heart failure tagged posts

Think melatonin is safe? New research reveals a hidden heart risk

Long-term melatonin use may secretly strain the heart—raising the risk of failure, hospitalization, and death. Long-term melatonin use for sleep problems may come with unexpected heart dangers. Researchers found that chronic users were almost twice as likely to die and 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure. Though melatonin is widely regarded as harmless, experts now urge caution with extended use.

Key Research Findings

A large review of health data from more than 130,000 adults with insomnia found that people who took melatonin for a year or longer were more likely to develop heart failure, be hospitalized for the condition, or die from any cause compared to those who didn’t take the supplement.
While the study cannot prove that melatonin directly causes t...

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Can the Heart Heal itself? New study says it can

A doctor examines a patient wearing a pink robe sitting on the edge of a bed
Tissue from patients with artificial hearts, or left ventricular assist devices, regenerated muscle cells at more than six times the rate of healthy hearts, according to a paper published in the journal Circulation.
Photo by Halfpoint Images via Getty Images

An international research team found evidence that heart muscle can regenerate after heart failure in some people with artificial hearts. A research team co-led by a physician-scientist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine — Tucson’s Sarver Heart Center found that a subset of artificial heart patients can regenerate heart muscle, which may open the door to new ways to treat and perhaps someday cure heart failure. The results were published in the journal Circulation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Pr...

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Gut Microbial Pathway identified as Target for Improved Heart Disease Treatment

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Topological designation of the secondary structure of β2AR. The figure displays the overlap of the secondary structures of the 4 crystal structures of β2AR used in this study.

Cleveland Clinic researchers have made a significant discovery about how the gut microbiome interacts with cells to cause cardiovascular disease. The study published in Nature Communications found that phenylacetylglutamine (PAG), produced by gut bacteria as a waste product, then absorbed and formed in the liver, interacts with previously undiscovered locations on beta-2 adrenergic receptors on heart cells once it enters the circulation.

PAG was shown to interact with beta-2 adrenergic receptors to influence how forcefully the heart muscle cells contract—a process that investigators believe contributes to he...

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Study finds COVID-19 Vaccine can help people with Heart Failure Live Longer

COVID-19 vaccine
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Heart failure patients who are vaccinated against COVID-19 have an 82% greater likelihood of living longer than those who are not vaccinated, according to research presented at Heart Failure 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), held 11–14 May in Lisbon, Portugal. Heart Failure is a life-threatening syndrome affecting more than 64 million people worldwide.

“Patients with heart failure should be vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect their health,” said study author Dr. Kyeong-Hyeon Chun of the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea.

“In this large study of patients with heart failure, COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a lower likelihood of contracting the infection, ...

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