A recent study indicates that overweight women are more likely to give birth to a child with congenital heart defects according to the U.S. government. The study, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that women that are obese have a 18 percent chance of giving birth to a child with a heart defect while women who are severely obese have a 30 percent chance of giving birth to a child with a heart defect. Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects and they are the leading cause of illness, death and medical expenditures. This study showed that obese women have a greater chance of giving their child a heart defect by the mother’s obesity. The study also stated that if a women if obese and pregnant she should try to get healthier during the pregnancy by seeing their doctor and trying to find a safe way of losing weight.

Source

A team of University of Louisville doctors are conducting the world’s first FDA approved clinical trial using cardiac stem cells.  Patients who are already undergoing bypass surgery will recruited.  The procedure will use stem cells taken from the patient’s own cardiac tissue.

After a few months of recovery, the stem cells will be put into the scar tissue.  For a year the patient’s heart function and blood flow will be monitored and the heart size and scar tissue size will be measured.  The hope and goal is that the stem cells will help the heart tissue grow, reduce the scar tissue and improve heart function.

Source: Medical News Today

1) Once this procedure is completed and measured for a year, has it worked?  Has it helped and restored heart function?
2) If it has, what can further be done with cardiac stem cells in this same manner to help heart problems?

by Danielle M

A study done in Washington found that listening to your favorite music can increase your blood vessels’ diameters, cause a smoothing flow of blood. Aside from allowing the blood to pass for easily the widen blood vessels are less likely to form blood clots. Dr. Michael Miller, who conducted the study, also found that the same people in the study who’s blood vessels increased when they listened to their favorite music, had decreased size in blood vessels when they listened to music they disliked.
I thought this article was very interesting because something so simple and common can have such significant benefits. The article mentioned that the blood vessels’ diameters increased by 26 percent on average. This is a considerable amount as a result of something so simple.

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450610,00.html?sPage=fnc/health/heart