A new type of treatment for cardiac fibrosis is on the horizon. Fibrosis occurs when an excess amount of matrix proteins, like collagen, develops and leaves pathological scarring. The heart becomes “stiff”. With inflexibility, the heart can not work properly, ie. it can not flex and relax.
Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death in the “Western world”. And with heart disease being so prevalent, too many patients deal with cardiac fibrosis on a daily basis.
The National Institutes of Health and the Novartis Corp. have funded an animal study that may lead to a possible treatment…
The …read more

There is a new tool out there to help patients that suffer from heart failure. HeartFailureCenter.com was developed to help consolidate information and provide a “one stop shop” if you will…
The new site is replete with a wide variety of information, from a patient health survey, heart condition information, treatment options and regional resource directories, to an extensive article library, blog, chat room, and the latest news and media clips featuring top experts in the field. There is even a printable list of “Questions to ask your Doctor,” a tool to help patients make the most of their medical visits.
Heart …read more

Pompe disease is a rare neuromuscular genetic disorder that affects approximately 5,000 to 10,000 people world wide. It occurs in babies, children, and adults who inherit a defective gene from each parent. The disease manifestations can vary greatly from one person to the next.
I have to admit, until I was contacted to write about Pompe disease, I had only heard it mentioned once or twice in nursing school. It is one of those diseases that you will come across once through out your entire clinical career. This disease has devastating ramifications on both the patient, and the family …read more

An engineer in California got the gift he was waiting for. Mike Iwuchukwu was placed on the heart transplant list 5 years ago. He had a condition called noncompaction syndrome, where the heart appears almost sponge like.
This past Monday, officials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California announced that Mr. Iwuchukwu received his second chance on life. He received his heart in March, but the transplanted organ had been down this road before. You see, this particular heart had already been donated to someone who died of non cardiac complications.
There have been previous cases of patients receiving …read more