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Live Webcast: September 24, 2009, at 7:00PM EDT From the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill cornell medical Center

As if being stuck sick in bed wasn’t bad enough, several studies conducted during the past few years have found that the immune response to illness can cause depression. Recently scientists have pinpointed an enzyme that could be the culprit, as it is linked to both chronic inflammation--such as that found in patients with coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis--and depressive symptoms in mice.In the new study, immuno­physiologist Keith Kelley and his colleagues at the University of Illinois exposed mice to a tuberculosis vaccine that produces a low-grade, chronic inflammation. After inocu­lation, production in the mice brains of an enzyme called IDO, which breaks down tryptophan, spiked. The animals exhibited normal symptoms of illness such as moving around and eating less. Yet even after recovering from the physical illness induced by the vaccine, they showed signs of depression--for example, struggling less than control mice to escape from a b

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 24, 2009) - Genome British Columbia - While most people are familiar with anemia - or lack of iron in the blood - they are less familiar with diseases of too much iron. Excess iron in the body, if left unchecked, can form toxic deposits in major organs leading to serious conditions including heart failure, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, arthritis, and even infertility. Iron overload can be a consequence of a genetically mutated gene known as hereditary hemochromatosis, or a consequence of red blood cell transfusions, required as life saving treatments, for patients with diseases such as thalassemia.

WHEN I WAS a little girl, my grandmother always described herself as "big-boned." She was a proud, robust woman with a positive self-image, a heart of gold, street smarts and a savvy sense of fashion, too. When Anna McIntyre stepped out, she knew she was looking good.

Researchers find that smoking bans can reduce the number of heart attacks by as much as 26 percent per year.

Public smoking bans do more than just clear the air in offices, bars and restaurants they lead to quick and dramatic declines in heart attacks.

A pioneering model that a University of Utah cardiologist proposes as a cause of heart disease is the kind of creative thinking the National Institutes of Health (NIH) likes to see-and reward with one of its most prestigious honors, a $2.5 million 2009 Pioneer Award. Ivor J. Benjamin, M.D., professor of internal medicine and biochemistry and the Christi T.

No Compassion For Sick Illegal Immigrants Atlanta Journal Constitution It seems a poor reflection on one of the richest countries in the world that we are so stingy, so callous and so xenophobic. At least we've not reached the point of turning away cases of immediate need - victims of car accidents or heart attacks or others who need emergency care (Cynthia Tucker, 9/22).

In the lead up to World Heart Day on 27 September 2009, the World Heart Federation, the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum have joined forces to call on governments, employers and workers around the world to make workplaces healthier. Over 17.2 million people worldwide die annually from heart disease and stroke - the world's leading cause of death.

Memory loss and other cognitive problems after heart surgery may not be related to the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), or to 'flotsam' in the bloodstream caused by the CPB pump, according to a study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).