Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have come a step closer to understanding how cholesterol levels are regulated. In a study published today in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers identified 20 genes that are involved in this process.

So the rocky airplane landing was not the cause of Billy Mays' death after all. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner, Vernard Adams, ruled that Billy Mays died of hypertensive heart disease.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and Mayo Clinic have developed a computer model that medical doctors can use to determine the best time to begin using statin therapy in diabetes patients to help prevent heart disease and stroke.

Dissecting how heat shock protein 90 gets steroid receptors into shape to use hormones like estrogen and testosterone could lead to targeted therapies for hormone-driven cancers, such as breast and prostate, that need them as well, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit card-sized device created by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston. In a research report published online in The FASEB Journal, they describe how this device can measure and collect a type of cells needed to build vascular tissue, called endothelial progenitor cells, using only 200 microliters of blood.

Individuals with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer from depression as the general population, an association the medical community has largely been unable to explain. Now, a new study by researchers at The Miriam Hospital, in conjunction with The Montréal Heart Institute, University of Montréal and McGill University, reveals there may be genetic variations that contribute to depression in heart disease patients.

Obstructive sleep apnea, or periodic interruptions in breathing throughout the night, thickens sufferers' blood vessels. Moreover, sleep apnea increases the risk of several forms of heart and vascular disease.

Numerous studies have shown that depression is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, but exactly how has never been clear.

New York City health department is in talks with the food industry and restaurants to cut the amount of salt in the food they sell.

In this Sunday Telegraph article, the Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College makes six simple suggestions that in his personal view would improve Britain's very expensive but extremely flawed National Health Service, the NHS.

A new government report draws attention to very high salt consumption in the US and strongly recommends restricting intake to no more than 1,500mg of sodium a day. That's a little under 4g of salt, about two-thirds of a teaspoonful.

People who have high blood pressure or heart disease should avoid consuming energy drinks, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study to be published online Wednesday in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.