Liposuction weight loss may not help heart

"Liposuction may provide a quick fix to reduce waist size but the loss of weight may not help the heart, U.S. researchers advise. Dr. Amit Khera, who directs the University of Texas Southwestern program in preventive cardiology, says belly fat, or waist circumference, is more closely associated than other distributions of fat with heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. However, how one gets rid of the fat seems to matter in terms of reducing these risks" - UPI

Investigation into low number of Kiwi heart surgeries

"A national investigation is under way as to why New Zealand has lower numbers of heart surgery compared with other OECD countries despite high levels of heart disease. Six thousand New Zealanders die of heart disease each year. And Waikato's cardiac unit, where most Taranaki heart patients are sent for major heart surgery, consistently has one of the lowest operation rates in the country. Last year a national cardiac surgery task force recommended to the Ministry of Health that heart surgery, including bypass and valve replacement, should be increased over the next five years to the same level as that performed in other OECD countries." - Fairfax New Zealand

Fish oil beats cholesterol drug in heart failure

"Adding fish oil to standard therapy for patients with heart failure was more helpful than adding a potent cholesterol drug, according to a study published in The Lancet. The fish oil reduced hospital admissions and death, while the cholesterol drug had no effect. There has been increasing interest in fish oil in the last few years. Another study found that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil decreased complications after a heart attack. It isn’t just fish in a pill that is likely to be helpful, fish on your dinner plate presumably has the same effect." - Examiner.com

Hamad Medical Corporation needs donor for first heart transplant

"Hamad Medical Corporation is waiting for a donor heart to conduct Qatar's first heart transplant. 'We are ready,' consultant cardiac and transplant surgeon Dr Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi told Gulf Times. But, people are not ready to donate the hearts of their dying relatives, he explained. This is due to a lack of awareness about the benefits of donating organs from a brain dead person on life support." - Gulf Times

Connecticut man's last lotto ticket wins $10M for widow

"On the day that Donald Peters died, he unknowingly provided financial security for his wife of 59 years and their family. Peters bought two Connecticut Lottery tickets at a local 7-Eleven store on Nov. 1 as part of a 20-year tradition he shared with his wife Charlotte. Later that day, the 79-year-old retired hat factory worker suffered a fatal heart attack while working in his yard in Danbury. On Friday, his widow cashed in one of the tickets: a $10 million winner which, in her grief over her husband's death, she had put aside and almost discarded before recently checking the numbers. "I'm numb," Charlotte Peters, 78, said at Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill" - AP

A gym powered by sweat and tears

"A US gym has installed specially-adapted exercise bikes that recycle energy generated by people as they work out. The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, aims to be a carbon neutral exercise facility through the use of solar power and human-generated energy from clients as they pedal and run. "The big challenge has been finding the right equipment and adapting the technology," says Adam Boesel, the gym owner. The science behind generating electricity from gym equipment is not new. For decades people have been using dynamos on their bikes to power the front and rear lamps. Generating power in a gym setting is based on the same principle. "If you think about a gym, almost all of the exercise equipment has a spinning wheel, and if you can spin a wheel you can make electricity, just like a windmill makes electricity," explains Mr Boesel. The gym has teamed up with a Texas-based company, Henry Works, which is in the process of developing what it has dubbed the Human Dynamo." - BBC

Home as good as hospital for cardiac rehab

"Home-based rehabilitation is no worse than hospital-based programs for helping patients get better after a heart attack or surgery to clear blocked heart arteries, and may be more accessible for patients, research from the UK shows. "Although this study was not designed to show equivalence, the provision of a home-based service alongside the hospital services would provide choice for patients and might improve uptake and adherence in patients who are not willing or able to attend a hospital," Dr. Kate Jolly of the University of Birmingham and her colleagues wrote in the January 2009 issue of the journal Heart. The risk of death is lower among heart patients who participate in exercise-based rehab, but most patients do not complete these programs. Women, older people, and minorities are even less likely to enter these programs and complete them" - Reuters

