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Condition: Atrial Fibrillation
Education: Harvard

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Total 14 results found since Jan 2013.

Special MRI scan could identify stroke risk in people with atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disorder that affects millions of people. It can make you feel lousy. Even worse, it can cause potentially disabling or deadly strokes. A special MRI scan may — I stress the “may” — help identify people with atrial fibrillation who are at high risk of having a stroke. This could help many people with this condition to avoid taking warfarin or other clot-preventing medications for life. A normal heartbeat starts in a cluster of cells called the pacemaker. It sits in the heart’s upper right chamber (the right atrium). These cells generate a pulse of electricity that...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - April 28, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Howard LeWine, M.D. Tags: Heart Health atrial fibrillation MRI prevention special MRI scan Stroke Stroke Risk Source Type: news

10 steps to lower stroke risk
More than two dozen factors influence the odds of having a stroke. Some can't be changed, like getting older or having a family history of stroke. But a surprising number of these factors can be controlled, even when an underlying medical condition further ups the risk of stroke, reports the August 2013 Harvard Heart Letter. "Stroke is potentially one of the most devastating illnesses that we see, and it's especially tragic when simply taking good care of one's blood pressure or some other preventive measure might have averted it," says Dr. Thomas Lee, MD, co-editor in chief of the Harvard Heart Letter. There are two basic...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - August 1, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Check the pulse to track irregular heartbeats after a stroke
The rapid, irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation is a key cause of stroke. New research suggests that it's to blame for more strokes than doctors realized, and that simply measuring the pulse could help detect unrecognized atrial fibrillation and avert a second stroke, reports the October 2014 Harvard Heart Letter. Atrial fibrillation can come and go, lasting from a few seconds to several days. Some people have distressing symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, or chest pressure. For many others, atrial fibrillation passes silently. Either way, blood can pool in the heart's upper chambers, or atria. This stag...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - September 30, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Johnson & Johnson Launches Heartline ™, the First-of-its-Kind, Virtual Study Designed to Explore if a New iPhone App and Apple Watch Can Help Reduce the Risk of Stroke
New Brunswick, NJ, February 25, 2020 — Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) today announced that the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, in collaboration with Apple, opened enrollment for the Heartline™ Study. The study is designed to explore if the Heartline™ Study app on iPhone and heart health features on Apple Watch can improve health outcomes, including reducing the risk of stroke, with earlier detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib, a common form of irregular heart rhythm, is a leading cause of stroke in the U.S. To enroll in the Heartline™ Study, individuals must be age 65 or older...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - February 25, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Innovation Source Type: news

Reversing the effects of the new anti-clotting drugs
The oral anticoagulant warfarin (Coumadin) became available for prescription in 1954. This anti-clotting drug commanded national attention when President Dwight Eisenhower received the drug as part of his treatment following a heart attack. No other oral anticoagulant was successfully developed and marketed in the United States until 2010. Warfarin is a dangerous drug. Along with insulin, it is responsible for the most emergency hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions. Whereas insulin causes low blood sugar, warfarin is notorious for the complication of major bleeding. Warfarin is plagued by hundreds of drug-drug an...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - December 9, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD Tags: Drugs and Supplements Health Heart Health Hypertension and Stroke anti-clotting coumadin deep-vein-thrombosis DVT Source Type: news

Atrial Fibrillation and Injected Aripiprazole: A Case Report
Conclusion In summary, although it is not possible to exclude confounding factors, the timing and dose-dependent effect of aripiprazole administration in our patient suggests an association between an initial intramuscular injection of long-acting aripiprazole and new onset of AF. This observation calls for clinical vigilance, not only in patients with additional risk factors for stroke but also in younger patients who might have predisposing factors for arrhythmias. References CPS (Canadian Pharmacists Association). Available at: http://www.e-therapeutics.ca. Accessed January 1, 2017. Polcwiartek C, Sneider B, Graff C,...
Source: Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience - May 1, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Authors: ICNS Online Editor Tags: Case Report Current Issue adverse effects aripiprazole atrial fibrillation schizoaffective disorder Source Type: research

