Heart(y) News, February 12

Some heart(y) news just in time for Valentine’s day.

Bill Clinton hospitalized for heart problems
Former US President Bill Clinton was admitted at  the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City Thursday for chest pains and received a stent. The 63-year old former president had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004.

According to statement from  Douglas Band, counselor to Clinton:

“Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest. Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti’s relief and long-term recovery efforts. In 2004, President Clinton underwent a successful quadruple bypass operation to free four blocked arteries.”

FDA Approves New Indication for Crestor
The US drug regulatory body FDA has approved a new indication for rosuvastatin (Crestor). The statin Crestor is already approved as n anti-cholesterol drug. The indication is now expanded for reduction of “the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke or the need for a procedure to treat blocked or narrowed arteries in patients who have never been told they have heart disease but are nevertheless at increased risk of a cardiac event.” The intended patients are men aged 50 and older and women 60 years and older with “elevated amount of a substance known as high sensitivity C-reactive protein in their blood and at least one additional traditional cardiovascular risk factor such as smoking, high blood pressure, a family history of premature heart disease, or low amounts of high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol, the so-called “good cholesterol.”

Go Red for Women Casting CallGo Red For Women Casting Call
For the third year in a row, Go Red for Women is calling all those who are a heart(y) story to tell. You can tell it at the 3^rd annual casting call for the 2010 Go Red TV special.
In addition, today, February 12, is your last chance to help and make a difference. Go Red & Give aims to raise $100,000 by today. Mark your Valentine’s Day by giving  to a cause that aims to save women’s hearts and lives.

Leading Expert Aims to Use Emulator to Eliminate Blood Clotting in CV Devices
Danny Bluestein, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, in collaboration with Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the University of Arizona, submitted a proposal for a Phase II Quantum Grant to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) last January. The study would continue the ongoing testing of the Device Thrombogenicity Emulator (DTE) which measures the blood clotting potential of currently existing CV devices such as stents, prosthetic heart valves and heart assist devices. The goal is to predict the likelihood of life-threatening blood clotting events but also eventually help improve CV devices so that anticoagulation can be totally eliminated.