Summer thunderstorms are great theater-sky-spanning fireworks followed by crackling, crashing booms. But thunderstorms are also linked to some negative effects on health, from breathing disturbances to heart problems.

Summer thunderstorms are great theater—sky-spanning fireworks followed by crackling, crashing booms. But thunderstorms are also linked to some negative effects on health, from breathing disturbances to heart problems, reports the August 2010 issue of the Harvard Health Letter. Read the rest of this entry

Cardiac Concepts, Inc., a developer of medical devices to treat Heart Failure patients who experience breathing disturbances during sleep, announced today enrollment of the first European patients in a Pilot Clinical Trial.

The purpose of the Pilot Study is to understand the respiratory and cardiac benefits of the RespiCardia(TM) System when treating a breathing disorder known as Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) in Heart Failure patients. Prof. Piotr Ponikowski, Principal Investigator of the Pilot Clinical Trial at The Medical University/4th Military Hospital in Wroclaw, Poland, commented that the system was successfully implanted in 2 male patients, ages 57 and 68 years with ischemic cardiomyopathy and symptoms of moderate heart failure. Despite optimal medical management, both experienced severe sleep breathing disorders. The trial is a 40 patient study being conducted in a number of centers worldwide. Implants are expected to begin in the United States in the coming months. Read the rest of this entry