clogged arteries

Study: More hospitals can safely unclog arteries Associated Press

Merck's anti-clotting drug flops in key trial (AP) — A blood thinner being developed by Merck has flopped in a major study aimed at preventing heart attacks, strokes and other problems in people who had suffered a heart attack or severe chest pain from clogged arteries.

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CHICAGO (AP) -- Landmark research that should have changed the way doctors treat millions of heart patients with clogged arteries has had little effect - many still don't first try medicines that sometimes eliminate the need for costly, invasive procedures, a study suggests....

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CHICAGO (AP) -- Working women are equal to men in a way they'll wish they weren't. Female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to suffer a heart attack or a stroke or to have clogged arteries, a big federally funded study found....

It's not a perfect test. Yet researchers report a key step for the first gene test aimed at reducing unnecessary angiograms - expensive and somewhat risky procedures that hundreds of thousands of Americans have each year to check for clogged arteries.

Most of these exams, done in hospital cardiac catheterization labs, turn out negative....

(Queen Mary, University of London) Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have made an important discovery in understanding what causes arteries to clog up.They have discovered that an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase-8 plays a crucial role in raising blood pressure and causing abnormal build-up of cells in the arteries -- both of which increase the risk of heart disease.The scientists say that their research could lead to new drugs for treating high blood pressure and preventing heart disease.

A new study gives fresh evidence that many people with clogged heart arteries are being overtreated with stents, and that a simple blood-flow test might help prevent unnecessary care.

Fewer deaths, heart attacks and repeat procedures occurred when doctors implanted fewer of these tiny artery props, using the blood-flow test to decide when they were truly needed, the study found....

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Eighty-year-olds with clogged arteries or leaky heart valves used to be sent home with a pat on the arm from their doctors and pills to try to ease their symptoms.

Now more are getting open-heart surgery, with remarkable survival rates rivaling those of much younger people, new studies show....