Super Bowl losses can increase cardiac death (USA)

"A new study published in the journal Clinical Cardiology reveals that a Super Bowl loss for a home team was associated with increased death rates in both men and women and in older individuals. Sports fans may be emotionally involved in watching their favorite teams. When the team loses, it can cause some degree of emotional stress. Led by Robert A. Kloner, MD, PhD, of the Heart Institute, Good Samarian Hospital and Keck School of Medicine at USC in Los Angeles, researchers assessed how often this emotional stress may translate to increases in cardiac death. They ran regression models for mortality rates for cardiac causes for the 1980 Los Angeles Super Bowl loss and for the 1984 Los Angeles Super Bowl win. Results show that the Los Angeles Super Bowl loss of 1980 increased total and cardiac deaths in both men and women and triggered more death in older than younger patients. In contrast, there was a trend for a Super Bowl win to reduce death more frequently in older people and in women"

CARG Newsletter - February 2011

The CARG Newsletter - February 2011 is now available online

New campaign video showcases global disparity in access to insulin for people with type 1 diabetes

A new World Diabetes Day video has been produced to showcase the global disparity in access to insulin for people with diabetes. 'O is for outrage' shows how in parts of the world people with type 1 diabetes are able to live in full and healthy lives, while in others, diabetes can bring death and disability at a young age due to lack of access to insulin, the life-saving drug discovered ninety years ago:

Researchers discover root cause of blood vessel damage in diabetes (USA)

A key mechanism that appears to contribute to blood vessel damage in people with diabetes has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Blood vessel problems are a common diabetes complication. Many of the nearly 26 million Americans with the disease face the prospect of amputations, heart attack, stroke and vision loss because of damaged vessels. Reporting in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Washington University researchers say studies in mice show that the damage appears to involve two enzymes, fatty acid synthase (FAS) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), that interact in the cells that line blood vessel walls. 'We already knew that in diabetes there's a defect in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels,' says first author Xiaochao Wei, PhD. 'People with diabetes also have depressed levels of fatty acid synthase. But this is the first time we've been able to link those observations together.'

Cath Lab of the Future: angioplasty, stents, robots and more

A half century ago, Dr. Mason Sones, working in his cath lab, discovered that he could inject contrast dye selectively into the coronary arteries. His discovery revealed in great detail the anatomic nature of coronary artery disease and, within a very short time, led to the treatments of both bypass graft surgery and angioplasty. Along with Dr. Melvin Judkins, Sones founded an organization dedicated to excellence in imaging and diagnosis of heart disease: the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). This month, SCAI has published a paper forecasting what the cath lab of the future might look like. The paper, titled "The Catheterization Laboratory and Interventional Vascular Suite of the Future: Anticipating Innovations in Design and Function," appears in the current issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions. It features predictions on the future of these medical spaces, including advances in technology and design as well as changes in function, staffing and economics

Texas jury awards plaintiff $482 million in Johnson and Johnson stent battle

From Reuters: "A federal jury in Texas has rendered a $482 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson, finding its widely used Cypher stent infringes on the patent of an outside researcher, the company said on Friday. Dr. Bruce Saffran filed the lawsuit, saying that his stent patent was valid and that the healthcare company infringed on it. J&J said the company disagrees with the jury's decision, and will fight it. "We will ask the judge to overturn this verdict and if unsuccessful, we plan to appeal the verdict," a J&J spokesperson said. Saffran's law firm, Dickstein Shapiro LLP, in a release, said the jury deliberated for two hours before returning its verdict. The law firm said another federal jury in the same Marshall, Texas, courthouse three years ago rendered a $431.9 million verdict against Boston Scientific Corp, finding that its Taxus stent also infringed Saffran's patent"

Scientists shed new light on how heart works (Australia)

Doctors at the Victor Chang Institute have uncovered new information about the rhythm of the heart and why some drugs might affect that rhythm. Half of all new drugs being developed block one of the channels of the heart and can cause cardiac arrhythmia, which can lead to sudden cardiac death. Professor Jamie Vandenberg, head of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at the Victor Chang Institute, says doctors have now found the mechanism which opens the gate to these channels. "Just like a set of metal wires that carry electricity to light up our streets, our body has a series of channels that carry tiny charged particles called ions, into and out of cells, to trigger a heartbeat," he said. "Depending on the position of these gates, many common drugs attach themselves to these channels, blocking the ions from passing through. "This causes what we call Long QT syndrome, where the length of the heart beat is longer than usual, which greatly increases the risk of arrhythmia." Professor Vandenberg believes the "gate mechanism" will also apply to other channels important in the heart's electrical system, as well as those that control electrical communication in the brain.

