{"id":400591,"date":"2025-09-05T18:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400591\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T18:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:03:09","slug":"drugs-diet-and-ai-the-gamechanger-new-findings-on-tackling-heart-conditions-medical-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400591\/","title":{"rendered":"Drugs, diet and AI: the \u2018gamechanger\u2019 new findings on tackling heart conditions | Medical research"},"content":{"rendered":"
  • 1. Medicine\n

    Doctors in Madrid hailed a new pill<\/a> for patients with high blood pressure resistant to existing medication as a \u201cgamechanger\u201d and a \u201ctriumph of science\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Globally, 1.3 billion people have hypertension and in half of cases, their high blood pressure is uncontrolled or resistant to existing treatments. They face a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and early death.<\/p>\n

    A new drug \u2013 baxdrostat \u2013 can significantly lower blood pressure in these people whose levels remain dangerously high despite taking several medicines.<\/p>\n

    The results of the BaxHTN study showed that after 12 weeks, patients taking baxdrostat saw their blood pressure fall by about 9-10 mmHg (millimetres of mercury, the unit of measurement of blood pressure) more than the placebo \u2013 a reduction large enough to cut cardiovascular risk.<\/p>\n

    There were also exciting discoveries about existing drugs that could help heart patients, delegates were told.<\/p>\n

    In one trial<\/a>, researchers found a drug that is better than aspirin at preventing heart attacks and strokes. A new analysis of seven clinical trials showed patients taking clopidogrel had a 14% lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events compared with those taking aspirin.<\/p>\n

    A second study showed<\/a> weight loss drugs may halve the risk of heart patients being hospitalised or dying early.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • 2. Diet and exercise\n

    Eating foods rich in potassium, such as avocados, bananas and spinach, could reduce your risk of heart conditions, hospitalisation and death by 24%, Danish researchers told the conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Previous research had shown that cutting out salt from meals can slash your risk of heart problems. A new study showed just how much potassium, which increases the amount of salt your body removes from the bloodstream, could help to ward off cardiovascular problems.<\/p>\n

    Not a fan of spinach? Pulses, fish, nuts and seeds are also good sources of potassium, experts said.<\/p>\n

    Exercise is also key to a healthy heart. It can lower your resting blood pressure and heart rate, improve your cholesterol levels, and help you maintain a healthy weight, which in turn reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

    In Madrid, doctors heard about another potential benefit of getting active: mending a broken heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • 3. Artificial intelligence\n

    Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence-led stethoscope<\/a> that can detect three heart conditions in 15 seconds.<\/p>\n

    Two centuries after the invention of the humble stethoscope, a team at Imperial College London and Imperial College healthcare NHS trust have designed a hi-tech upgrade. It analyses tiny differences in heartbeat and blood flow undetectable to the human ear, and takes a rapid ECG at the same time.<\/p>\n

    The tool\u2019s AI capabilities mean it can spot heart failure, heart valve disease and abnormal heart rhythms almost instantly.<\/p>\n

    Early diagnosis of these three heart conditions is critical. The AI stethoscope enables patients who need life-saving treatment to be spotted sooner, before they become dangerously unwell.<\/p>\n

    Meanwhile, a revolutionary AI scanning system is increasing the number of stroke patients avoiding serious disability, tripling the rate of recovery, delegates were told<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    And a new generative AI tool \u2013 ESC Chat \u2013 is transforming the work<\/a> of cardiologists worldwide. The chatbot responds immediately to questions about clinical guidelines, saving time and providing doctors with access to recommendations, diagnostic criteria and treatment solutions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • 4. Children\n

    Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), which is typically genetic, is responsible for more than 10% of sudden cardiac deaths in children.<\/p>\n

    Now a simple cheek-swab test can identify children with the condition, five years before they would normally be diagnosed, according to research presented in Madrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Experts at Great Ormond Street hospital and City St George\u2019s, University of London are now developing the two-minute test into swab kits that can be used at home and sent away for analysis.<\/p>\n

    Elsewhere, doctors raised the alarm<\/a> about high levels of vaping among children, saying they were convinced e-cigarettes were causing irreversible harm to their health.<\/p>\n

    Cardiologists, researchers and health experts said they were \u201cextremely concerned\u201d about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes on millions of teenagers and young people, including exposure to toxins and carcinogens \u2013 some of which are still unknown.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • 5. Vaccines\n

    Vaccination has increasingly been seen as an effective measure not only against specific infections, but also for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or events.<\/p>\n

    Delegates at the conference were briefed about the world\u2019s first global systematic review and meta analysis of the shingles vaccine. The results showed<\/a> the jab could lower risk of a heart attack or stroke by as much as 18%.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Medicine Doctors in Madrid hailed a new pill for patients with high blood pressure resistant to existing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-400591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115153010944605296","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}