Chronic heart failure: patients show individual therapy response to ACE inhibitor treatment

Vienna: A cross-sectional study conducted at MedUni Vienna including patients with chronic systolic heart failure has demonstrated great variations in patients' individual therapy response to ACE inhibitors, the first-line therapy for heart failure. It seems possible that the clinical picture is composed of various subgroups characterized by the over-activation of different endogenous systems. The results provide an explanatory approach to the question, why not all patients benefit equally from ACE inhibitors. The study supports ongoing efforts to develop a targeted, individualised therapy for heart failure patients (precision medicine). Vienna will be the venue for two cardiology congresses taking place at the end of May 2018, that cardiologists from throughout the world will attend.

A prototype robotic sleeve to help the heart keep beating

Leeds: A prototype robotic sleeve, which can wrap around a weak heart before synchronising with its natural motion to help it keep beating, has been developed by an international team of engineers. Dr Ali Alazmani, a University Academic Fellow from the Faculty of Engineering at Leeds, is central to the team, which includes researchers from Harvard and the Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr Alazmani said: “We took the inspiration for how the heart itself already operates, to take a new approach to providing support for the muscle rather than trying to circumvent it as current devices do.”

Exercise and Diet Improves Ability to Exercise for Patients with Common Type of Heart Failure

JAMA: Among obese older patients with a common type of heart failure, calorie restriction or aerobic exercise training improved their ability to exercise without experiencing shortness of breath, although neither intervention had a significant effect on a measure of quality of life, according to a study in the January 5 issue of JAMA.

‘High-Normal’ Blood Pressure in Young Adults Spells Risk of Heart Failure in Later Life

Johns Hopkins: Mild elevations in blood pressure considered to be in the upper range of normal during young adulthood can lead to subclinical heart damage by middle age — a condition that sets the stage for full-blown heart failure, according to findings of a federally funded study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins.  A report on the findings of the multicenter study that followed 2,500 men and women over a period of 25 years is published online June 22 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Heart failure patients are less likely to receive end of life care

British Heart Foundation: Heart failure patients are less likely to receive palliative care than people with terminal cancer, according to a report. ‘Triggers for Palliative Care’, a report published by Marie Curie, says that heart failure patients are currently less likely to receive palliative care than people with terminal cancer because the less predictable progression of heart failure makes it more challenging for clinicians to identify when a patient is approaching the end of their life.

New wire can test for heart failure

British Heart Foundation: Research presented today at the annual British Cardiovascular Society Conference has proven that a wire inserted into an artery which supplies blood to the heart, called a coronary artery, after someone has a heart attack can predict if they will go on to develop heart failure. There are around 175,000 heart attacks in the UK each year – that’s one every three minutes. For those who survive a heart attack there is a risk that the heart will have been damaged and this can lead to heart failure.

Start-up to develop new treatment for heart failure

Maastricht: Mirabilis Therapeutics BV, known as Mirabilis, is a new spin-off by Maastricht University and the Maastricht University Medical Centre (UM/MUMC+). Mirabilis focuses on developing new medications to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as heart failure and obesity. The company was founded in response to promising research by Professor de Windt and Dr Da Costa Martins. Based on previous research, they expect Mirabilis to develop new medications that can slow the pathological growth of the heart muscle, improve energy metabolism in heart failure patients, restore the heart's regenerative potential after a heart attack or combat obesity. The new candidate medications have shown promising effects in previous studies.

Towards a new treatment for cardiac remodeling ?

Louvain: Pr Jean-Luc Balligand from the Institute for Experimental and Clinical Research from UCL will coordinate a european research project to test a new therapeutic concept in the field of cardiac diseases. Based on the data of experimental research conducted over the last 10 years within his team, Pr Jean-Luc Balligand proposes a new approach for the treatment of specific features of heart failure. The innovative process consists in the activation of a heart cell receptor, called beta3-adrenergic, using a drug already prescribed in urology, but which has so far never been used in patients with heart failure.

