Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Drug for cluster headaches may cause heart problems

08-13-2007 · EurekAlert!

A drug increasingly used to prevent cluster headaches can cause heart problems, according to a study published in the Aug. 14, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Those taking the drug verapamil for cluster headaches should be closely monitored with frequent electrocardiograms for potential development of irregular heartbeats.

Keywords: drug, cluster, headaches, cause, heart, problems, headache, problem

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Drug for cluster headaches may cause heart problems":

Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
Similar news · Read more »
Is there a role for serial outpatient drug infusions in advanced heart failure?
03-25-2007 · EurekAlert!
For patients with severe chronic heart failure, known as stage D or chronic decompensated heart failure (CDHF), hospitalization is frequent and treatment options are limited. The FUSION II trial (Follow-Up Serial Infusions of Nesiritide in Advanced Heart Failure) tested the benefit of a novel drug infusion regimen of serial administration of nesiritide (NES) versus placebo in outpatients with advanced heart failure and a primary endpoint of all cause mortality and cardiorenal hospitalizations.
Similar news · Read more »
Blood pressure drug may have added benefit
02-14-2008 · EurekAlert!
University of Kentucky researchers have discovered a possible added benefit of a novel new drug that lowers blood pressure. Dr. Lisa Cassis and Dr. Alan Daugherty found in animal studies that aliskiren not only lowered blood pressure but also significantly reduced artery-clogging lesions that are the leading cause of heart attack and stroke, the top cause of death worldwide.
Similar news · Read more »
Common cause of heart disease, diabetes may be treatable with malaria drug
11-07-2006 · EurekAlert!
Studies of a rare genetic condition that increases cancer risk have unveiled a potential treatment for metabolic syndrome, a common disorder that afflicts as many as one in every four American adults and puts them at sharply increased risk of type 2 diabetes and clogged arteries.
Similar news · Read more »
Does being overweight in old age cause memory problems?
09-19-2007 · EurekAlert!
While obesity has been shown to contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, being overweight in old age does not lead to memory problems, according to a study published Sept. 19, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Similar news · Read more »
Jefferson researchers want to learn if heart defect 'at heart' of some migraines
04-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers of the heart and headaches at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are combining efforts to determine if a common heart defect may be the cause of some forms of migraine headaches.
Similar news · Read more »
By jove, we've got it: EEG correlates of insightful problem solving
01-22-2008 · EurekAlert!
In a study published in PLoS ONE, researchers at Goldsmiths College, London, investigated brain rhythms and their dynamics while human volunteers solved verbal problems. Often, the participants reached a state of mental block and could not progress further: excessive amount of gamma brain rhythm (the same rhythm gets enhanced with selective attention) might cause this mental road block. It clearly indicates that focusing or attending too much on a topic might have a detrimental effect.
Similar news · Read more »
Immune Abuse: Methamphetamine is linked to cardiac damage
06-30-2007 · Science News Online
The illicit drug methamphetamine alters immune proteins unleashed in the body, possibly explaining why some longtime methamphetamine abusers suffer heart problems.
Similar news · Read more »
Diuretics excel in drug comparison trial involving hypertension/metabolic syndrome
01-28-2008 · EurekAlert!
Diuretics were associated with reduced heart disease in a drug comparison trial involving 23,077 people with both high blood pressure and the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, report researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health and Case Western Reserve University in the Jan. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Similar news · Read more »
Drug treats 'water intoxication' faster, more effectively
11-14-2006 · EurekAlert!
Results of the two largest studies on hyponatremia found that the investigational drug tolvaptan treated hyponatremia -- water intoxication -- more effectively than available treatments. These studies, presented by a researcher from Northwestern University, proved that hyponatremia can be treated with an oral drug that has no significant side effects. Hyponatremia is a relatively common electrolyte disorder. It affects a wide spectrum of patients including those with liver problems, heart failure and the elderly. It also may affect marathon runners.
Similar news · Read more »