U of A cardiologist teams up with computer scientists, engineers to create 3-D heart imaging device
A University of Alberta-based team is developing a system to improve the way heart conditions are diagnosed by blending robotics and artificial intelligence with existing cardiac ultrasound technology. “Current echocardiography (heart ultrasound) is used for virtually all patients with cardiac symptoms, but it has limitations. For example, it doesn’t typically capture the entire heart in…
Results from clinical trial expected to significantly change how clinicians monitor for atrial fibrillation in stroke patients
A clinical trial examining the efficacy of two devices to monitor and detect atrial fibrillation (AF), or an irregular heartbeat, in ischemic stroke patients – one an implantable device that monitors over 12 months, the other an external device that monitors over 30 days – found the implantable device is more than three times more…
Helps cancer patients who also face heart damage due to their treatment
Ask Paul Guenard how he’s doing, and he’ll tell you, “Not bad for a guy who’s supposed to be dead!” While he laughs as he says it, Guenard did indeed face death six years ago when he underwent a stem cell transplant to treat mantle cell lymphoma. Afterwards, he said, he felt so weak he…
Cardiologists, computing scientists team up to build video game-based MedBIKE fitness program for pediatric heart patients
Zacharie Biollo, 16, was born with a ventricle missing in his heart and had three life-saving surgeries by the time he was three years old. As he grew up, his parents encouraged him to get involved in sports such as soccer and karate, but he found he ran out of breath faster than some other…
U of A pharmacy researcher looks for ways to correct a common but often hidden type of diabetes-related heart failure
A University of Alberta laboratory has uncovered a new approach to preventing heart failure in people with Type 2 diabetes, according to research findings published recently in the journal Cell Reports. “We know people with diabetes take drugs for years to control their blood sugars, but the drugs don’t cure their diabetes,” said lead author John Ussher, associate…
Researchers are now looking to develop a drug that will boost existing statin drugs to prevent heart disease
A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has uncovered a long-sought link in the battle to control cholesterol and heart disease. The protein that interferes with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that clear ‘bad’ cholesterol from the blood was identified in findings recently published in Nature Communications by Dawei Zhang, associate professor of pediatrics in the Faculty…
Know what you can control and what you can’t, understand that anger doesn't help and always opt for kindness as the best option
It might surprise you to hear that being kind isn’t just good for the other person, it’s good for you too! Skeptical? There’s good scientific evidence that living up to the adage of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you is one of the best things you can do for yourself.…
Blood-type-incompatible heart transplant surgery for infants under the age of two pioneered in Canada, now used worldwide
A pediatric heart transplant procedure pioneered by Canadian doctors – once deemed impossible – has been shown to be at least as effective as the traditional approach, according to newly published research in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. ABO-incompatible heart transplantation was developed in the mid-1990s, after a Canadian transplant team led by Lori West realized that infants…
Women’s Health Collective Canada will support research to fill knowledge gaps and meet women’s unique health needs, along with educating
Women make up roughly half the population and have given birth to everyone, yet have remained largely excluded from medical research and drug trials, according to Sharlene Rutherford, president and CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation (RAHF). “We know it can take 17 years for medical research to filter down to clinical practice, and women…
Type of cholesterol produced as food consumed a strong predictor of future health risk
University of Alberta researchers have found a new, more effective way to measure future heart disease and diabetes risk in youth. By testing the blood for remnant cholesterol (RC), made by the body during the day as food is consumed, researchers were able to show that this non-fasting type of cholesterol is a strong predictor…
A University of Alberta-based team is developing a system to improve the way heart conditions are diagnosed by blending robotics and artificial intelligence with existing cardiac ultrasound technology. “Current echocardiography (heart ultrasound) is used for virtually all patients with cardiac symptoms, but it has limitations. For example, it doesn’t typically capture the entire heart in…
