Camera offers new view of the heart (USA)

Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Georgia, USA, purchased a new D-SPECT Nuclear Myocardial Perfusion camera for use in the cardiology department. The new camera allows for advanced high-speed imaging of the heart while lowering the radiation dosage. According to the size of the patient, the system alters the time length of the scan and the dose administered to produce a sharper image quality each time the equipment is used for cardiac screenings. "This camera is ten times faster than the previous system we used," said David Spence, director of diagnostic imaging. "Images can be obtained in about 12 minutes compared to the older system that took 40 minutes allowing for better patient comfort and time for the scan acquisition of the heart. The images are of exceptionally high quality and allow for better interpretation of the patient’s heart." The system is designed like a chair with a camera that is stationary to the patient reducing motion. Patients with breathing difficulties can be scanned upright for all images. The system is also designed to accommodate patients weighing up to 500 pounds

Englishman wakes up from stroke speaking fluent Welsh

Alun Morgan, 81, was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War but left 70 years ago. During his time there he was surrounded by Welsh speakers but never learned the language himself. He left the country aged 10 and lived his life in England and recently suffered a severe stroke. But when Mr Morgan regained consciousness three weeks later, doctors discovered he was speaking Welsh and could not remember any English. It is thought that the Welsh Mr Morgan heard as a boy had sunk in without him knowing and was unlocked after he suffered the stroke. Mr Morgan, who is retired and lives with his wife Yvonne in Bathwick, Somerset, is now being taught to speak English again. "I'd not lived in Wales since I was evacuated there during the war. Gradually the English words came back, but it wasn't easy," he said

Alcohol used to induce heart attack to save man's life (UK)

Doctors saved a patient's life by inducing a controlled heart attack using neat alcohol to kill off an area of muscle. Ronald Aldom, 77, was suffering from a life threatening heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia (VT) - which occurred as a result of a previous heart attack. A team of surgeons tried to treat the condition using standard procedures but were unable to safely perform them. The team decided to treat Mr Aldom, from Portishead near Bristol, with "ethanol ablation". The treatment has only been conducted a handful of times in the UK to treat VT, Dr Johnson said. The procedure involves passing a catheter to the heart from the groin which identifies which part of the heart the dangerous rhythms are coming from. A tiny balloon is then blown up in the heart artery supplying that area and a small amount of absolute alcohol is injected into the artery to produce a small controlled heart attack. This kills the area of the heart muscle causing the problem allowing the heart's rhythm to return to normal

Winter 2013 Leisure Guide (Saskatoon)

The City of Saskatoon Leisure Guide is your community source for a variety of arts, culture, and recreational activities throughout the year. Select from Drop-in Programs, which do not require pre-registration and provide the public with access to the City’s recreation facilities and to instructor-led classes, or from Registered Programs, which include an instructor who leads the participants through a pre-defined set of activities

Men with big beer bellies likely to have weaker bones: study (USA)

Men with excessive fat around their abdomen, commonly known as a "beer belly," are at an elevated risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, and now researchers are adding osteoporosis to the list of potential hazards. More than 37 million American men over age 20 are obese, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. While obesity is associated with a host of other health problems - hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma, sleep apnea and joint diseases - it has been widely accepted that overweight men were at a lower risk for bone loss. "Not true," said Dr. Miriam Bredella, a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. "Everyone thinks of osteoporosis as a disease of women. Studies all focused on women, and men were always thought to be fine. We specifically wanted to look at young men." Bredella and her team of researchers evaluated 35 obese men with a mean age of 34 and a mean body mass index, a measure of body fat, of 36.5. The men were divided into two groups: one with mainly subcutaneous fat, which lies just beneath the skin and is spread all over the body, and the other with mostly visceral or intra-abdominal fat, located deep under the muscle tissue in the abdominal cavity

TV in bedrooms may boost kids' risk of fat, disease (USA)

Kids who have TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to be fat and nearly three times as likely to be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as those who don't, according to a new study that renews concerns about health and screen time. Specifically, youngsters ages 5 to 18 who had TVs in their rooms were up to 2.5 times more likely than others to have bigger waists and more fat mass. Those who watched TV more than five hours a day were at twice the risk for fat around their internal organs, a dangerous precursor for disease. "It's really troubling to see these kids with fat around their heart and liver," said Amanda Staiano, a scientist with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. Staiano and her colleagues knew that previous studies had shown a link among bedroom TVs, longer TV viewing and being overweight or obese, which affects two-thirds of U.S. youth. But in a country where 70 percent of kids have TVs in their rooms, according to a 2010 study, Staiano said they wanted to understand exactly where the kids were adding fat, and whether they were at risk for conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. "We wanted to see kind of a more precise relationship between TV and health," said Stainao, who studied 369 children and teens in Louisiana. Her findings are reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

February is Heart Month (Canada)

Heart Month is the Heart and Stroke Foundation's key opportunity to reach millions of Canadians in February and alert them to the risks of heart disease and stroke. Today, heart disease and stroke take one life every 7 minutes and 90% of Canadians have at least one risk factor. Our hearts and bodies are fragile and no one is safe from the risk of heart disease and stroke. Yet, there is so much we can do to protect them. This is why it is so critical that we rally together in raising funds for life-giving research that can help extend the lives of all Canadians. Volunteers are the face and the voice of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Heart Month is a critical time when we depend on you to share our message. One of the most important initiatives in Heart Month is door-to-door canvassing. Our team of volunteers canvasses neighborhoods across Canada raising vital funds to give Canadians longer, fuller lives. This is your opportunity to create a movement in your community - a movement toward better health. This broad, National campaign was inspired by a fundraising initiative called "Heart Sunday." The concept was adopted in British Columbia in the mid-1950s and then in Ontario in 1958. The funds raised from Heart Month are critical to supporting the Foundation's life-giving research and initiatives that help lengthen the lives of people in communities all over Canada - Phone: (306) 244-2124

Heart Health for Canadians: The Definitive Guide By Beth Abramson

Heart Health for Canadians is the definitive book on heart disease for the thousands of Canadian women and men who are diagnosed each year. It takes a full-spectrum approach to heart disease, covering prevention, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, recovery, new research and alternative therapies. It educates Canadians on how to be better advocates for themselves and for their loved ones by offering support and guidance through our complicated healthcare system. And it offers more complete information on women's heart health. You never want a family member to be diagnosed with heart disease; but if it happens, you want Heart Health for Canadians by your side - HarperCollins