A report led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) helps explain the origins of cardiac fibrosis, a stiffening of the heart muscle that leads to a variety of cardiac diseases, most notably heart failure.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is also associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction or heart attack. While rates of several cardiovascular risk factors were also increased in study participants infected with HIV, the increased incidence of heart attack was beyond what could be explained by risk factor differences.

Genetics and family history play a large role in a person's risk for heart disease, but factors in diet, lifestyle and the environment are also thought to influence susceptibility to the disease.

The use of medicines to fight cardiovascular disease has been a primary focus of research in this area for the past several decades, as combinations of interventions and medicinal therapy have gradually begun to increase long-term survival rates.