By no means are only elderly people at risk from heart diseases. Physically active individuals can also be affected, for example if a seemingly harmless flu bug spreads to the heart muscle. Should this remain undetected and if, for example, a builder continues with his strenuous job or an athlete carries on training, this can lead to chronic inflammation and in the worst case even to sudden death.
Professor Eike Nagel and his 12 co-workers at the Institute for Experimental and Translational Cardio Vascular Imaging of Goethe University Frankfurt are developing better ways to predict and diagnose heart diseases. In recent years, the researchers have taken the lead in the development of a procedure that is still very new in heart scans. Nagel explains the advantages: “With the help of magnetic resonance imaging, we can look right inside the heart muscle.” Blood flow to the heart muscle is visualized and shows whether there are any constrictions of the arteries supplying the heart. Experts can also spot whether the heart muscle is scarred, inflamed or displays any other anomalies.
The comparatively fast method makes it possible to examine patients at an early stage and may prevent cardiac insufficiency or even a heart attack. “Diseases such as HIV, kidney damage, rheumatic diseases or tumours often affect the heart either directly or as a side effect of therapy,” says Nagel, describing groups potentially at risk. The cardiologist is convinced: “Nowadays we can treat or even cure so many diseases, but the heart suffers too and this should be carefully monitored as it mostly remains undetected.”
MRI is a non-invasive and gentle examination technique, which is less risky but just as efficient as an examination using a conventional heart catheter, where a thin tube is pushed in the direction of the heart through an artery. Nagel’s research group was recently able to demonstrate this in a large international multi-centre study that was met with international acclaim.
The Institute for Experimental and Translational Cardio Vascular Imaging also has state-of-the-art computer tomography equipment at its disposal that can produce three-dimensional images of the heart. These especially reveal calcium deposits and plaques in the artery walls which could rupture and trigger a sudden heart attack. “This allows us to determine the risk of a heart attack and the need for therapy fast and at an early stage, which can then be non-invasive,” says Nagel. Which technique is best for which patient is one of the research topics Nagel’s group is evaluating. In some patients, both may be needed and the Institute is optimally equipped to answer most aspects of heart disease thanks to its deep insight into the heart.
Nagel finds these rapid advances in imaging over the last decades fascinating: “Nowadays we can spot the slightest changes and literally get a clear picture of the heart’s condition.”
Goethe Universitäthttps://tinyurl.com/ycvjvutf

Cuff devices for blood pressure measurement are inconvenient, and mobile device apps for blood pressure measurement that are now being introduced may lack accuracy.
To solve this problem, a team of Michigan State University scientists have created a new app and hardware for smartphones to measure blood pressure with accuracy that may rival arm-cuff devices. The technology also includes a discovery of a more convenient measurement point.
“We targeted a different artery, the transverse palmer arch artery at the fingertip, to give us better control of the measurement,” said Anand Chandrasekhar, MSU electrical and computer engineering doctoral student and the lead author. “We were excited when we validated this location. Being able to use your fingertip makes our approach much easier and more accessible.”
The approach uses two sensors: an optical sensor on top of a force sensor. The sensor unit and other circuitry are housed in a 1 centimetre-thick case attached to the back of the phone. Users turn on the app and press their fingertip against the sensor unit. With their finger on the unit, they hold their phone at heart level and watch their smartphone screen to ensure they’re applying the correct amount of finger pressure.
“A key point was to see if users could properly apply the finger pressure over time, which lasts as long as an arm-cuff measurement,” Ramakrishna Mukkamala, MSU electrical and computer engineering professor and senior author said. “We were pleased to see that 90 percent of the people trying it were able to do it easily after just one or two practice tries.”
Internationally, this device could be a game-changer. While high blood pressure is treatable with lifestyle changes and medication, only around 20 percent of people with hypertension have their condition under control. This invention gives patients a convenient option, and keeping a log of daily measurements would produce an accurate average, discounting an occasional measurement anomaly, Mukkamala added.
The research team will continue to improve accuracy and hopes to pursue more comprehensive testing based on the standard protocol of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. The scientists are already making inroads to build improved hardware. Future iterations could be as thin as 1 millimetre and be part of a standard protective phone case.
Michigan State Universitymsutoday.msu.edu/news/2018/new-blood-pressure-app-and-hardware-rivals-arm-cuff-accuracy/

