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New SAMRC chief aims to ‘restore trust in science’
Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, who takes over the hot seat at the South African Medical Research Council in July, may be soft-spoken but he is unafraid...
Rush of anger may trigger heart attack – US study
In efforts to dig deeper into a previously observed link between anger and heart attacks, researchers from Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, Yale School...
Pollution linked to stress, heart disease deaths – US study
A study in more than 3 000 US counties, involving more than 315m residents, has suggested that air pollution is linked with stress and...
AFib rising among younger people – US study
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) – an abnormal heart rhythm that affects the heart’s upper chambers and can increase the risk of stroke and heart failure...
FDA heart pump recall after link to deaths and injuries
A pair of heart devices linked to hundreds of injuries and at least 14 deaths has received the FDA’s most serious recall, the agency announced...
Call to re-assess growing burden of AF and its consequences
Heart failure, not stroke, is the most common complication of atrial fibrillation – which affects 37m people worldwide – say experts, calling for the...
No benefits from 'outdated' beta-blockers after heart attack
Swedish researchers have described as outdated the standard practice of prescribing beta-blockers after a heart attack to lessen the risk of a future cardiovascular...
Vaping raises heart failure risk – US study
Vaping may cause a “substantial” increase in the risk of heart failure, research has suggested, with scientists saying that more studies are linking the...
Less invasive, new approach to diagnose heart disease – Irish study
A clinical trial that saw high resolution scanning technology used to identify heart disease has been welcomed as a potential game-changer for cardiac treatment,...
FDA flags heart pump linked to 49 deaths
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its highest-level alert about a heart pump that has been linked to 49 deaths and...
Cardiotoxicity risks after chemo treatment
With advances in cancer treatments, comes the risk of long-term health effects, including "cardiotoxicity".
Steven Petrow, writing in The Washington Post, says in 1984, he...
Smokers more likely to carry belly fat linked to disease risk – Danish study
Smokers may have more belly fat – particularly visceral fat – than non-smokers, even if they tend to generally have lower body weight than...
Sugary drinks make boys more prone to diabetes than girls – US study
A long-term study of women and their children by Harvard University found sugary drinks increased insulin resistance and blood glucose levels in boys, but...
Value of lithotripsy for mitral valve stenosis
Until recently, there was sparse evidence of the value of a novel technology called intravascular lithotripsy-facilitated percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (IVL-PBMV) for treating patients with severe...
Frequent cannabis use bumps up heart attack risk – US study
American researchers have suggested that people who frequently smoke weed have a greater risk of heart attack and stroke, after their analysis of several...
Women need half as much exercise as men for longevity – US study
Women need to exercise only half as much as men to reap the same longevity benefits, suggests a recent study – with the researchers...
Cutting back on salt as effective as BP meds
Reducing salt consumption by just one teaspoon a day could lower your blood pressure as much as hypertension medication, according to research presented at...
Gene-editing cholesterol trial paves way for groundbreaking treatment
The treatment of a handful of patients with severe heart disease, who volunteered for an experimental cholesterol-lowering treatment using gene editing, has paved the...
Sleeping beats sitting when it comes to heart health: UK study
A cross-sectional study investigating the impact of movement behaviour on cardiometabolic health suggests that replacing 30 minutes of daily sitting with equal time standing...
AI tool could predict heart attack 10 years ahead: Oxford study
Artificial intelligence could help predict if a person is likely to have a heart attack up to 10 years before it happens, suggest British...
Evolving heart failure risk factors in Africa calls for management rethink
Heart failure prevention and management requires a context-driven approach in African countries where it is an evolving syndrome with changing predictive risk factors, and...
Four-stage classification of heart attack paves way for new therapy developments
Acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and a recently released consensus statement by experts now has...
7 000 steps a day can reduce early CVD death risk, global study finds
An international study has disclosed for the first time the best number of steps at which most people obtain the greatest benefits – and...
Pig-heart transplant man making progress
The second person to have received a transplanted heart from a pig is recovering steadily, according to the patient’s medical team at the University...
Less than one-third of patients have rehabilitation after TAVR – US study
Most people who have a minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedure do not undergo recommended cardiac rehabilitation, say US researchers, who used clinical registry...
First-of-its-kind heart lifeline for Durban man
A patient with stage four heart failure, and who was no longer responding to treatment, has been given a new lease on life after...
Majority of hypertension patients not adequately treated – WHO report
The first ever report from the WHO on the devastating global impact of high blood pressure – and ways to beat this silent killer...
Genetic bad cholesterol drops 60% in Australian drug trial
Australian researchers have found a potential oral medication developed to lower, by as much as 65%, levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol – lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a)...
Stress, insomnia, tied to post-menopause atrial fibrillation – US study
Researchers have suggested that one in every four women might develop irregular heart rhythms – known at atrial fibrillation (AF) – after menopause, with stressful...
Wake-up call for governments as studies flag high risk of ultra processed foods
Experts say the dangers posed by the increasing and alarming global consumption of ultra-processed food – raised BP levels, heart disease and strokes –...
Middle-age weight gain combined with 'unhealthy traits' ups death risk
A team of scientists has found that people carrying extra weight in their 40s and 50s, and who also had slightly raised blood pressure,...
Snoring and apnoea linked to higher stroke risk – US study
Experts have found that people with the common sleep disorder apnoea – which has hundreds of millions of sufferers worldwide – are five times...
How to identify sudden cardiac arrest risk in young people
Although often seen as an issue for the elderly, sudden cardiac arrest – responsible for 65 000 deaths in Germany annually – can also...
Simple urine test might predict heart failure risk – Dutch study
People with consistently high levels of urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and serum creatinine in their urine are at higher risk of developing heart failure,...
The link between diabetes and arrhythmias
Up to 5% of the general population has some form of heart arrhythmia, the most common being atrial fibrillation ( “Afib”), with doctors saying...
Injection could replace drugs for high BP – British trial
A breakthrough may be on the horizon for millions of people suffering from high blood pressure – the leading cause of heart attacks and...
Donor liver protects heart transplant in US dual organ surgery
In a historic surgical procedure, an American patient received two donor organs, a liver and a heart, to prevent the extreme likelihood that her...
Public-private effort saves six-year-old heart patient
Intricate, lifesaving heart surgery at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital has given a a new lease on life to a six-year-old girl, who would have had...
Scientists find 16 genes that increase women’s heart attack risk
Researchers who conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of eight studies into Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD), which can lead to heart attacks – particularly...
Two studies find beta blockers not always ideal for heart patients
Beta blockers have long been widely prescribed for patients with heart issues, but two recent studies question the benefit of the therapies in certain...