2009 Coding Guide for Heart Rhythm Procedures and Services

"This comprehensive tool is packed with up-to-date information, scenarios and resources to create efficiency and maximize appropriate reimbursement. The Coding Guide for Heart Rhythm Procedures and Services, 2009 is a must-have tool for any EP Lab or any physician performing heart rhythm procedures and services. Coding e-mail updates will be provided to alert users about reimbursement and coding changes that take place during the year"

Full of beans: green-fingered cardiac patient harvests a new lease of life from his allotment

"John Meacher is under no illusions: broad beans did not help to save his life. The surgeons who performed his triple heart bypass and the NHS staff who nursed him through his long history of cardiac problems did that. But the upbeat 76-year-old seems as sure of the reasons behind his improved quality of life as he is determined to prevent another heart attack. For that, he thanks a 70ft x 35ft plot of soil in central Southampton. He believes that the weekly session he spends tending the community vegetable patch does more for his health than any conventional rehabilitation. The pensioner is one of four volunteers behind the Active Hearts Allotment Project, a pilot scheme designed to help cardiac patients to rebuild their strength and confidence after coming out of hospital" - Times Online

Pet therapy for the heart

"Dogs have truly proven they are man's best friend. A study led by nurse Kathie Cole, at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center used dogs to interact with heart patients. The study used therapeutic dogs. There were 76 patients with an average age of 57, that had been hospitalized with heart failure. Patients received a visit from a volunteer with a dog, just a volunteer or no visit at all; physiological responses were measured before, during and after the visits. The findings were that anxiety dropped 24%, in the patients that were visited by a volunteer with a dog. There was only a 10% drop in patients when visited by a volunteer and those with no visits stayed the same" - A Hearty Life

Indian-origin researcher identifies gene that predicts heart attack risk

"An Indian-origin researcher at Duke University Medical School in North Carolina has announced the identification of a gene or marker which is associated with early hardening of the arteries. Millions of people under 40 across worldwide suffer without knowing from early coronary artery disease, which in many cases leads to heart attacks in later life. Now, Svati Shah, co-author of the study along with colleagues believe they have pinpointed a gene or marker that can help predict in advance whether someone is at increased risk. They believe that this could lead to a test to identify the latent threat of hardened arteries so that patients could be given dietary advice and other treatment before too much damage is done" - TopNewsHealth

Getting right to the heart of simple skills that save lives

"The British Heart Foundation believes every child in Northern Ireland should be taught the basic skills to deal with an emergency such as a heart attack or choking. Health Correspondent Claire Harrison joined a training session and learned how to potentially save a life" - Belfast Telegraph

Donald E. Westlake, mystery writer, is dead at 75

"Donald E. Westlake, a prolific, award-winning mystery novelist who pounded out more than 100 books and 5 screenplays on manual typewriters during a career of nearly 50 years, died on Wednesday night. He was 75. Mr. Westlake collapsed as he was headed to New Year’s Eve dinner while on vacation in Mexico, said his wife, Abigail Westlake. The cause was a heart attack, she said. Mr. Westlake, considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, received an Academy Award nomination for a screenplay, three Edgar Awards and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993" NYT

CARG Newsletter - January 2009 edition

The January 2009 issue of the CARG Newsletter is now available

Vitamin C connected to low blood pressure In young women

"A new survey conducted in young females connects high vitamin C in the bloodstream with lower blood pressure. This finding 'strongly suggests that vitamin C is specifically important in maintaining a healthy blood pressure,' lead author Dr. Gladys Block, of the University of California, Berkeley, said. Prior data connected high plasma levels of vitamin C with healthier blood pressure in the middle-aged and older, usually with unhealthy blood pressure, Block and colleagues stated. The new study took 242 black and white women, about 18 and 21 years old, with healthy blood pressure, who previously participated in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. The women entered the study at the age of 8 to 11 years old. In 10 years, their plasma levels of vitamin C and blood pressure were closely followed" - redOrbit