SCIENCE BOND

The result could boost hopes for the successful transplantation of animal organs into people, amid a shortage of human donors.  Cross-species transplants provoke a powerful immune reaction, leading to rejection of the organ by the host.  But a US-German team used a combination of gene modification and immune-suppressing drugs.  Their work is described in the journal Nature Communications.  "It is very significant because it brings us one step closer to using these organs in humans," co-author Muhammad Mohiuddin, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Maryland, told the AFP news agency. "Xenotransplants - organ transplants between different species - could potentially save thousands of lives each year that are lost due to a shortage of human organs for transplantation." Dr Mohiuddin and colleagues used a previously established line of donor pigs with three genetic modifications that allowed for a degree of immune tolerance in recipient ba...

Three-quarters of cases of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a change in the shape of the heart's left ventricle, which can be fatal, are caused by stress.  The University Hospital Zurich study, in the European Heart Journal, suggests about one in 20 cases is caused by joy.  The condition is normally temporary and people are generally fine afterwards. In the study of 1,750 patients, researchers discovered heart problems caused by: a birthday party a son's wedding meeting a friend after 50 years becoming a grandmother a favourite rugby team winning a game winning a casino jackpot a computerised tomography (CT) scan giving the all-clear from another condition The study also suggested most cases were in post-menopausal women.  Dr Jelena Ghadri, one of the researchers, said: "We have shown that the triggers for takotsubo syndrome can be more varied than previously thought.  "A takotsubo syndrome patient is no longer the classic 'broken-hearted' p...

It had been thought that being unhappy was bad for health - particularly for the heart.  But the decade-long analysis, published in the Lancet, said previous studies had just confused cause and effect.  However, experts argued that unhappiness in childhood may still have a lasting impact.  A series of studies had shown that how happy people are, strongly predicts how long they are going to live.  Ideas included detrimental changes in stress hormones or the immune system resulting in a higher risk of death.  But the research team in the UK and Australia said those studies failed to deal with reverse causality - namely, that people who are ill are not very happy.Participants in the Million Women Study were asked to regularly rate their health, happiness and levels of stress.  The results showed that whether people were "never", "usually" or "mostly" happy had no impact on their odds of dying during the duration of the study once other factors such as ...

The work showed that women who had a particular version of the BCAR1 gene were more likely than other women to have heart attacks and strokes. In contrast, men who had the gene were not at increased risk. Researchers say this adds to mounting evidence that there are differences in how men and women experience heart disease.  In the study, published in the journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, researchers from University College London pooled data from five European research projects, involving nearly 4,000 men and women.  Comparing their genes, the health of their blood vessels and the thickness of key arteries, scientists pinpointed a version of a gene that was linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and diseased blood vessels in women.  Though they still have work to do to fully understand the link, researchers believe the gene - when combined with a woman's naturally occurring oestrogen - could lead to an increased risk of heart disease. ...

They say the rapid test, which looks for a chemical in the blood, would reduce stress for patients, save money and ease pressure on hospital wards.  Trials on 6,304 people, published in the Lancet medical journal, suggested it was 99.6% accurate.  The British Heart Foundation said the test would produce faster answers without affecting patient safety.  About one million people attend A&E departments in the UK with chest pain, only for most of them to be sent home after a sometimes lengthy and anxious stay.  They have levels of troponin, a chemical released by damaged heart muscle, tested when they are admitted and again 12 hours later. The new test also looks for troponin, but can detect much lower  levels and needs to be done only once. So those given the all-clear can go straight home.The study, led by the University of Edinburgh and taking place in Scottish and US hospitals, estimated that two-thirds of patients could be discharged much mor...

A prototype patch could help the repair the damage caused by a heart attack, scientists say.  The early work, carried out on mice and pigs, reveals the protein-infused patch encourages the growth of healthy cells and leads to less scarring.  Scarring can be common after a heart attack, making the heart pump less effectively and sometimes fail.  Writing in the journal Nature, researchers say the patch may one day revolutionise treatment.  During an attack, muscle cells in the heart die because of a lack of blood flow and scientists believe repairing or replacing some of these cells may help reduce long-term damage. In this trial an international team of researchers soaked a collagen  patch in a protein known as Fstl1 and stitched it on to the hearts of animals who had experienced heart attacks.  Though the protein occurs naturally in healthy hearts, it becomes depleted in a key layer of the heart after an attack.  Two weeks later the hearts...