CVD News Watch November 7

CVD conference watch

AHA!
The best experts of the heart will be gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana this weekend. The 2008 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association run from November 8 to 12. Next week, I will try to bring you a review of the latest heart news from the conference.

CVD exercise watch

President-elect’s workout has predecessors gasping
He is not your typical American – at least as far as the Europeans are concerned. He’s black and he’s skinny. And he works out. Barack Obama is the first African-American to be elected US president. And the Obama fitness workout will probably become a legend.
“The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress… My blood pressure is pretty low and I tend to be a healthy eater,” the UK Guardian quotes president-elect Obama.

CVD gender watch

Brown Named CEO of the American Heart Association
No, it’s not that kind of gender issue. Nancy Brown will be the next Chief Executive Officer of the American Heart Association, starting January 1, 2009. She will be the first woman to hold the position.

CVD drug watch

Sanofi-Aventis scraps ongoing rimonabant research
It was thought to be the next blockbuster – a drug that can be used to treat obesity as well as cardiovascular disorders. Unfortunately, rimonabant (Acomplia) fell short of these expectations and dealt a big blow to the big pharma Sanofi-Aventis, which announced that it is halting all clinical development programs associated with rimonabant. The downfall of the potential wonder drug is due to safety issues. In one trial, 5 suicides were reported in the rimonabant treatment group compared to 1 suicide in the placebo group. Two weeks ago, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) announced that “it had asked the company to suspend marketing of the drug, on the grounds that its benefits no longer seemed to outweigh its risks.”

CVD obesity watch

Can Nintendo Wii Tackle Child Obesity?
Nintendo Wii, a program which simulates sports on the computer, is very popular among children and young people. The question is – is it effective against child obesity? This is the question that researchers at the University of Derby (UK) is tackling.
“This study aims to see if young children can lose weight or improve their health by using the Nintendo Wii. There is a lot of discussion that video games are bad for your health and we hope this research will determine if playing on this equipment could actually have physical benefits for children,” according to researcher Dr Michael Duncan.

CVD patient watch

Health of Ted Rogers stabilizes
Ted Rogers, head and founder of the Canadian company Rogers Communications was hospitalized Friday last week for an existing heart condition. The company announced that his condition has stabilized.