Heart & Cardiovascular Disease News

Ken Lay Has Died of Heart Attack

Enron Corp. founder and chief executive Ken Lay, who was convicted in May for his role in the in the Houston-based company's downfall, died of a heart attack on Wednesday at his vacation home in Colorado. (REUTERS)

Aaron Spelling Dies at 83

The guilty-pleasure producer, whose prime-time hits, including Charlie's Angels, Dynasty and Beverly Hills, 90210, were often dismissed by critics, but more often embraced by audiences, died Friday, five days after suffering a stroke. He was 83. (eonline.com)

Aaron Spelling Has Stroke

Aaron Spelling, producer of TV’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charlie’s Angels,” suffered a stroke at his Holmby Hills estate over the weekend and was being treated at home, his publicist said Wednesday. (MSNBC)

Swedish Report On Dangers of High Doses of Statins

A Swedish warning on the potential risks of using statins in high doses has triggered strong criticism from some of the top U.S. cardiologists.

The timing of the debate is apt: Recently revised recommendations in the United States call for lowering cholesterol more than ever before as a way of reducing the risk of heart disease, and that translates into more people taking statins, and in higher doses. (Excite.com)

Heavy Coffee Drinking O.K. for Heart

Data on more than 120,000 participants in two U.S. studies that followed people for as long as two decades found no link between heart disease and a daily intake of six or more cups of coffee. In fact, the risk was the same as for people who had less than one cup of coffee or tea a month. (excite.com)

Heart Attack Risk Higher in Pregnancy

Despite the low rates of heart attack in women of reproductive age, the risk is increased by three or four times compared with women who are not pregnant, according to a new study. Overall, the researchers estimate that 6 in 100,000 pregnant women will have a heart attack. (Reuters UK)

Author Betty Friedan Dies at 85

Betty Friedan, whose manifesto "The Feminine Mystique" became a best seller in the 1960s and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday, her birthday. She was 85. (myway.com)

A Gender Difference in Heart Disease

Many women suffer from a form of heart disease that is fundamentally different from the type that strikes most men and is easily missed by standard tests, researchers reported yesterday.

Instead of developing obvious blockages in the arteries supplying blood to the heart, these women accumulate plaque more evenly inside the major arteries and in smaller blood vessels, the researchers found. In other cases, their arteries fail to expand properly or go into spasm, often at times of physical or emotional stress. (Washington Post)

Coretta Scott King Dies at 78

Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died at the age of 78. (excite.com)

Heart Surgery Drug Aprotinin Doubles a Patient's Risk of Kidney Failure

A popular drug given to more than a million people since 1993 to limit blood loss during heart surgery doubles a patient's risk of kidney failure and substantially increases the risk of a heart attack, a major study has found.

The research, being published today in the New England Journal of Medicine with a supportive editorial and commentary, concluded that use of the drug -- Bayer Corp.'s aprotinin -- causes more than 11,000 patients worldwide to need kidney dialysis each year. (Washington Post)

Heart Benefits of Aspirin Vary by Sex

The benefits of taking aspirin regularly differs between men and women, reducing the risk of heart attacks in men while reducing the risk of strokes in women, researchers said on Tuesday. (MSNBC)

Shelley Winters Dies From Heart Failure

Shelley Winters, the forceful, outspoken star who graduated from blond bombshell parts to dramas, winning Academy Awards as supporting actress in The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, has died. She was 85. (canada.com)

L-Arginine May Harm Heart Patients

Heart attack patients should avoid the dietary supplement L-arginine based on a study that was scuttled after six volunteers taking the over-the-counter supplement died, researchers said on Tuesday.

The study of 153 people who had had heart attacks and continued to have symptoms of heart disease found no benefit from taking the supplement sometimes advertised as having the potential to reduce vascular stiffness. (MSNBC)

Angioplasty Best Therapy for Heart Attack Survival

Emergency angioplasty to reopen a blocked artery is the best thing to do when clot-dissolving therapy doesn't work for a heart attack, British cardiologists report.

It's a finding of major importance to a large number of Americans who are rushed to a hospital emergency room when they have a heart attack, a U.S. expert said. (HealthDay News)

Richard Pryor Dies of Heart Attack at the Age of 65

Comedian Richard Pryor died Saturday morning after suffering a heart attack at his home in the San Fernando Valley. He was transported to Encino Hospital and died shortly thereafter. Pryor had been living with multiple sclerosis for many years.

"He was able to turn pain into comedy," his wife said. "He let the world see it, and that was his inspiration too.

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