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Underactive Thyroid and Heart Failure a Bad Combination: Study

Posted 2 days 3 hours ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, May 22 – People with heart failure are more likely to experience poorer health from having a thyroid gland that is even mildly underactive, according to a new study. And among black patients, the researchers found an increased risk of death linked to the condition, which is known as hypothyroidism. "This study is the first to show that African-Americans who have hypothyroidism face a greater risk of death than patients of other racial and ethnic groups," Dr. Connie Rhee, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society. "This elevated risk exists despite the fact that hypothyroidism is less common in the African-American population compared to other groups." "More research is needed to confirm these findings and to determine the underlying reasons why hypothyroidism has a differential impact on people of different races and ... Read more

Heart Risks Last Beyond Hospital Discharge, Study Finds

Posted 8 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, May 16 – Patients with heart failure or a heart attack appear to be at high risk of death or readmission to the hospital for at least one month after being discharged, researchers say. And the period of increased risk for these patients may be even longer after they leave the hospital. The study authors suggested that patients should continue to be careful about their health once they are home and seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms or feel sick. "The risks of death and rehospitalization can extend well beyond 30 days after discharge, the time period used by the federal government for measuring hospital performance," study lead author Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan, a fellow in cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, said in a news release from the American Heart Association. "Post-discharge care may be improved when aligned to the ... Read more

Get Fit in Middle Age to Cut Heart Failure Risk, Study Says

Posted 9 days ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, May 15 – People who are obese or out of shape in their 40s or 50s might think it's too late to start getting fit, but new research finds that shaping up in middle age lowers the odds for heart failure later in life. What's more, the reduction in risk is independent of other modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the researchers said. "It's never too late to get fit," said lead researcher Dr. Ambarish Pandey, an internal medicine resident at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. "Fitness is a significant risk factor for heart failure," Pandey said. "But if someone who is not fit in middle age improves his fitness over the years and gets in better shape, the risk of heart failure decreases." The results of the study are scheduled for presentation May 15 at an American Heart Association scientific meeting in ... Read more

Docs Should Ask Heart Patients About Quality of Life

Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 7 – Completing quality-of-life surveys at a doctor's office could help heart disease patients live longer and have better lives, according to a new statement from the American Heart Association. The statement urged doctors to use these surveys to assess patients' heart health. The surveys reveal the impact of heart disease on patients, including their symptoms, quality of life, and ability to function physically and mentally. Quality-of-life surveys can also help predict future events such as heart attack, hospitalization, costs of care and death, according to the statement published May 6 in the journal Circulation. "Ultimately, efforts to improve the health care system will only be successful if they translate into better patient outcomes – not just longevity, but also how well patients live," statement lead author Dr. John Rumsfeld said in an AHA news release. "This ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

U.S. Heart Failure Costs Could Skyrocket: Report

Posted 24 Apr 2013 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 24 – The number of Americans with heart failure could rise 46 percent, from 5 million in 2012 to 8 million in 2030, new research says. And the direct and indirect costs of treating the condition could more than double, from $31 billion to $70 billion, over the same time period. That means that by 2030, every U.S. taxpayer could be paying $244 a year to care for heart failure patients, according to the American Heart Association policy statement. It said the findings highlight the need for strategies to prevent and treat heart failure. Heart failure – the leading cause of hospitalization for Americans over age 65, according to the AHA – occurs when the heart becomes weak and can no longer pump enough oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body. Patients often experience fatigue and breathing problems as the heart enlarges and pumps faster in an effort to meet ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

Blood Test Plus Targeted Care May Stop Heart Failure Before It Starts

Posted 12 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 12 – A simple blood test conducted annually in your primary care doctor's office might be a first step in preventing heart failure, a new study suggests. The next steps include getting a diagnostic echocardiogram and then receiving coordinated care between a primary care physician and a cardiologist, according to the Irish pilot study. The end result: Only about 5 percent of the middle-aged and older patients enrolled in this type of program ended up requiring hospitalization for new-onset heart failure or heart dysfunction, compared with nearly 9 percent of those treated in the usual way. "With 6 million Americans suffering from heart failure – most commonly due to heart attacks, chronic hypertension, diabetes or obesity – this blood test can provide a simple way for us to screen those patients at risk and prevent heart failure from developing," said one expert not ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

A Cheap, Old Heart Drug May Help Elderly Heart Failure Patients

Posted 11 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 11 – Everything old is new again, even in medicine, with a just-released study finding that an older, inexpensive drug may help keep heart failure patients out of the hospital. Largely abandoned after a 1997 study found that it did not lower heart failure patients' death rates, a re-analysis of that data found that digoxin (also known as digitalis) may lower rates of 30-day hospital readmissions by more than one-third. "If these findings can be replicated in contemporary older heart failure patients discharged from the hospital, digoxin may provide an inexpensive tool to reduce 30-day all-cause hospital readmissions," said study lead researcher Dr. Ali Ahmed, a professor of medicine and epidemiology in the divisions of geriatrics and cardiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Ahmed presented the findings Monday in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure, Digoxin, Lanoxin, Digitek, Cardoxin, Lanoxicaps