Drug developed in 1950 for the treatment of Lupus to treat heart rhythm disease

British Heart Foundation: Scientists at the University of Oxford, part funded by us, are using a drug developed in 1950 for the treatment of Lupus to lower an abnormally high heart rate in those with heart failure and high blood pressure. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was created to combat malaria, and was later found to be useful in the treatment of Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Now, a team at the University of Oxford has found that the drug can also reduce heart rate. Published today in the journal Heart Rhythm,  the treatment has the potential to benefit people with heart failure, high blood pressure, angina and other heart conditions.

Heart failure drug digoxin linked to premature death

NHS: "A heart drug taken by 250,000 Britons can actually hasten death," the Mail Online warns today. An analysis of previous research on digoxin, used to treat heart failure and heart rhythm abnormalities, suggests that it can raise the risk of premature death. The analysis pooled the results of 19 different studies investigating whether digoxin – used in the treatment of heart failure and atrial fibrillation – increases the risk of death from any cause. Overall, the review found that people taking digoxin had a 21% higher risk of death from any cause compared to people not taking the drug. The risk increase was slightly higher for people taking digoxin for atrial fibrillation (29%) than for heart failure (14%).

Preeclampsia is an important predictor of heart failure

Maastricht: Women who have had preeclampsia are 2 to 8 times more likely to develop cardiovascular problems in the future. Doctoral research carried out by Chahinda Ghossein, research physician at the Maastricht UMC+ Department of Gynaecology, has shown there is a link between preeclampsia and heart failure. This will help provide guidelines for research into the early detection of and preventative measures for preeclampsia. Preeclampsia usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy, with women experiencing vascular problems in the form of high blood pressure combined with proteinuria (protein loss in the urine). This is often accompanied by restricted growth in the unborn child.

Researchers Discover Protein’s Pivotal Role in Heart Failure

UCSD: Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a key piece in the complex molecular puzzle underlying heart failure – a serious and sometimes life-threatening disorder affecting more than 5 million Americans.

Too many heart failure patients are treated with IV fluids, study finds

Yale University. US: Many patients hospitalized with severe heart failure are receiving potentially harmful treatment with intravenous fluids, a Yale-led study has found. The observational study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Heart Failure, is the first to examine use of common IV fluids in hospitalized heart failure patients.

Long-term use of ventricular assist devices induces heart muscle regeneration, study finds

UTSW. US: Prolonged use of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) by patients with heart failure may induce regeneration of heart muscle by preventing oxidative damage to a cell-regulator mechanism, UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators have found.

New Valve Procedure Offers Hope to Older Heart Disease Patients

Wake Forest center. US: What a difference a year makes. Patricia Lytton recalls how much better her health is today compared to a year ago thanks to a new valve procedure offered at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Lytton just wanted to be home in time to celebrate her 77^th birthday with her family. But when she first went into the hospital two months earlier for congestive heart failure she wasn’t sure she would ever reach that milestone.

Does moderate boozing reduce heart failure risk?

NHS. UK: "Seven alcoholic drinks a week can help to prevent heart disease," the Daily Mirror reports. A US study suggests alcohol consumption up to this level may have a protective effect against heart failure.

The patient who received a CARMAT artificial heart in France on August 5, 2014 has been discharged home

CARMAT. France: , the designer and developer of the world's most advanced total artificial heart project, aiming to provide a therapeutic alternative for people suffering from end-stage heart failure, announces that the patient implanted at the Nantes University Hospital ( France) last August has been discharged from the hospital and has returned home.

When used effectively, discharge summaries reduce hospital readmissions

Yale. US: For heart failure patients making the transition from hospital to home, a discharge summary that gets to their primary doctors quickly and contains detailed and useful information can mean the difference between recovering quickly or returning to the hospital, according to new research from Yale School of Medicine researchers.

Patient leaves University of Michigan hospital without a human heart

University of Michigan: Freedom Driver, a backpack-sized power supply, allows patient to recover at home while waiting for a heart transplan. The University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center has sent home a patient with a total artificial heart, a first in heart care in Michigan.

ACE inhibitors

Mayo Clinic. US: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors help relax blood vessels. ACE inhibitors prevent an enzyme in your body from producing angiotensin II, a substance in your body that affects your cardiovascular system by narrowing your blood vessels and releasing hormones that can raise your blood pressure. This narrowing can cause high blood pressure and force your heart to work harder.