Wireless technology enables people to keep in touch wherever they are by transmitting text, pictures and voice. Often a cellphone is a lifesaver for someone stranded in a car that has broken down, or found themselves in some other emergency in which the cellphone is their only way to communicate their condition to those who can help.

Now at a medical center in Newark, NJ, wireless technology is being used to save lives of patients suffering a heart attack. A new system allows on-call cardiologists to receive ECGs on “smart phones” and be in touch directly with the paramedic on the scene. Before the patient has even arrived at the hospital, the cardiologist has seen the ECG and can instruct the paramedic on life-saving treatment. The ECG can even be sent to the hospital’s cath lab, and patients can be transported directly there, cutting down the door-to-balloon time, the time between arrival at the hospital and the initial inflation of an angioplasty balloon to open a blocked coronary artery.

“We have found a way to receive electrocardiograms from home, from another hospital, from our cars — anywhere we are,” said Vivek N. Dhruva, D.O., academic chief fellow in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-New Jersey Medical School, who presented the paper. “In only 4 months, we went from being in the bottom 10 percent of hospitals in the time to treatment of heart attack to being in the top 10 percent of hospitals.”

The current guideline for door-to-balloon time is 90 minutes. Using the wireless system, the UMDNJ is now averaging 73 minutes.

Transmitting ECGs to Cardiologists by Smart Phone Cuts Treatment Time in Half

The FDA has added warning labels to some commonly used pain relievers like ibuprophen and naproxen, warning that use of these NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) increase the risk of heart attacks.

But according to Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the FDA has ignored the most dangerous of these drugs, Voltaren, and incorrectly labeled naproxen, which appears to be safe based on research.

High doses (500 mg twice daily) of Aleve were not associated with an increased risk of heart attacks compared to a placebo. High doses of Advil (800 mg three times a day) and Voltaren (75 mg twice daily) were associated with rates of heart attack that were 51 percent and 63 percent higher, than the placebo. The increased risk of heart attack is associated with drugs that are COX-2 inhibitors.

“Naproxen does not increase the risk of heart attacks and ought to be a painkiller of choice,” said Furberg. “On the other hand, Voltaren carries the same risk as the harmful COX-2 inhibitors Bextra® and Vioxx®, which have been taken off the market.

Read more at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Can’t get going without that morning cup of coffee? New research suggests that drinking your coffee daily may provide protection against heart disease for people 65 and older.

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Brooklyn College, state that people over 65 who had higher caffeinated beverage intake had lower risk of coronary vascular disease and heart mortality than did those with lower caffeinated beverage intake.

“The protection against death from heart disease in the elderly afforded by caffeine is likely due to caffeine’s enhancement of blood pressure”, said John Kassotis, MD, associate professor of medicine at SUNY Downstate.

The protective benefits were found only in people who were not severely hypertensive and no protective effect was found in patients under 65. No protective effect against stroke was found.

The conclusions were drawn by researchers studying data from the first federal National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study.

Caffeine may prevent heart disease in elderly

Over many parts of the country, winter has settled in with snowfalls ranging in depth from inches to feet. That means thousands of Americans will grab shovels and start to dig out. But for those who don’t normally engage in strenuous exercise, shoveling snow is dangerously hard work.

“If your body isn’t prepared for shoveling snow, your chances of sustaining muscle pulls and strains will increase,” said Dr. Susan Wainwright, vice chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Or worse she added, as shoveling snow is no different than any physical activity that strains the heart.

Back injuries are common because people try to lift with their backs, twisting and throwing snow. According to Wainwright, the back is meant to stabilize and the lifting and work of shoveling to be done with the arms.

Additionally, men and women over 45 who aren’t used to strenuous activity run a risk of straining the heart and heart attack.

“The heart is a muscle like any other muscle in your body,” said Wainwright. “When it gets strained, it shuts down because it can’t handle the increased load. Older adults who aren’t that active tax their cardiovascular system when they start to shovel and this results in heart attacks. You have to remember that shoveling is hard work and you should take every precaution to not get injured or even worse.”

Health Tip: Shoveling Snow Can Lead to Injuries – University of Sciences in Philadephia