http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. An examination of health literacy (such as understanding basic health information) among managed care patients with heart failure, a condition that requires self-management, found that nearly one in five have low health literacy, which was associated with a higher all-cause risk of death, according to a study in the April 27 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news223053847.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:24:16 EST news223053847 Death rates after hospitalization for heart failure have dropped for veterans age 80 and older, but rehospitalizations remain frequent, according to a study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure. http://phys.org/news221239674.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:28:05 EST news221239674 The University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center and the University of Pittsburgh have been awarded $13.3 million to explore the potential benefits of heart devices for the large and growing group of Americans with heart failure. http://phys.org/news215076884.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:34:59 EST news215076884 Keeping in close contact with heart failure patients once they leave the hospital has been an ongoing challenge for physicians. A patient's condition can worsen with no notice and early intervention could potentially make a big difference. http://phys.org/news209152621.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:10:05 EST news209152621 A small Mayo Clinic study has found that morbidly obese heart failure patients who undergo bariatric surgery gain long-lasting and meaningful improvements in disease symptoms and quality of life. The results were presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010 in Chicago. http://phys.org/news209038705.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:40:01 EST news209038705 A study led by UCLA tested a new performance intervention to help improve adherence to national guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure patients in an outpatient setting. http://phys.org/news199371314.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:16 EST news199371314 Almost a quarter of heart failure patients with Medicare are back in the hospital within a month after discharge, researchers report in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association. http://phys.org/news177098399.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:12 EST news177098399 A new nonsurgical technique to repair leaking mitral valves in heart failure patients was safe in a study reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. http://phys.org/news164998852.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:10:01 EST news164998852 Three patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center were among the first in the United States to be implanted with a next-generation artificial heart pump called the DuraHeart™ Left-Ventricular Assist System. The surgeries took place earlier this year. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is one of only three centers in the U.S. currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial studying the device. http://phys.org/news163165294.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:43:10 EST news163165294 Heart failure patients who regularly exercise fare better and feel better about their lives than do similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news158345550.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:52:58 EST news158345550 Older people with comorbidities and those with multiple hospital admissions related to heart failure are unlikely to receive a meaningful survival benefit from implanted defibrillators, found a study in CMAJ by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg611.pdf. http://phys.org/news156449760.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:16:29 EST news156449760 People over 80 years of age suffering from a certain type of heart failure do not appear to benefit from most commonly prescribed heart medications, according to a study conducted at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and published in the March 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://phys.org/news156096464.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:08:17 EST news156096464 An implantable hemodynamic monitor (IHM) may help to guide medical treatment in a large subgroup of patients with heart failure—those with diastolic heart failure (DHF), reports a study in the December Journal of Cardiac Failure (http://www.onlinejcf.com/), published by Elsevier. http://phys.org/news148220841.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:27:21 EST news148220841 (PhysOrg.com) -- An independent study comparing a low cost diuretic to ACE inhibitors, calcium blockers and alpha blockers for the treatment of high blood pressure and hypertension was sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The study entitled Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) was conducted for the period of 1994 to 1998 with the last follow-up visit in March, 2002. http://phys.org/news147441707.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:01:47 EST news147441707 Older adults who take the diabetes medication rosiglitazone appear to have a higher risk of death and heart failure than those taking the related medication pioglitazone, according to a report in the November 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news146765710.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:15:10 EST news146765710 Heart failure patients who regularly exercise fare better and feel better about their lives than do similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news145707536.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:18:56 EST news145707536 Phase I results of the first clinical trial of gene therapy for patients with advanced heart failure show the approach to be promising, with improvements in several measures of the condition's severity. http://phys.org/news145556739.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:25:39 EST news145556739 Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce the risk of death from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among patients with heart failure, and they do so without significantly altering a person's quality of life, say researchers from Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news139719252.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:54:12 EST news139719252 (PhysOrg.com) -- Race, age, and geography appear to play important roles in who receives cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), a proven treatment for some patients with heart failure, say researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). http://phys.org/news137776955.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:22:35 EST news137776955 Data from 260 hospitals across the United States has led to the creation of a new method for physicians to more accurately determine the severity of heart failure in patients upon hospital admission, with a goal of reducing in-hospital mortality and more quickly identifying triage methods and treatment decisions. The model is discussed in the July 29 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://phys.org/news136641389.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:56:29 EST news136641389