Munich, Germany – A balloon pump inserted in the aorta is currently the most widely used support device in the treatment of cardiogenic shock and, since its introduction in 1968, has been used in several million people. However, there is still only limited evidence that the intraaortic balloon pump (IABP), one of the oldest medical devices in cardiology, is actually beneficial for the patient. Only a few registry studies and clinical trials have shown that the IABP can improve blood pressure and the perfusion of the coronary arteries. Based on these studies, international ...

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MA-- Squid's colorful, changeable skin enables the animal--and their close relatives, cuttlefish and octopus--to display extraordinary camouflage, the speed and diversity of which is unmatched in the animal kingdom. But how squid control their skin's iridescence, or light-reflecting property, which is responsible for the animal's sparkly rainbow of color, has been unknown. In a new study, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) researchers Paloma Gonzalez Bellido and Trevor Wardill and their colleagues report that nerves in squid skin control the animal's ...

Munich, Germany – Rates of stent thrombosis at three years were low and comparable between zotarolimus-eluting and sirolimus-eluting stents, according to findings from the PROTECT study described here today at ESC Congress 2012. Presenting the results, Professor William Wijns from the Cardiovascular Center in Aalst, Belgium, said that the decline in rates of stent thrombosis seen recently and in the PROTECT (Patient Related OuTcomes with Endeavor versus Cypher Stenting) study was probably explained by several factors, including "improvements in patient selection, procedural ...

Munich, Germany – Data from four French nationwide registries of STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) patients initiated five years apart and covering more than 15 years show that mortality rate decreased by 68% over this period, from 13.7% to 4.4%. Around one quarter of this mortality reduction could be attributed to a change in patient characteristics. Even after adjusting for the use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and reperfusion therapy, there still remained a substantial decrease in early mortality rate (>60%), underlining the importance ...

Munich, Germany – The German Aortic Valve Registry (GARY) was started in July 2010 and is the only registry so far to include both transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and conventional aortic valve replacements and repair.(1) The intention is to deliver a complete picture of current and future practice of treating aortic valve disease and to deliver reliable data on the short and long-term outcome of different treatment strategies. This specifically includes data about quality of life before and after treatment besides numerous medical variables. Participation ...

Munich, Germany –The percutaneous catheter-based treatment of mitral regurgitation with the MitraClip system improves symptoms and cardiac function at one-year, according to results of a prospective observational study presented here today at ESC Congress 2012. ACCESS-EUROPE (ACCESS-EU) was a multicentre study of the MitraClip system in a commercial setting in 567 patients enrolled at 14 European sites, the largest group of patients evaluated to date. The results were presented by the study's co-principal investigator Professor Wolfgang Schillinger of the Universitätsmedizin ...

Munich, Germany – A sub-study of the Outcome Reduction with an Initial Glargine Intervention (ORIGIN) trial, designed to investigate the effect of insulin glargine and omega-3 fatty acids on atherosclerosis progression, has found that, compared to standard care, only insulin glargine (a long-acting insulin) had a "modest" statistically non-significant reducing effect on the primary outcome of rate of change in maximum carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) at 12 carotid sites. However, while insulin glargine did significantly reduce the secondary outcomes of the study ...

Scientists at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Federal University of Minas Gerais, led by Dr. Andréa Teixeira-Carvalho and Dr. Mônica Cristina de Oliveira, have developed and characterized a circulating and pH-sensitive liposome containing cisplatin (SpHL-CDDP) aiming to promote the release of cisplatin near the tumor as well as decreasing toxicity. The development of analog drugs and new formulations are current strategies for increasing the effectiveness and safety of cisplatin as an anti-peritoneal carcinomatosis drug. The results, which appear in the August 2012 issue ...

Lack of sleep is linked to more aggressive breast cancers, according to new findings published in the August issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment by physician-scientists from University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University. Led by Cheryl Thompson, PhD, the study is the first-of-its-kind to show an association between insufficient sleep and biologically more aggressive tumors as well as likelihood of cancer recurrence. The research team analyzed medical records and survey ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- People who are of normal weight but have fat concentrated in their bellies have a higher death risk than those who are obese, according to Mayo Clinic research presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich. Those studied who had a normal body mass index but central obesity -- a high waist-to-hip ratio -- had the highest cardiovascular death risk and the highest death risk from all causes, the analysis found. "We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution ...

Munich, Germany – Healthy behaviours regarding alcohol, physical activity, vegetable intake and body weight reduce the risk of hypertension by two thirds, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today. The findings were presented by Professor Pekka Jousilahti from National Institute for Health and Welfare. According to the World Health Organization, hypertension is the leading cause of mortality in the world, contributing annually to over 7 million deaths (about 15% of all deaths). Therefore, prevention of hypertension is essential to improving health and ...

Scientists have long suspected that the Sun's 11-year cycle influences climate of certain regions on Earth. Yet records of average, seasonal temperatures do not date back far enough to confirm any patterns. Now, armed with a unique proxy, an international team of researchers show that unusually cold winters in Central Europe are related to low solar activity - when sunspot numbers are minimal. The freezing of Germany's largest river, the Rhine, is the key. Although the Earth's surface overall continues to warm, the new analysis has revealed a correlation between periods ...

