French scientists announced a striking 15% decrease in admissions of patients with myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect in restaurants, hotels and casinos in France last January. The announcement was made on 23 February by the National Sanitary Institute. Similar results were published in Italy on 12 February by the Environmental Health Authority: scientists in Rome found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events since the January 2005 smoking ban took effect in Italy........

A new seven-city study on the impact of new CPR techniques supports the widespread use of the American Heart Associations new 2005 CPR guidelines, as per the study authors in a presentation at the AHAs Scientific Sessions November 4 in Orlando. Lead author, Tom P. Aufderheide, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Director of the Resuscitation Research Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, presented the data showing a doubling of hospital discharge rates when the AHAs new CPR guidelines were consistently and effectively applied to 893 patients........

If you go to the hospital within one to two hours of the onset of symptoms of a heart attack, your chances of getting proper therapy are nearly 70 percent greater than those who wait 11 to 12 hours before seeking therapy, as per results presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla........

Recovery from heart attacks is best served by continuing to take prescribed medications. Yet more than half of patients who have had a heart attack stop taking these lifesaving medications within three years, as per results from a Mayo Clinic study presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla........

Women who overcome breast cancer have every reason to celebrate. But a heart filled with joy may also be a heart damaged by life-saving cancer therapies, a growing body of research shows. Most breast cancer therapies today including new treatments still under development increase long-term risk of cardiovascular disease, said Lee W. Jones, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. We dont know exactly how large the added risk is, but we believe its substantial. Recent gains in breast-cancer-specific survival could be markedly diminished by an increase in the long-term risk of cardiovascular death........

While some uncertainty does exist in climate projections and future health vulnerability, overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s, as per a recent study by Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health and soon would be reported in the November 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. In metropolitan New York, scientists estimate a 47 percent to 95 percent increase in summer heat-related deaths when in comparison to the 1990s........

Infants and children receiving artificial heart-valve replacements face several repeat operations as they grow, since the replacements become too small and must be traded for bigger ones. Scientists at Children's Hospital Boston have now developed a solution: living, growing valves created in the lab from a patient's own cells........

A vascular surgery technique pioneered at UT Southwestern Medical Center, in which veins are removed from the thigh to repair the aorta does not create blood-flow problems and painful side effects in a majority of patients, scientists report. Vascular disease is a major contributor to life-threatening conditions such as aneurysms or blockages of the aorta. Inserting synthetic grafts to repair damaged aortas, the largest artery in the body, is typically the first line of therapy........

Screening and treating middle-aged adults with a family history of coronary heart disease could prevent more than 4 in 10 premature heart attacks, as per an article in this weeks BMJ. Scientists from the University of Glasgow looked at data from prior studies which show that immediate family members of patients with premature coronary heart disease (CHD) are at significantly increased risk of developing the disease........

Two new studies led by scientists at the University of Iowa and the Department of Veterans Affairs Iowa City Health Care System provide reassuring findings for patients reviewed in the emergency room for possible acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the physicians who treat them. ACS is a medical term for a group of potentially life-threatening heart conditions including unstable angina and heart attack. Chest pain, shortness of breath and nausea are symptoms of possible ACS, and almost five million Americans are seen each year in emergency rooms with these symptoms. In such cases, emergency room physicians must determine which patients should be admitted for more tests and observation and which patients can be discharged safely. Among those requiring hospitalization, physicians must also decide if the patient needs to be admitted to a specialty cardiology bed........

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have jointly released revised Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Unstable Angina (UA)/Non-ST- Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI). Major changes to the guidelines include: suggesting an initial non-invasive set of preliminary tests, such as a stress test, echocardiogram or radionuclide angiogram; recommending the use of anti-platelet treatment clopidogrel for at least one year after receiving a drug-eluting stent; highlighting the importance of more intense lipid and blood pressure control; and advising cessation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) use for all UA/NSTEMI patients during hospitalization........

Secondary prevention programs for coronary heart disease that contain less than 10 hours contact with health professionals and those provided by family doctors are just as effective in saving lives as more expensive, longer and more specialized hospital-based alternatives, as per cardiovascular scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada........

A national initiative designed to improve heart-failure patient care in hospitals proved effective at increasing hospital adherence to key quality-of-care performance measures and reducing the length of hospital stays for patients. It also resulted in favorable trends for in-hospital and post-discharge mortality rates, as per a UCLA study reported in the July 23 edition of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine........

Drinking more than one soft drink daily whether its regular or diet may be linked to an increase in the risk factors for heart disease, Framingham scientists reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. We were struck by the fact that it didnt matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present, said Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., senior author of the Framingham Heart Study and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome........

Taking a break in the middle of your workout may metabolize more fat than exercising without stopping, according to a recent study in Japan. Researchers conducted the first known study to compare these two exercise methodsexercising continually in one long bout versus breaking up the same workout with a rest period. The findings could change the way we approach exercise. Who wouldnt want to take a breather for that"........

A Bluetooth heart monitor could text your local hospital if you are about to have a heart attack, as per research published recently in Inderscience's International Journal of Electronic Healthcare. The device measures electrical signals from the heart, analyses them to produce an electrocardiogram (ECG) and sends an alert together with the ECG by cell phone text message........