Viagra, Aliskiren Not Helpful for Heart Failure After All: Studies

Posted 11 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 11 – Although small studies have suggested Viagra and the blood pressure medication aliskiren could be wonder drugs against heart failure, neither drug produced any beneficial effects against this condition in recent multicenter trials. Viagra (sildenafil) is used to treat erectile dysfunction and some forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension, and scientists hoped it would help patients with so-called diastolic heart failure – a type of heart failure in which the heart's lower chambers stiffen and cannot fully relax and fill between beats. "The results of our study were surprising and disappointing," said the Viagra study lead author, Dr. Margaret Redfield, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "We were hoping to find something that would help these patients, as there are currently few options for treatment," Redfield said. Meanwhile, aliskiren ... Read more

Related support groups: Viagra, Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure, Tekturna, Sildenafil, Revatio, Aliskiren

New Drugs Might Give Heart Patients an Edge

Posted 11 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, March 10 – In the search for better medicines to safely help heart patients, clinical trials testing three new drugs appear to offer some promise. Two of the drugs, cangrelor and inclacumab, might improve outcomes for patients undergoing cardiac interventions such as angioplasty or stenting, while a third drug, Inspra, seems to lower heart patients' odds for death and heart failure following a heart attack. All three trials were funded by the respective drugs' makers, and all three were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in San Francisco. In the first trial, researchers compared an as-yet approved blood thinner called cangrelor against the current standard medication, Plavix (clopidogrel), for patients who have recently had a stent implanted in an artery to help improve blood flow. According to the ACC, more than 600,000 coronary ... Read more

Certain Diabetes Medications May Lower Heart Failure Risk

Posted 10 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, March 10 – A newer class of diabetes drugs may offer an extra benefit: A new study suggests these medications lower the odds of suffering heart failure. Researchers from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that patients taking so-called GLP-1 drugs – including brand-name medications such as Byetta, Januvia and Victoza – were more than 40 percent less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than patients prescribed other blood sugar-lowering medications. GLP-1 diabetes drugs have been in use for only the last several years and are considered second-line treatments after well-established medications such as metformin, physicians said. "I don't think we can say this will magically prevent all heart failure deaths, but the strength of the association warrants more investigation," said study author and cardiologist Dr. David Lanfear. "Heart failure is a very common disease . ... Read more

Defibrillator Patients Who Lose Weight May Fare Worse

Posted 7 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 7 – Heart patients who have an implantable defibrillator known as a CRT-D and who unintentionally lose even a few pounds fare worse than those who do not lose weight, according to a new study. Although it would seem that people with heart failure who are overweight or obese would do better by losing weight, previous research has found that obese patients with heart failure do better overall than those who aren't obese, said study author Dr. Valentina Kutyifa, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York. To further understand that paradox, Kutyifa's team looked at the effects of unintended weight loss in patients with the CRT-D. The implanted device works by sending out small electronic impulses to correct the heart's rhythm. It also improves the ability of the heart to pump blood, which is a problem in those with ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

Black Breast Cancer Survivors Face Higher Heart Failure Risk: Study

Posted 7 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 7 – Black breast cancer survivors seem more likely to develop heart failure than other women, a new study says. Researchers analyzed data from more than 26,000 U.S. women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1973 and 2007 and survived. More than three-quarters were 65 or older. Of these women, 16 percent later developed heart failure. The rate of heart failure was 21 percent among black women, 16 percent among whites, 13 percent among Hispanics, 12 percent among Asians and 11 percent among others, including Native Americans. Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body. About half of people with heart failure die within five years after diagnosis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the study, black breast cancer survivors had a 1.4-fold greater risk of heart failure than ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

Insomnia Might Boost Heart Failure Risk

Posted 6 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 6 – Insomnia may triple the risk of developing heart failure, a large new study from Norway suggests. Heart problems definitely lead to sleep problems, said lead researcher Dr. Lars Laugsand, but his team tried to determine whether the reverse might also be true. "Insomnia is a frequent and easily recognized, potentially manageable and treatable condition," said Laugsand, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of public health at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in Trondheim. Laugsand added that the researchers found an association between insomnia and heart failure, not that insomnia actually causes heart failure. "We still do not know whether heart failure is really caused by insomnia, and it is still unclear why insomnia is linked to higher heart failure risk," he said. Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart does not pump blood ... Read more

Related support groups: Insomnia, Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

Heart Failure Drug May Only Help Heart's Function, Not Symptoms

Posted 26 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 26 – A drug often used to treat chronic heart failure may not ease symptoms in people with one form of the disease, a new study suggests. The medication, called spironolactone (Aldactone), failed to improve symptoms or quality of life among 422 patients with diastolic heart failure – a form of the disease that affects about half of all people with heart failure. The drug did, however, benefit the structure and function of patients' hearts. And experts said it's too early to know what to make of the results, which appear in the Feb. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "It would be premature to say this is not beneficial," said Dr. Sanjiv Shah, a cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, who was not involved in the study. Shah is involved in an ongoing study of spironolactone's effects in people with diastolic ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure, Spironolactone, Aldactone

Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise for Heart Failure

Posted 21 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 21 – When it comes to treating heart failure, the ultimate hope is to develop a therapy that repairs the damaged heart muscle. Now, an early study hints at a way to do that by harnessing the body's natural capacity for repair. Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition where the heart cannot pump blood efficiently enough to meet the body's needs, which leads to problems like fatigue, breathlessness and swelling in the legs and feet. Most often, it arises after a heart attack leaves heart muscle damaged and scarred. In the new study, researchers were able to use gene therapy to modestly improve symptoms in 17 patients with stage III heart failure – where the disease is advanced enough that even routine daily tasks become difficult. What is novel about the tactic, the researchers said, is that the gene therapy is designed to attract the body's own stem cells to the ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Failure, Congestive Heart Failure

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