'Chocolate good for the heart' claims sadly too good to be true
Conclusion Health stories that suggest eating or drinking something we like, whether it's chocolate or wine, are always popular. But they don't really tell us anything we don't know already. Certain foods may have a small impact on certain types of diseases, but it's the overall diet that counts. Previous studies have already suggested that the antioxidant properties of cocoa could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it's surprising that this study focused on one particular cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation. AF is a common condition that affects heart rate, often causing a faster than normal, irregular ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Biosense Webster Unveils Late-Breaking Results from PRECEPT Study in Patients with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation
IRVINE, CA – May 8, 2020 – Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies* today announced that Biosense Webster, Inc.’s THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH® SF Ablation Catheter, evaluated in the PRECEPT study for the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), resulted in freedom from any documented, symptomatic atrial arrhythmias at 15 months post-procedure for eight out of ten study participants (80.4 percent).1 Use of the THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH SF CATHETER for persistent atrial fibrillation is investigational only. This PRECEPT study data support a Premarket Approval supplement application to the U.S. Food and Drug Adm...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - May 12, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Innovation Source Type: news

Empowering Patients to Take Care of Their Hearts
Hypertension affects about 103 million Americans, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Atrial fibrillation (AFib), which is often associated with hypertension and could affect up to 6 million people per CDC statistics, can be asymptomatic, so patients may be unaware they have it. The CDC also reports that more than 600,000 Americans die each year from heart disease, and coronary artery disease is the most common type of such disease. Also impacting the heart is diabetes—and more than 100 million Americans suffer from it, the CDC reported. “Heart dise...
Source: MDDI - September 30, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Daphne Allen Tags: Cardiovascular Source Type: news

Study: Fish Oil Doesn ’ t Seem To Prevent Heart Problems
This study is consistent with earlier trials. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the fish oil-based drug Vascepa for heart attack and stroke prevention in 2019. Nissen hopes the FDA will take a look at these studies and reconsider that decision. “But it’s hard to get something undone once the genie gets out of the bottle,” he said. An editorial in the journal that accompanies the study written by Dr. Gregory Curfman, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, also suggested the FDA should require a postmarketing clinical trial of a high-dose of fish oil, such as Vascepa, vs. corn...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - November 16, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: CBS Boston Tags: Boston News Health Syndicated CBSN Boston CNN fish oil Source Type: news

Bypass surgery an “uncommon” cause of memory loss, cognitive decline
Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) offers a new lease on life for thousands of people each year whose hearts aren’t getting the blood they need to work properly. But it has also been blamed for “brain fog,” a loss of memory and thinking skills that follows the procedure in some people. Such brain problems are often called cognitive impairment. The operation itself may not be to blame, according to a review in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine. For the review, a team of researchers—mostly from the U. S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs—synthesized data from 17 clinical trials and four w...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - July 22, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Howard LeWine, M.D. Tags: Heart Health bypass surgery Coronary artery bypass surgery memory loss Source Type: news

Decline in dementia rate offers “cautious hope”
“The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will grow each year as the size and proportion of the U.S. population age 65 and older continue to increase. The number will escalate rapidly in coming years as the baby boom generation ages.” 2015 Alzheimer’s disease Facts and Figures Despite these alarming projections, a report from a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) offered a few words of encouragement. Researchers from the longstanding Framingham study found that the rate of dementia has declined over the course of three decades. Framingham researchers had been study...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - March 9, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Beverly Merz Tags: Alzheimer's Disease Behavioral Health Brain and cognitive health Caregiving Healthy Aging Memory Mental Health Prevention cognitive decline dementia Source Type: news

Chocolate Might Lower Risk Of Irregular Heartbeat, Study Finds
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) – Looking for an excuse to eat chocolate? There’s good news out of Harvard University, where researchers say including chocolate in your diet could keep your heart healthy. A study involving more than 55,000 people in Denmark found that those who ate moderate amounts of chocolate were at a lower risk for being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – a dangerous type of irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke, heart failure, dementia and death. Men who love chocolate will be happier than women about the results of this study. The irregular heartbeat risk went down as much as 20 percent for men who ate...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - May 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Health – CBS Boston Tags: Health Local News Syndicated Local Chocolate Harvard University Study Source Type: news

Associations between depression and cardiometabolic health: A 27-year longitudinal study.
CONCLUSIONS: A history of depression symptoms by early midlife is associated with an elevated risk for subsequent development of several self-reported health conditions. When isolated, non-somatic depression symptoms are associated with incident self-reported sleep apnea. Depression symptom history may be a predictor or marker of cardiometabolic risk over decades. PMID: 33431106 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Psychological Medicine - January 12, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ditmars HL, Logue MW, Toomey R, McKenzie RE, Franz CE, Panizzon MS, Reynolds CA, Cuthbert KN, Vandiver R, Gustavson DE, Eglit GML, Elman JA, Sanderson-Cimino M, Williams ME, Andreassen OA, Dale AM, Eyler LT, Fennema-Notestine C, Gillespie NA, Hauger RL, J Tags: Psychol Med Source Type: research