New research has estimated that each year five babies in every 1,000 born in England suffer a condition or sign linked to brain injury.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Neonatal Data Analysis Unit at Imperial College London and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, analysed data on babies born between 2010 and 2015 to assess the number that may have sustained brain injury at or soon after birth.
The researchers used routinely recorded NHS data and so were able to measure the incidence rate of brain injury in newborns without any additional workload for doctors or nurses. Ultimately, this research could lead to a better understanding of how to prevent brain injury in preterm and full term babies.
Dr Chris Gale, lead author and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London and Consultant Neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Brain injury at or soon after birth is a serious problem, as it can lead to long-term conditions later in life such as cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness and learning deficits. A proportion of these cases could be avoided.”
Neena Modi, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London and Head of the Neonatal Data Analysis Unit, said: “Before now UK health services did not have a standard definition of brain injury in babies and there has been no systematic collection of data for this purpose.
Professor Modi added: “With colleagues, and in collaboration with the Department of Health, we have devised a practical way to measure the incidence rate of brain injury in babies.”
Published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, the research estimated that 3,418 babies suffered conditions linked to brain injury at or soon after birth in 2015, which equates to an overall incidence rate of 5.14 per 1,000 live births. For preterm births (babies born at or less than 37 weeks) the rate was 25.88 per 1,000 live births in 2015, more than seven times greater than the rate for full term births, which was 3.47 per 1,000 live births.
It is often not known whether a baby has suffered brain injury until later in life. Therefore, the new standardized definition of brain injuries in newborn babies, developed by a group of experts convened by the Department of Health, consists of a range of conditions and signs that are known to be related to brain injury. These include seizures or fits, bleeding within the brain, stroke just before or at birth, infections like meningitis, and damage caused by oxygen deprivation.
The research, commissioned by the Department of Health, is the first to present estimates for the number of babies with brain injuries based on a definition that includes multiple conditions in one measure.
It is also the first time this estimate has been made using data gathered routinely during day-to-day clinical care on neonatal units. The use of routine data required no additional work for clinical staff and provides a valuable way to measure the effectiveness of interventions to reduce brain injury.
As part of a drive to make England a safer place to give birth, the Department of Health has set a target of reducing the number of babies that incur brain injury during or soon after birth by 20% by 2020 and to halve them by 2030. Using these new estimates this equates to lowering the incidence of babies with brain injury to four per 1,000 live births by 2020 and to 2.5 babies per 1,000 live births by 2030.
Overall, the research found that the most common type of condition that contributed to brain injuries was damage caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy; this is seen mainly in full term babies. For preterm babies, the largest contributor to brain injuries is from bleeding into and around the ventricles of the brain, a condition called periventricular hemorrhage.
Dr Gale added: “Being able to measure how common brain injuries are allows health professionals and researchers to focus on reducing these devastating conditions. This includes the consistent use of treatments that reduce the risk of brain injuries in preterm infants, such as steroids and magnesium sulphate given to the mother before birth.
“This measure will also help us to evaluate other interventions, for example, making sure that as many preterm babies as possible are born at hospitals with advanced neonatal services on site, which we know reduces the risk of brain injury.
“The next step is to use routine data to understand the long-term effects of these conditions on the children and their families.”

Imperial College Londonhttps://tinyurl.com/ycnbqzlo

Massive banks of genetic information are being harnessed to shed new light on modifiable health risks that underlie common diseases.
University of Queensland researchers have pioneered a method to integrate data from multiple large-scale studies to assess risk factors such as body mass index (BMI) and cholesterol levels, and their association with diseases including type two diabetes and heart disease.
Professor Jian Yang, from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and Queensland Brain Institute, said the new method was more powerful than earlier techniques and enabled scientists to identify risk associations that were difficult to detect in smaller samples.
“Identifying new risk factors provides an avenue to look at diseases from a different angle,” Professor Yang said.
“For example, LDL-cholesterol is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but we were surprised to see that it actually lowers your risk of type two diabetes.
“Discoveries like this could have significant implications for medical research, the pharmaceutical industry and public health policy.”
The study looked at seven known health risk factors and more than 30 common diseases, in genetic data from more than 400,000 people.
Professor Yang said the method identified 45 potentially causal associations between health risk factors and diseases.
“Some of these associations – such as the link between BMI and type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease – have already been confirmed in randomized controlled trials, which validates our methods,” Professor Yang said.
“Others identified in this study provide candidates for prioritization in future trials, and fundamental knowledge to understand the biology of the diseases.
“For example, we identified a highly significant risk effect of HDL-cholesterol on age-related macular degeneration.”
Professor Yang said the method was particularly valuable where clinical trials to investigate associations would be impractical or even unethical.
“Years of education is one trait we looked at in the study, and it had a protective effect against most diseases, particularly for Alzheimer’s and coronary artery disease – but it is something that needs to be carefully investigated in the future,” Professor Yang said.
University of Queenslandhttps://tinyurl.com/y9lfo963