Cardiac

The heart is notoriously fragile, having quite a lot of difficulty in repairing itself after sustaining damage. But now, researchers from the University of Calgary have found a previously unidentified cell population in the fluid that surrounds the heart, which seems to help heal injuries.

​According to some folks, smart speakers such as Google Home and Amazon Echo simply make us lazy while needlessly adding electronic complexity to our lives. Thanks to new research, however, the things may someday prevent people from dying of cardiac arrest while sleeping.

The main risk factors for heart disease are lifestyle choices like a bad diet, smoking, lack of exercise – and poor sleep. That last point has gone relatively unstudied, but new research out of Harvard has found the chemical chain reaction that links disrupted sleep and cardiovascular disease.

​A new study suggests the damage caused to a person’s heart from years of sedentary behavior can be successfully reversed by the right “dose” of exercise. The study found that exercising four to five times per week can improve heart elasticity as long as the training begins before the age of 65

Great news! According to the results of a new study, sexual activity is very unlikely to result in a sudden cardiac arrest, especially if you are a woman. On the flip side, if you are unlucky enough to experience a not-so-happy ending, your chances of survival are pretty poor.

​When someone has a cardiac arrest, their chance of survival decreases by 10 percent for every minute that passes before they receive treatment. That's why an app has been created, that finds civilians who are trained in CPR and gets them to the location of cardiac arrest victims.

With less than 10 percent of people surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the time it takes to get a defibrillator to a patient can be the difference between life and death. A new study has shown that a drone can transport a defibrillator over four times more quickly than an ambulance.

Heart attacks behind the wheel are dangerous not only for the the driver but for everyone else on the road. Toyota has recently joined forces with a team of researchers at the University of Michigan to explore the potential of creating a cardiac monitoring system that could be built into cars.

​Much like in the case of strokes, the time immediately after a heart attack provides a critical window in which damage to the body can be minimized. Researchers in Madrid have just figured out how a drug that's been around for decades helps doctors use that time to best advantage.

​Current treatments for arrhythmia involve administering an intense burst of electricity in times of cardiac arrest, but these pulses are painful and harmful. Now scientists have found that beams of light can restore regular heart function, as a gentle and safe alternative to a harsh electric shock.

Traditionally, heart failure patients awaiting organ transplants have been anchored to a hospital bed by a washing machine-sized device that keeps blood pumping through their veins. But for Stan Larkin, a new form of wearable technology called the Freedom Driver is allowing him to keep on the move.

Technology clearly has an increasing role to play in improving home care and health monitoring facilities for the elderly. The latest developments from German research group Fraunhofer are a case in point.