Germy mouths linked to heart attacks, study finds
People with the germiest mouths are the most likely to have heart attacks, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. A study that compared heart attack victims to healthy volunteers found the heart patients had higher numbers of bacteria in their mouths, the researchers said. Their findings add to a growing body of evidence linking oral hygiene with overall health. Oelisoa Andriankaja and colleagues... Read more
Children of Centenarians Face Lower Heart Risks
Longevity runs in families, the saying goes, and new research shows there may be genetic and physiological reasons for the phenomenon. The children of people who live to 100 and beyond are themselves much less likely to develop cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke, and even diabetes, researchers found. But they aren’t impervious to non-cardiovascular health problems, such... Read more
Fast Heart Rate Warns of Obesity, Diabetes
A too-fast heartbeat in early adulthood is a warning sign for increased risk of cardiovascular problems decades later on, a Japanese study suggests. The study of 614 residents of a rural farming community in southwestern Japan found that a heart rate greater than 80 beats a minute during a first examination in 1979 predicted the development of obesity and diabetes, which contribute to heart problems. The... Read more
Cancer to Surpass Heart Disease as World’s Leading Killer
By 2010, cancer will be the leading killer in the world, surpassing heart disease, causing more deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Unless new treatments are found, there could be 27 million people with cancer by 2030, and 17 million cancer deaths annually. And, there could be 75 million people living with cancer within five years after diagnosis, according to a new report, 2008 World... Read more
Scientists doubt utility of CT scan as heart test
The U.S. health insurance program for the elderly, Medicare, is spending money on state-of-the-art CT scanners without clear evidence showing their usefulness in combating heart problems, commentators in the New England Journal of Medicine said on Wednesday. CT scanning, used to diagnose coronary artery blockages, is one case where the U.S. government appears to be wasting money because pressures to... Read more
Costly heart pumps extend lives for some: study
Heart pumps can buy time for people with failing hearts in need of a transplant but implanting heart-assist devices in the elderly as a substitute for a heart transplant benefits only some — and at a high financial cost, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. They said about half of people 65 and older who got the devices between 2000 and 2006 under Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for... Read more
Depression’s Behavior Changes Linked to Heart Risks
Negative changes in health behaviors are a major reason why heart patients with depression have an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack, say U.S. researchers who followed 1,017 outpatients with stable coronary heart disease for an average of 4.8 years. Depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in healthy people and for recurrent events in... Read more
Parent Smoking During Pregnancy Raises Kids’ Heart Risks
Damage to the arteries of children of smokers can be detected in the early decades of their lives, a new Dutch study finds. “Smoking in families is harmful for children, including their cardiovascular system, as was found in many other studies,” said research leader Dr. Cuno S.P.M. Uiterwaal, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the University Medical Center in Utrecht. “This... Read more
Obese kids have prematurely aged neck arteries
The neck arteries of obese children and teens look more like those of 45-year-olds, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting. “There’s a saying that ‘you’re as old as your arteries,’ meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,” Dr. Geetha... Read more
Study: Vitamin C or E pills do not prevent cancer
Vitamin C or E pills do not help prevent cancer in men, concludes the same big study that last week found these supplements ineffective for warding off heart disease. The public has been whipsawed by good and bad news about vitamins, much of it from test-tube or animal studies and hyped manufacturer claims. Even when researchers compare people’s diets and find that a vitamin seems to help, the... Read more