Category: Cardiology

Mother’s body size and placental size predict heart disease in men

Researchers investigating the foetal origins of chronic disease have discovered that combinations of a mother’s body size and the shape and size of her baby’s placenta can predict heart disease in men in later life. The research is published online today in the European Heart Journal [1]. Professor David Barker and colleagues studied 6975 men […]

Study reveals increased inequality in stroke deaths across Europe and central Asia

There is growing inequality between different countries in Europe and central Asia in the proportion of people who die from stroke, according to a study published online in the European Heart Journal [1]. In countries where the proportions of stroke deaths have been low at the end of the 20th century, the death rates are […]

Some diabetes drugs are better than others according to new study

New research suggests that several commonly prescribed drugs for type 2 diabetes may not be as effective at preventing death and cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and stroke, as the oral anti-diabetic drug, metformin. Insulin secretagogues (ISs), such as glimepiride, glibenclamide (known as glyburide in the USA and Canada), gliclazide and tolbutamide, have been […]

Eating more fruit and vegetables is linked to a lower risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease

A European study investigating the links between diet and disease has found that people who consume more fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease – the most common form of heart disease and one of the leading causes of death in Europe. However, the authors point out that a […]

Stand up, move more, more often: study finds more breaks from sitting are good for waistlines and hearts

It is becoming well accepted that, as well as too little exercise, too much sitting is bad for people’s health. Now a new study has found that it is not just the length of time people spend sitting down that can make a difference, but also the number of breaks that they take while sitting […]

Lower levels of education are associated with increased risks of heart failure

Results from a large European study suggest that poorly educated people are more likely to be admitted to hospital with chronic heart failure than the better educated, even after differences in lifestyle have been taken into account. The study is published online today (Thursday 9 December) in the European Heart Journal [1]. Researchers followed 18,616 […]

Tricyclic anti-depressants linked to increased risk of heart disease

Research that followed nearly 15,000 people in Scotland has shown that a class of older generation anti-depressant is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study showed that tricyclic anti-depressants were associated with a 35% increased risk of CVD, but that there was no increased risk with the newer anti-depressants such as […]

Short people are more likely to develop heart disease than tall people

Short people are at greater risk of developing heart disease than tall people, according to the first systematic review and meta-analysis of all the available evidence, which is published online today (Wednesday 9 June) in the European Heart Journal [1]. The systematic review and meta-analysis, carried out by Finnish researchers, looked at evidence from 52 […]

Overtime is bad for the heart

Working overtime is bad for the heart according to results from a long-running study following more than 10,000 civil servants in London (UK): the Whitehall II study. The research, which is published online today (Wednesday 12 May) in the European Heart Journal [1], found that, compared with people who did not work overtime, people who […]