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In a randomized clinical trial, a Heart Institute group led by Bob Reid, PhD evaluated a program designed to impact the heart health of family members of patients with heart disease. “Family members of patients are in a teachable moment that gives us the opportunity to prevent them from becoming the...

People with Type D personality are distressed. They tend to experience negative emotions and keep these emotions inside, not sharing them with others. Personality traits such as these are considered stable over time. As would be expected, Type D individuals with cardiovascular disease have a poor...

The arteries in our body are lined with a layer of cells called the endothelium. The very first step in the development of cardiovascular disease—the primary cause of heart attack and stroke—takes place when the endothelium begins to function abnormally. In research presented at the Canadian...

While modern medicine is heavily dependent on sophisticated technologies to diagnose and treat disease, health care generally lags behind other sectors in adopting advances in information technology. A number of presentations at the 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress looked at ways in which...

Until the new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) drugs became available, beginning in 2009, warfarin was the workhorse for managing stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation. In his Research Achievement Award presentation, Stuart Connolly, MD, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., provided a...

At the 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress and American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Heart Institute researchers presented several studies that tested novel ways to visualize the heart’s structure and function. Developing methods to predict which plaques in the arteries may be at high...

Cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation underwent extensive change in the 20th century and continues to evolve rapidly. Andrew Pipe, MD, in his Terry Kavanagh Lecture at the 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, outlined a vision for "CVD Prevention and Rehabilitation in the 21st Century." To...

The Canadian Cardiovascular Congress travels to the West Coast this year. With topics ranging from sedentary behaviour to stem cells, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute has more than 90 items on the program at CCC 2014. Our program guide will help you find them all. Presentations and...

A number of Ottawa Heart Institute staff and trainees were honoured at this year’s Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, recognizing their accomplishments at both early and established phases of their careers. Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Research Achievement Award Rob Beanlands, Chief of...

A form of heart failure known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF, pronounced “hefpef”) is becoming more common but remains poorly understood. No effective treatment options exist. Women are twice as likely to suffer from HFpEF as men, but the reasons for this are also unclear...

Cancer and heart disease are the two leading causes of death. As we live longer lives, we are more likely to eventually have one or the other. But for many cancer patients, treatment of their condition makes it much more likely that they will have to deal with both. More people are surviving cancer...

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a dangerous condition that is not well understood. It primarily affects women in their 30s to 50s who have no standard risk factors for heart disease. A tear forms in the wall of an artery allowing blood to pool between the inner and outer layers of...

In the United States, comparative rankings of hospitals based on the quality of their cardiovascular (CV) care are easily available online and in the mainstream media. In Canada, this information is almost entirely unavailable, but a new joint initiative of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS)...

Many of the patients admitted to hospital with a STEMI heart attack (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) have major blockages in blood vessels other than the one directly responsible for the heart attack. The best strategy for treating these patients remains an open question for cardiologists...

Read detailed coverage of CCC and AHA 2014 – highlights include text messaging and mobile apps for health promotion, updates on atrial fibrillation and the future of cardiac rehabilitation. CCC 2014: Presentations and Activities Schedule (pdf) AHA 2014: Presentations and Activities Schedule (pdf)...

We know the best ways to prevent a heart attack. Healthy eating, being physically active and not smoking are key among them. And advances in cardiac care are helping people live longer and with a better quality of life if they do have a heart attack. But there is no way to repair the damage and...

This year, the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress is part of an even larger event called Vascular 2013, combining parallel conferences dedicated to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and stroke. The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has program items in all of these—nearly 120 in all...

Thirty-one years ago, it was not known that the heart produces hormones. That changed in 1981 when Adolfo de Bold, PhD, discovered that muscle cells in the atria of the heart secrete atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), an essential hormone that regulates fluid volume, blood pressure and sodium. Since...