TuDiabetes launches "TuAnalyze"

TuDiabetes, a social network for people touched by diabetes and a World Diabetes Day champion, has partnered with Children's Hospital Boston to launch TuAnalyze, a highly secure application located on the TuDiabetes.org website that lets members submit and share their hemoglobin A1C with others. The information submitted in this massive data donation drive will be displayed on a map on the TuDiabetes network with states "lighting up" according to aggregate A1C data. Through TuAnalyze, all of us who have to live mindful of our A1C value will be able to see our community connect in a new way. Through sharing this metric, people with diabetes can work individually and collectively toward their health goals, and help academic research

Free prescription plans 'on hold' (UK)

Proposals to give free prescriptions to people in England with long-term conditions have been put on hold due to financial pressures on the NHS. Health minister Simon Burns said a decision on prescription charges and exemptions cannot be made before the spending review due in the autumn. Plans for expanding eligibility for free prescriptions were first announced by Gordon Brown in 2008. All charges have been scrapped in Wales and are being phased out in Scotland. In England, prescription charges for cancer patients have already been dropped. Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, was tasked with considering which patient groups should be exempt from charges and how the changes should be implemented. In a report first presented to ministers in November 2009, he said patients should be exempt if they have a long-term health condition that will persist for a period of at least six months. It means the three-year exemption would include people with common conditions, such as asthma, arthritis and high blood pressure, and eligibility would be determined by doctors

Shape-shifting 'tube robot' could aid heart surgery

A surgical robot that can change its shape to skirt safely around vital organs and navigate inside arteries could one day spare cardiac patients the risks of open heart surgery. The instruments currently used in keyhole surgery are either stiff and needle-like, so they can only be manoeuvred in straight lines, or flexible and unable to transmit any force to the tissue. "Catheters are great, but they are like floppy noodles," says Pierre Dupont, a biomedical engineer at Boston University. "They follow curvature and contours, but you have limited control at the tip - you can't pull and push on tissue." Now Dupont and his team have come up with a way to combine the steerability of a flexible catheter with the stiffness of a needle. Called a concentric tube robot, the technology relies on a series of telescoping curved tubes. As each tube extends and twists from the preceding one, the robot is able to form a multitude of serpentine shapes, allowing it to easily navigate inside an artery while also being stiff enough to transmit force from the surgeon's hand to the area of interest

First common gene found for congenital heart disease

Although congenital heart disease represents the most common major birth defect, scientists have not previously identified the common variation in the genes that give rise to it. Now genetics and cardiology researchers, two of them brothers, have discovered a genetic variant on chromosome 5 that strongly raises the risk of congenital heart disease - PhysOrg

New source of stem cells form heart muscle cells, repair damage

A new and non-controversial source of stem cells can form heart muscle cells and help repair heart damage, according to results of preliminary lab tests reported in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association. Investigators in Japan used the amniotic membrane - the inner lining of the sac in which an embryo develops - to obtain stem cells called human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal (undifferentiated) cells (hAMCs). 'The amniotic membrane is medical waste that could be collected and used after delivery,' said Shunichiro Miyoshi, M.D., Ph.D., co-author of the study and assistant professor in the cardiology department and Institute for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics at the Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo - Science Centric

Heart tests at hospital went unread (USA)

"Nearly 4,000 tests for heart disease performed over the last three years at Harlem Hospital Center - more than half of all such tests performed - were never read by doctors charged with making a diagnosis, hospital officials acknowledged Tuesday. The echocardiogram tests, a type of ultrasound used to evaluate heart muscle and valve functions, were ordered by doctors at the hospital. The tests were stored on a computer and basically forgotten, officials said. The lapse occurred because the cardiology service at the hospital had developed a system by which technicians were given the responsibility to scan all tests and flag any that looked abnormal, so that they would be given priority when doctors read them. It appears, officials said, that the tests that were not flagged were put aside and forgotten" - New York Times

World leaders focus on stroke prevention, care as Stroke journal turns 40

"On the 40th anniversary of the journal Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, stroke leaders from around the world celebrated stroke research accomplishments and set an agenda for the future, according to a special report in the journal. 'The past 40 years have seen more advances in stroke than the previous four millennia,' said Vladimir Hachinski, M.D., editor of Stroke and distinguished university professor of neurology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. 'We've accomplished a lot but we need to accelerate that progress.' Since 1970, stroke advances include: identification of stroke risk factors such as hypertension, evidence that anti-platelet drugs can prevent stroke, the formation of dedicated stroke units and the approval of a clot-busting drug to treat acute stroke"

Evidence growing of air pollution’s link to heart disease, death (USA)

The scientific evidence linking air pollution to heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death has "substantially strengthened," and people, particularly those at high cardiovascular risk, should limit their exposure, according to an updated American Heart Association scientific statement. The evidence is strongest for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) having a causal relationship to cardiovascular disease, said the expert panel of authors who updated the association's 2004 initial statement on air pollution, also published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The major source of PM2.5 is fossil fuel combustion from industry, traffic, and power generation. Biomass burning, heating, cooking, indoor activities and forest fires may also be relevant sources, particularly in certain regions

