In much of the world (but not in the U.S.,) drug-coated stents are avoided by cardiologists because of their high cost. To compensate for the inability to use these stents, many cardiologists outside of the U.S. have taken to administering sirolimus (also
Electron Beam CT, or EBCT scans (formerly called ultrafast CT scans) are useful in detecting the presence of calcium deposits in the lining of the coronary arteries. The presence of calcium deposits is a strong indicator that coronary artery disease is al
Surgery does not deal with the basic molecular foundation of disease. It is a mechanical approach to a biologic problem. For those of us who are considered experts in the areas of coronary disease, what an embarrassment to admit that coronary artery disea
Researchers say that ampakines, which extend waking times and enhance cognitive function, did not appear to be linked to side effects such as hyperactivity, distorted thinking or extended wakefulness. Samuel Deadwyler, of who led the Wake Forest Universit
Even the lowest dose of modafinil, an ampakine, improved the wakefulness and cognitive performance of sleep-deprived people; they work in part by boosting glutamate, a key neurotransmitter that facilitates learning & learn and encodes memory.
Modafinil has made it possible to have 48 hours of continuous wakefulness with few, if any, ill effects. New classes of sleeping pills are on the horizon that promise to deliver sleep that is deeper and more refreshing than the real thing. Further down th
German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim didn't set out to create a Viagra-like drug for women. The company was simply trying to develop a fast-acting antidepressant, one that patients would respond to in a matter of days, not weeks as in most current treatm
Correspondence to M. Kaszkin, Pharmacentrum Frankfurt, Keinikum der J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany kaszkin@em.uni-frankfurt.de)
Women and Heart Disease The Role of Diabetes and Hyperglycemia Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD; Elsa-Grace V. Giardina, MD; Anselm K. Gitt, MD; Uwe Gudat, MD; Helmut O. Steinberg, MD; Diethelm Tschoepe, MD Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:934-942.
Modern cardiology has given up on curing heart disease. Its aggressive interventions-- coronary artery bypass graft, atherectomy, angioplasty, and stenting--do not reduce the frequency of new heart attacks or prolong survival except in small subsets of pa
Big Pharma's now got a one-person play called...Big Pharma...! in which writer-director-actor Jennifer Berry apparently skewers said industry. How many plays get reviewed by both the LA Weekly and PLOS Biology? Read on...
From hs-CRP results, doctors gain crucial insight into inflammation of the blood vessels around the heart, a factor not considered until now for patients at risk.
Overweight men and women assigned to drink fructose-sweetened beverages as 25% of their energy intake developed atherogenic lipid profiles in just two weeks; unlike glucose, fructose promotedatherogenic lioproprotein phenotypes and glucose intolerance/ins