Munich, Germany – Consuming energy drinks can exert acute positive benefits on myocardial performance, according to research presented today at the ESC Congress by Dr Matteo Cameli from University of Siena. "In recent years the energy drink market has exploded, with more people than ever before turning to these products as quick 'pick me ups', whether to stay awake during all night study vigils or gain the edge in sport," said Dr Cameli. "With energy drinks containing both caffeine and taurine concerns have been raised of adverse effects on the heart. While caffeine increases ...

Munich, Germany – Patients with psoriasis are at high risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2012. The findings were presented at the press conference by Dr Ole Ahlehoff from Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark and at the scientific session by Usman KHALID. Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory disease that affects approximately 125 million people worldwide. A new study of the entire Danish population confirms previous reports of increased risk of diabetes mellitus in patients with psoriasis and shows that ...

Munich, Germany – Normal weight individuals who carry weight concentrated in their belly have a higher death risk than obese individuals, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2012. The results were presented by Dr Karine Sahakyan from the Mayo Clinic. "We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with a normal weight," said Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, senior author on the study and a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "This ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2012 – Reducing television viewing may be an effective strategy to prevent excess weight gain among adolescents, according to a new study released in the September/October 2012 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. Findings were based on a one-year community-based randomized trial that enrolled 153 adults and 72 adolescents from the same households. During that year, researchers from the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Center conducted six face-to-face group meetings, sent monthly newsletters, ...

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) today released an updated Statement on Climate Change, replacing the 2007 version that was in effect. The informational statement is intended to provide a trustworthy, objective, and scientifically up-to-date explanation of scientific issues of concern to the public. The statement provides a brief overview of how and why global climate has changed in recent decades and will continue to change in the future. It is based on the peer-reviewed scientific literature and is consistent with the majority of current scientific understanding ...

A superconductor, which can move electrical energy with no wasteful resistance, is the holy grail of cost-effective, efficient, and "green" power production. Unlike traditional conductors such as copper or silver, which waste power resources and lose energy when they heat up, an ideal superconductor would continuously carry electrical current without losing any power. But creating a true superconductor is tricky. Though the concept of high temperature superconductors is more than two decades old, finding and controlling the right materials has been a challenge. Now Prof. ...

Vanderbilt University researchers studying interventions for adolescents and young adults with autism are reporting today that there is insufficient evidence to support findings, good or bad, for the therapies currently used. Although the prevalence of autism is on the rise, much remains to be discovered when it comes to interventions for this population, the researchers concluded. "Overall, there is very little evidence in all areas of care for adolescents and young adults with autism, and it is urgent that more rigorous studies be developed and conducted," said Melissa ...

The blanket of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted to its lowest extent ever recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. On Aug. 26, the Arctic sea ice extent fell to 1.58 million square miles, or 4.10 million square kilometers. The number is 27,000 square miles, or 70,000 square kilometers below the record low daily sea ice extent set Sept. 18, 2007. Since the summer Arctic sea ice minimum normally does not occur until the melt season ends in mid- to-late September, ...

AMES, Iowa -- As president of the International Society for Research on Aggression (IRSA) and with consent of the organization's elected council, Craig Anderson appointed an international Media Violence Commission last December to prepare a public statement on the known effects of media violence exposure, based on the current state of scientific knowledge. The Iowa State University Distinguished Professor of psychology appointed 12 IRSA researchers to the commission, including Douglas Gentile, an ISU associate professor of psychology. The Media Violence Commission's research-based ...

CancerMeds Canada is an affiliate for a well-known leading global pharmacy intermediary GreatCanadianPharmacy.com. "Since 2004, our goal at GreatCanadianPharmacy.com is to provide consumers affordable Canada drugs through our unique network of licensed global pharmacies and Canadian pharmacies," explains the owner of CancerMedsCanada.com, Thomas Unger. "We aim to be one of the forerunners of premier prescription fulfillment service providers on the Web." GreatCanadianPharmacy.com offers the cheapest and best drug prices for its consumers on the Web. ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- People who carry a "G" instead of an "A" at a specific spot in their genetic code have roughly a six-fold higher risk of developing certain types of brain tumors, a Mayo Clinic and University of California, San Francisco study has found. The findings, published online today in the journal Nature Genetics, could help researchers identify people at risk of developing certain subtypes of gliomas which account for about 20 percent of new brain cancers diagnosed annually in the U.S. and may lead to better surveillance, diagnosis and treatment. Researchers ...

People who carry a "G" instead of an "A" at a specific spot in the sequence of their genetic code have roughly a six-fold higher risk of developing certain types of brain tumors, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Mayo Clinic. The study was jointly led by geneticists Margaret Wrensch, PhD, and John Wiencke, PhD, professors in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF, and Robert Jenkins, MD, PhD, professor of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and the Division of Laboratory ...

A revolutionary tool created by scientists at the University of Sheffield has enabled researchers to analyse nanometer-sized devices without destroying them for the first time, opening the door to a new wave of technologies. The nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus – developed by the University's Department of Physics and Astronomy – will allow for further developments and new applications for nanotechnology which is increasingly used in harvesting solar energy, computing, communication developments and also in the medical field. Scientists can now analyse nanostructures ...