Heinz changing ketchup recipe to slash salt (USA)

"H.J. Heinz Co. is messing around with the recipe for its flagship product, reducing the sodium content in its ketchup in a move that the company described as the first "significant" change in the nation's dominant brand of the tomato-based condiment in nearly 40 years. A little more than a week ago, employees began cooking up the new version. Bottles of reformulated Heinz ketchup are expected to start appearing, quietly, in grocery stores this summer. Don't expect splashy announcements on the labels or anything. That's not in the plan, a company spokeswoman said. Heinz is moving carefully, but with confidence that consumers will be OK with the new recipe"

London to Paris Bike Ride 2010 (UK)

"Join The Stroke Association as we set off from London and cycle 244 miles finishing in Paris, one of the world's most enchanting and exciting cities. Our experienced guides will lead you on a breathtaking journey through beautiful English Countryside before embarking on your ferry crossing. Once across the water you will witness the stunning vineyards, picturesque villages and open countryside that France has to offer before entering the final stage of the ride - arriving to a celebratory finish at the Arc de Triomphe in the heart of this exciting city. Cycling in small groups at a pace that suits you, this 3 day cycle challenge will leave you breathless - especially after the 100 mile cycle on the last day!" - 9-12 September, 2010

Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and The Christ Hospital to pay $108 million for violating anti-kickback statute and defrauding Medicare and Medicaid

"The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and one of its former member hospitals, The Christ Hospital, have agreed to pay the United States $108 million to settle claims that they violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by paying unlawful remuneration to doctors in exchange for referring cardiac patients to The Christ Hospital in a pay-to-play scheme, the Justice Department announced today. The United States alleged that The Christ Hospital, a 555-bed acute care hospital located in Mount Auburn, Ohio, limited the opportunity to work at the Heart Station – an outpatient cardiology testing unit that provides non-invasive heart procedures – to those cardiologists who referred cardiac business to The Christ Hospital. The government further alleged that cardiologists whose referrals contributed at least two percent of the hospital's yearly gross revenues were rewarded with a corresponding percentage of time at the Heart Station, where they had the opportunity to generate additional income by billing for the patients they treated at the unit and for any follow-up procedures that these patients required. The government asserted that The Christ Hospital's use of Heart Station panel time to induce lucrative cardiac referrals violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits a hospital from offering or paying, or a physician from soliciting or receiving, anything of value in return for patient referrals. The United States also alleged that the claims The Christ Hospital submitted to Medicare and Medicaid as a result of this illegal kickback scheme constituted a violation of the False Claims Act" - PR Newswire

Report: Nationwide smoking ban would reduce heart attacks (USA)

If all states banned smoking in restaurants, offices and other public spaces nationwide, the number of Americans suffering from heart attacks would drop by more than 18,000 within the first year, researchers report. "Comprehensive smoking bans have been implemented in some states, but not in every state," noted lead researcher Dr. Mouaz Al-Mallah, co-director of Cardiac Imaging Research at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Currently, 39 states have some type of public smoking bans, with 26 banning smoking in any enclosed public space, while 11 states have no bans at all

Online program helps patients self-monitor blood pressure (USA)

An online blood-pressure monitoring program made a major difference in health management for patients with uncontrolled hypertension, new research has found. The researchers studied more than 350 patients, aged 18 to 85, who had uncontrolled high blood pressure - hypertension. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive ordinary treatment or take part in a monitoring program in conjunction with the American Heart Association's Heart360.org Web site, which helps people manage their heart health at no cost. Those who took part in the online program transmitted blood pressure readings via a home computer to their physicians. Pharmacy specialists reviewed the numbers and adjusted the medications of the patients accordingly, the study authors explained. After six months, 58 percent of those in the program had lowered their blood pressure to healthy levels, compared to just 38 percent of those in the other group, Dr. David Magid of Kaiser Permanente Colorado and colleagues found. The study findings are scheduled to be presented Friday at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke 2010 Scientific Sessions, in Washington D.C.

Cholesterol drug side effects need watching: study (UK)

People using cholesterol-lowering statins have a higher risks of liver dysfunction, kidney failure, muscle weakness and cataracts and such side effects of the drug should be closely tracked, doctors said. In a study covering more than 2 million people in Britain, researchers from Nottingham University found that adverse side effects of statins, which are prescribed to people with high levels cholesterol to cut the risk of heart disease, were generally worst in the first year of treatment. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, are unlikely to affect the use of best-selling medicines like Pfizer's Lipitor and AstraZeneca's Crestor, but the study's authors said patients taking statins should be "proactively monitored" for side effects. "Our study is likely to be useful for policy and planning purposes," said Julia Hippisley-Cox and Carol Coupland, the two professors who led the study. They said it may also be useful "for informing guidelines on the type and dose of statins". - Canwest

Cardiology - a call for papers from The Lancet

The Lancet is producing a special cardiology issue to coincide with the European Society of Cardiology Congress to be held Aug 28 to Sept 1, 2010, in Stockholm