Almost 75 percent patients hospitalized for cardiac arrest showed normal cholesterol levels, far away from the risk of cardiovascular trouble, a nationwide study reported.

The finding indicate towards the need to change the current threshold value of the cholesterol level, said study author Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow

“The LDL cholesterol level at which people have heart attacks shouldn’t be considered as normal,” Fonarow said. Yardstick

LDL cholesterol, in other words “bad” cholesterol, accumulates to form plaques that ultimately block arteries. Values evaluated by U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute are 130 milligrams per deciliter for healthy people and 70 milligram per deciliter for those who have high risk factors such as obesity, smoking and hypertension and diabetes.

But the collected data of 137,000 cardiac arrest patients, from 2000 to 2006, showed that, about three-quarter had bad cholesterol level below 130 at the time of hospitalization, while 17.6 percent had LDL levels below 70.

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Mutant gene, responsible for the heart disease among, ten of millions of people from the subcontinent has been isolated, according to a study.

The guilty gene, found in more than1.5 billion people only in South Asia, is definite to create heart trouble, usually in later life, the researchers said.

Scientists have already concluded that the India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and to some extend Bangladesh, have a giant share in the global burden of cardiovascular diseases. According to the previous study, India alone will account for sixty percent of global heart issues, due to genetics and lifestyle, at the end of this year.

“The gene mutation induces the synthesis of an abnormal protein,” said the lead researcher. These include elevated high blood pressure and weakening of the heart muscles called cardiomyopathy, and finally death due to sudden heart attack.

In two side by side clinical trials, researchers perform the tests to check the mutation in 800 cardiac patients and 699 healthy persons across India.

The relation between the genetic defect and heart disease “were almost off the scale,” and confirming that the gene mutation played a key part in causing heart problems.

These findings raise a shocking question: if the mutation in the specific gene is so dangerous, what is the cause of its widespread?

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A review suggests that fish oil may help to decrease the number of heart diseases’ related deaths, but it appears to have no help for patients with heart beat problems.

The review has been based on the results of various fish oil related studies in which nearly 30,000 patients were involved.

The researchers from the University of Alberta conducted the study and it has been published in the journal BMJ online edition.

The researchers found that it was reported in almost 11 studies that fish oil helped to decrease heart problem 20%. But no study could determine the most favorable formulation or recommended dose for fish oil.

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A review suggests that fish oil may help to decrease the number of heart diseases’ related deaths, but it appears to have no help for patients with heart beat problems.

The review has been based on the results of various fish oil related studies in which nearly 30,000 patients were involved. The researchers from the University of Alberta conducted the study and it has been published in the journal BMJ online edition.

The researchers found that it was reported in almost 11 studies that fish oil helped to decrease heart problem 20%. But no study could determine the most favorable formulation or recommended dose for fish oil.

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According to some experts, hot temper bosses make working environment stressful as well as they may be a risk factor for their employees’ heart health.

In their study that includes 3,000 employed men, researchers from Sweden found that there was a strong link between the risk of heart attacks and other heart diseases, and bad leadership. This risk goes up if the employee works under this boss for long time.

The study has been published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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In Patients with diabetes, drug-coated stents prove safer and more effective than bare metal stents, a new study says.

Study author Dr. Laura Mauri, who is an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says: “With drug-coated stents, I would say, there is clear efficacy and clear reduction for repeat revascularization procedures.”

“This is an important caveat and I think we have to judge our patients and need to know them as individual to determine on a case-by-case basis. It’s not a blanket statement, but in general, use of drug-coated stents in diabetic patients is really quite beneficial,” Mauri added.

The study has been presented at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions in New Orleans on Monday.

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Johns Hopkins researchers report says that sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of death in kidney failure patients, and malnutrition and inflammation are two major risk factors for fatal heart attacks in these people.

Data from 1041 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis was analyzed and the researchers found that there were 658 deaths (including 146 cases of sudden cardiac death) over 9.5 years.

After that the team examined previously recorded results of blood test from 122 (out of 146 sudden deaths) patents to note the levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and albumin. The proteins hsCRP and IL-6 are known as the makers of common blood vessel and organ inflammation, while low albumin levels are linked to malnutrition.

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More than 50 percent of cardiac patients in America, who undergo angioplasty don’t get the suggested cardiac stress tests earlier, Medicare data shows.

These tests are necessary for those patients, who likely to have angioplasty or stenting, but just 44 percent of them got the test.

“We didn’t expect to find 100 percent, but we expected a much higher percentage than 44,” said Dr. Rita F. Redberg, professor of medicine at the University of California,

Redberg, the study leader, collected the medical records of approximately 24,000 people who had elective PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention or angioplasty).

In general recommended stress test, patient walks on a treadmill to check heart function, which should be performed in such cases. But records reveal that, just 44.5 percent of patients had stress tests before the PCI. There was variation in percentage, involving factors like, patient characteristics and the age of the doctor performing the PCI.

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