Heart disease

Health issues affect men and women differently

The differences between men and women run deep. Very deep. Right down to the level of what goes on inside the billions of cells that make our bodies tick.

But the world of medical science, which you'd think would be on top of this, has been somewhat slow to recognise it.

For decades, most health research has been based largely on human studies of men only, or of male lab animals.

It wasn't done to deliberately shut out women and their differences.

5 ways for women to protect their heart health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. It's especially of concern for women, because their symptoms can be different from men's, according to the American Heart Association.

For the first time, the American Heart Association released on Monday a statement specifically looking at the known science of women's heart attacks.

Cholesterol-lowering jab to help prevent heart disease

Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna are testing the safety of their experimental treatment in 72 volunteers.

The jab is designed to stop fatty deposits from clogging the arteries.

It would offer patients an alternative to taking daily pills to cut their risk of stroke, angina and heart attacks.

 

Booster jab

Diary of an exhausted man

I can have the requisite eight hours, no screens, fresh air and dim light and still wake up feeling knackered.

So, when a stranger sees me gazing at breathing apparatus in the local chemist and introduces herself as a 'CPAP disciple', I'm happy to listen.

CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and it is basically a mask you wear on your face that is powered by a machine which pushes air into your throat to stop your airway closing while you're asleep.

Respiratory infections increase heart attack risk, Australian doctors say

Professor Geoff Tofler, from the University of Sydney and the Royal North Shore Hospital, said the increased risk was not just at the beginning of respiratory symptoms.

"It peaks in the first seven days and gradually reduces but remains elevated for one month," he said.

"This is the first study to report an association between respiratory infections such as pneumonia, influenza and bronchitis and increased risk of heart attack in patients confirmed by coronary angiography (a special x-ray to detect heart artery blockages)."

Heart attack shock for one half of Queensland music duo Busby Marou

The 34-year-old — one half of Busby Marou — was playing touch football in Rockhampton last week when he started feeling light-headed.

"I just thought I was puffed and unfit," he said.

"There was tightening across my chest ... it was all the things I had read about, all the signs.

"I still didn't think that was it, but I had a good crew around me that got me to the hospital."

Brain activity 'key in stress link to heart disease'

In a study of 300 people, those with higher activity in the amygdala were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease - and sooner than others.

Stress could be as important a risk factor as smoking and high blood pressure, the US researchers said.

Heart experts said at-risk patients should be helped to manage stress.

Emotional stress has long been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which affects the heart and blood vessels - but the way this happens has not been properly understood.

How big sugar covered up health dangers

But why did it take so long for researchers to inspect this link?

new historical analysis published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday claims that the sugar industry sponsored research that cast doubt about sugar's health risks and promoted fat "as the dietary culprit" in heart disease -- and didn't disclose it.

Fighting grim statistics, Pacific Islanders unite over health

In Utah, where the per-capita share of Pacific Islanders is the highest in the continental U.S., they have the highest incidence of stroke, the lowest rate of prenatal care and the highest prevalence of diabetes (twice that of the state average).

These figures are why Jake Fitisemanu, an outreach coordinator for the Office of Health Disparities at the state health department, started Pacific Islander Health Week four years ago.

Study backs more aggressive treatment of high blood pressure

Patients who got their blood pressure well below today's usually recommended level significantly cut their risk of heart disease and death, the National Institutes of Health announced Friday. The benefit was strong enough that NIH stopped the study about a year early.

"This study provides potentially life-saving information," declared Dr. Gary Gibbons, director of NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.