Costs to treat heart disease will triple to $818B by 2030 (USA)

"By 2030, the cost to treat heart disease will triple, and rise from $273 billion to $818 billion in the U.S. A bigger push to find effective prevention strategies is necessary to limit the burden of cardiovascular disease, according to a policy statement published January 25 in Circulation. The American Heart Association expert panel, which put forth the statement, estimated the future medical costs of heart disease based on the current rates of disease and Census data to adjust for population shifts. Today, one in three Americans has been diagnosed with some form of heart disease—high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke, among others—and by 2030, 116 million people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease. The panel speculated that the largest increases will be the rate of stroke and heart failure, which will rise upwards to 24.9 percent and 25 percent, respectively"

Less stress cuts cardiac events

A cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme to help people with heart disease to manage their stress levels reduces their likelihood of suffering a cardiovascular event, say researchers. Their study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that CBT might need to be continued for 6-12 months to be effective. Researchers randomised 362 men and women, who had all been hospitalised for a coronary heart disease event in the previous 12 months, to either usual care or to CBT. People in the CBT group had 20 two-hour sessions over a year, which concentrated on how to reduce, manage and cope with stress. The programme had five specific components – education, self-monitoring, skills training, cognitive restructuring and spiritual development. Groups were kept small and men and women attended separate groups from one another

Heart-targeting Listeria increase cardiac disease risk

Certain strains of the food pathogen Listeria are uniquely adapted to infect heart tissues and may put people at a higher risk from serious cardiac disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Developing new diagnostic tests to identify these potentially fatal strains could protect those most at risk, such as those with heart valve replacements

LHSC announces a cardiac surgery world first (Canada)

"Doctors at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) are the first in the world to use a new implantable surgical device that promises to revolutionize aortic valve bypass surgery. On November 3, 2010, LHSC's cardiac surgery team led by Drs. Bob Kiaii and Linrui Guo successfully performed an aortic valve bypass using a specialized Aortic Valve Bypass (AVB) device. This was done to treat a patient with critical aortic stenosis who could not have conventional treatments due to his underlying high risk condition. 'There were no options left for the patient. He was at a point where no more than 30% of his blood was being pumped out of his heart. Not only was he severely fatigued and weakened, but he was at a high risk for having a stroke,' explains Dr. Kiaii, chair/chief of the cardiac surgery team"

Brain cooling could aid stroke recovery (Scotland)

Cooling the brain of patients who have suffered a stroke could dramatically improve their recovery, a group of Scottish doctors has said. They are joining others from across Europe who believe that inducing hypothermia in some patients can boost survival rates and reduce brain damage. Similar techniques have already been tried successfully on heart attack patients and those with birth injuries. Scientists are in Brussels to discuss a Europe-wide trial of the technique. To date, studies have involved the body of patients being cooled using ice cold intravenous drips and cooling pads applied to the skin. This lowers the body temperature to about 35C, just a couple of degrees below its normal level - BBC

Questions over statin prescribing

Healthy people may derive no benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering statins, according to a review of previous studies. The report, published in The Cochrane Library, concluded that statins reduced death rates. But it said there was no evidence to justify their use in people at low risk of developing heart disease. The British Heart Foundation said the benefits of prescribing statins for those people was unclear. Millions of people in the UK take statins, which reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood. They are available both on prescription and in low doses over the counter in pharmacies - BBC

Dianne Gosselin retires

Dianne Gosselin has retired after 26 years of work as a Cardiac Rehab Nurse with the Saskatoon Health Region. CARG would like to thank Dianne for her wonderful contribution to the program and to wish her well in her retirement

Let's talk about your diabetes

If you have diabetes, here is a fun and engaging way to learn more about your diabetes.

Join us for a Conversation Map™:

* you learn from others just like you
* share your thoughts and experiences

* Next sessions are Tuesday February 15 & Thursday April 14 at 9:30am to 11:00am
* You are welcome to come to just one or both sessions at the Field House
* Facilitators : Marlene Matiko, Diabetes Nurse Clinician and Rochelle Anthony, Dietitian
* To register or for more information, talk to your exercise therapist. Space is limited