CVD News Watch for October 24

Autumn is here and it’s time to prepare for the winter. Here is this weekend’s heart news round up.

CVD intervention watch

Revolutionary operation performed live for heart rhythm congress

It was a live performance of a different kind. Last Monday, October 20, Dr Andre Ng, Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at the University of Leicester and a Consultant Cardiologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester performed a revolutionary heart operation which was broadcasted live to the delegates at the Heart Rhythm Congress 2008 in Birmingham. The congress ran from 19 to 22 October. Dr. Ng used “technology that allows rapid and accurate location of the origin of the heart rhythm disturbance in a 3-dimensional geometry of the heart chambers and guides successful treatment with the use of catheter ablation.”

CVD obesity watch

Speed of eating “key to obesity”

According to this news item from BBC, Japanese researchers observed that men who eat fast were 84% more likely to be overweight than normal speed eaters of the same gender; for fast-eating women were it’s just over 54%. The study findings suggest that our moms were right when they told us never to wolf down our food but instead chew everything 20 times. “If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing – you can overfill the thing“, according to Professor Ian McDonald of the University of Nottingham. Children should therefore be encouraged to eat slowly and not be forced to eat they are feeling full.

CVD prevention watch

Panel calls for vaccine for adult smokers

No, it is not a vaccine to help you to quit. It is a shot to protect smokers from bugs that cause pneumonia, meningitis and other illnesses that smokers tend to have. This is according to the recommendation issued by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). It has been shown that smokers are about four times more likely to suffer pneumococcal disease than nonsmokers. The vaccine is recommended for adult smokers 65 years and older.

CVD innovation watch

Heart valves that grow with the patient

German surgeons and researchers  developed this award-winning innovation – heart valves than can be used in children because they grow with the patient. The valves are made from tissues the so-called “engineered biological cardiac valves” especially suitable for growing hearts. More about this next week.

CVD BP watch

BP control suppresses AF risk

This study found a link between hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF). Thus, controlling your blood pressure can reduce your risk for AF, according to University of Washington researchers, and even more serious cardiac events.