Canada

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada writes: "Heart disease and stroke take 1 in 3 Canadians before their time. They are the #1 killer of women - taking more women's lives than all forms of cancer combined. This February, more than 100,000 volunteers will rally together across Canada to raise life-giving funds to give Canadians longer, fuller lives. Every donation - whether at the door, online, or through an event - is giving the people you care about more time - for more experiences, more memories and more living. Your gift of time ultimately leads to an even greater gift - the gift of life. Volunteer for the 2012 Heart Month Campaign and make a difference"

Cardiac treatment gives hope to inoperable patients (USA)

Many patients with seriously narrowed aortic valves have faced a bleak future with no medical options, but a new procedure now offers the sickest of the sick a promising treatment. Two patients are doing well after receiving a transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, using the first artificial heart valve that can be implanted without major surgery, a team of Buffalo physicians says. The physicians here are among the first nationally to use the Sapien valve, outside of doctors involved in the device's clinical studies. "This is the most exciting thing in cardiology since stents were developed for heart disease. Patients who were written off for dead beforehand will now have a therapy," said Dr. Vijay Iyer, who led the surgical team. Edwards Lifesciences received approval for the device in November from the Food and Drug Administration. Lifesciences estimates that 250,000 Americans suffer from severe symptoms of aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the main artery carrying blood out of the heart that occurs in older age. The company estimates a majority of the patients go untreated because they are deemed inoperable, have not received a definitive diagnosis, or have delayed or declined the procedure