Patients with heart disease should be screened and treated for depression because it can adversely affect their health outlook and quality of life, according to a new report by the American Heart Association.

Full article here.

Cat owners appear to have a much lower risk of dying from a heart attack than their feline-spurning counterparts, a study suggests.
 BBC article.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2008) — Women and men experience a similar prevalence of adverse drug reactions in the treatment of coronary artery disease; however, women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to be treated with statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

Full Science Daily article 

Wine was found to have the biggest effect on heart disease

Middle-aged non-drinkers can quickly reduce their risk of heart disease by introducing a daily tipple to their diet, South Carolina researchers say. New moderate drinkers were 38% less likely to develop heart disease than those who stayed tee-total, a four-year study involving 7,500 people found.

Full BBC article 

Check out the Celebrity shoe auction 

Designed to warn women of their #1 health threat, The Heart Truth created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American women. The Red Dress reminds women of the need to protect their heart health and inspires them to take action.

The Red Dress Collection 2008 

The Heart Truth Campaign 

It seems counterintuitive, but inflammation begins with the body’s way of defending itself against harm. We’ve all experienced it as part of the normal healing process after a scrape or cut. Waves of immune cells rush to the injury, combatting threatening pathogens and sometimes causing heat, redness and swelling. But the new thinking is that serious health problems begin when inflammation overstays its welcome, persisting in a chronic, low-grade state in which some immune cells remain activated even though they’re not needed.

MSN article 

Immune Therapy Cuts Heart Risk

Some people with heart failure might benefit from a therapy which helps dampen their overactive immune systems.

US researchers treated more than 1,000 patients, and found those with certain types of heart failure had a lower risk of death or hospitalisation.

BBC article here. 

Read about the 2008 Red Dress Award Honorees.

Photos from the 2007 Red Dress Awards.

Medicine’s dream of growing new human hearts and other organs to repair or replace damaged ones received a significant boost on Sunday when University of Minnesota researchers reported success in creating a beating rat heart in a laboratory.

NY Times Story

Additional BBC Story