The disease familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH) is a common cause of disturbed metabolism of fat and early heart attacks. Uppsala University scientists have now developed a pioneering method and can show for the first time what genes are regulated by the gene USF1, which is known to cause the disease. These findings are being presented today in the leading journal Genome Research.

An estimated one in 20 patients undergoing a common operation to boost blood supply to the heart and to ward off repeat heart attacks may do better if their surgeons also remold the heart to a near normal size, by cutting and suturing together stretched muscle and scar tissue resulting from the initial attack, according to cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins.

By now, everyone knows that overweight people have a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and other problems that arise from clogged, hardened arteries. And people who carry their extra weight around their waist – giving them a “beer belly” or an “apple” shape -- have the highest risk of all.

Scientists have identified the gene that sets off a sequence of events in the blood vessels of otherwise healthy adults that can lead to high blood pressure. The disease process eventually makes conditions in vessels ripe for the creation of blockages that can cause heart attacks, strokes and circulatory problems.

A diet rich in leafy vegetables may minimize the tissue damage caused by heart attacks, according to researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings, published in the November 12 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the chemical nitrite, found in many vegetables, could be the secret ingredient in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet.

Endorphins and other morphine-like substances known as opioids, which are released during exercise, don't just make you feel good -- they may also protect you from heart attacks, according to University of Iowa researchers.

Recovery from heart attacks is best served by continuing to take prescribed medications. Yet more than half of patients who have had a heart attack stop taking these lifesaving medications within three years, according to results from a Mayo Clinic study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla.

If you think you can lower the risk of heart disease by cutting down on salt, you're wrong, as a new study has found no conclusive proof of any link between having salt and the incidence of heart disease.

The genetic family ties that bind brothers and sisters also link their risk for developing clogged arteries and having potentially fatal heart attacks, scientists at Johns Hopkins report. And according to researchers, brothers bear the brunt of the burden.

Late breaking results from the SPIRIT III trial, presented at TCT 2007, the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, show that after 12 months, there were significantly fewer major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as heart attacks, deaths from cardiac causes or repeat procedures (angioplasty or surgery) to clear the original vessel blockage after using a Xience V everolimus-eluting coronary stent than a Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent.

New research, published today in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology by The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, has found that lowering blood pressure protects stroke victims with Chronic Kidney Disease from further strokes or heart attacks.

It was a murder mystery playing out in major cities across the country and perplexing scientists. Thousands of people were dying from strokes and heart attacks within 24 hours of a spike in microscopic pollution -- tiny particles that spew from the exhaust of diesel trucks, buses and coal-burning factories.