American Heart Association says Playing Pokémon Go may help people reach 10,000 daily steps goal
March 11, 2017
American Heart Association Meeting Report
Portland, OR – Playing the popular smartphone game Pokémon Go may increase people’s daily steps, especially among young adults with low physical activity levels or those who are overweight or obese, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention / Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2017 Scientific Sessions.
In Pokémon Go, a location-based augmented reality game, players move around a physical location capturing animated creatures on smartphones and other mobile devices. Pokémon Go has generated a great deal of interest since it was released in July 2016, but few studies have examined whether playing the game can increase an individual’s level of physical activity.
When guided by internet programs or mobile devices, people can become more physically active, eat better, lose a little weight and reduce tobacco and alcohol use. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association says Coordinated Response cuts time to treatment for deadly Heart Attacks
August 3, 2016
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report
Dallas, TX – When emergency medical services (EMS) and hospital providers worked together in a coordinated system, people suffering deadly heart attacks received life-saving treatment sooner, according to a new study in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
Often considered the most deadly type of heart attack, ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, happens when the blood supply to the heart is completely blocked. Quickly opening the blocked artery can restore normal blood flow, minimize heart damage and save lives.
Treatment response times improved the most when patients were taken by EMS directly to hospitals that could perform the procedure to open blocked heart arteries. (American Heart Association)
Stress management may enhance cardiac rehab, improve recovery
March 23, 2016
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report
Dallas, TX – Heart patients may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) programs even more when stress management is added, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
“Cardiac rehabilitation programs do not routinely offer stress management, but this may change should demand increase. And because patients may be reluctant to ask for the programs themselves, the onus is on the physicians to recognize that stress management is important for the optimal medical management of patients,” said James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D., professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.
Adding stress management into cardiac rehabilitation programs should be encouraged, researchers say. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association reports Women, Men with Heart Failure both benefit from Implanted Defibrillators
January 18, 2016
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report
Dallas, TX – Women with heart failure benefit from implantable cardiac defibrillators as much as men, according to new research in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.
“Despite current guidelines recommending that health practitioners consider adding these devices to standard heart failure treatments in both women and men, women with heart failure have been less likely to receive defibrillators. These new data reinforce the existing gender-neutral guidelines,” said Emily Zeitler, M.D., lead author of the study and a cardiology and research fellow at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina.
Heart Illustration. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association says lifetime cancer risk from heart imaging tests is low for most children; more complex tests may raise risk
June 14, 2014
Dallas, TX – Radiation from standard X-rays is relatively low and doesn’t significantly raise lifetime cancer risks for most young children, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
Researchers followed 337 children under age 6 who had surgery for heart disease at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Their operations required almost 14,000 imaging procedures, including X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, and cardiac catheterization procedures using video X-rays called fluoroscopies. [Read more]
American Heart Association says Anxiety, Depression in Heart Disease Patients linked to increased risk of Dying
June 5, 2013
The findings suggest more frequent monitoring is needed for heart patients with anxiety and depression.
Dallas, TX – Heart disease patients who have anxiety have twice the risk of dying from any cause compared to those without anxiety, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Patients with both anxiety and depression have triple the risk of dying, researchers said.
“Many studies have linked depression to an increased risk of death in heart disease patients,” said Lana Watkins, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. “However, anxiety hasn’t received as much attention.” [Read more]
