Heart Health Newsletter

This is a wonderful new Cardiovascular prevention program started by my Chiropractic College Classmate Steve Helshein DC. This program will eventually become the Gold Standard for Cardiovascular prevention.

Cardio Crusaders [email protected] to me

November 7, 2011

First artificial aortic heart valve placed without open-heart surgery OK'd by FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first artificial heart valve that can replace an aortic heart valve damaged by senile aortic valve stenosis without open-heart surgery on November 2. Senile aortic valve stenosis is a progressive, age-related disease caused by calcium deposits on the aortic valve that cause the valve to narrow. As the heart works harder to pump enough blood through the smaller valve opening, the heart eventually weakens, which can lead to problems such as fainting, chest pain, heart failure, irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), or cardiac arrest.

A Review of the Evidence: Treatment of Anemia in Patients with Heart Disease

Investigators at the VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program in Portland, OR conducted a review of the literature from 1947 through November 2010 to evaluate the balance of benefit and harms of treatments for anemia among patients with heart disease, in particular, chronic heart failure or coronary heart disease (i.e., acute coronary syndrome, post-acute coronary syndrome, history of myocardial infarction, or angina). After screening more than 2,400 articles, 49 studies (28 of which were randomized controlled trials) were reviewed in detail to answer the following three key questions:

External chest compression providers should be relieved after two minutes: BMC Emergency Medicine

During circulatory arrest, effective external chest compression (ECC) is a key element for patient survival. In 2005, international emergency medical organisations changed their recommended compression-ventilation ratio (CVR) from 15:2 to 30:2 to acknowledge the vital importance of ECC.

Prolonged use of nitroglycerin may increase severity of subsequent heart attacks

A standard treatment for heart attack patients, nitroglycerin is typically prescribed to aid in opening vessels so blood can flow to the heart more easily. A typical regimen is for hospitalized heart attack patients to be cycled on and off the nitroglycerin, 16 hours on and 8 hours off, to reduce desensitization to the drug. But a Stanford study published in Science Translational Medicine shows that prolonged use of the heart medication may actually increase the severity of subsequent heart attacks - and serves as a cautionary tale to cardiologists.