Donald Pittenger writes: Dear Blowhards -- I'm still chipping away on that proposal for a book about non-Modenist painting since 1900. I have two sample chapters drafted and am working on a chapter that is intended to set the stage

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Google on Tuesday launched its own Internet browser, opening up a new challenge in cyberspace to Microsoft and its dominant Internet Explorer.

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices plunged more than five dollars in New York Tuesday after Hurricane Gustav appeared to have wreaked less damage than feared to Gulf of Mexico energy facilities.

ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) - Republicans belatedly launch their effort Tuesday to showcase John McCain to millions of American voters, after first trying to quell a storm over his shock running mate pick Sarah Palin.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday Moscow no longer considered Mikheil Saakashvili as Georgia's leader, calling him a "political corpse" and accusing his regime of "aggression that ended in many deaths."

BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's prime minister declared a state of emergency in the capital Tuesday after thousands of his opponents and supporters clashed in the worst street violence here in more than a decade.

Research from the UK has found that hip and knee replacements in general last for around three years.

New research has found that exercising on a treadmill helped stroke survivors improve their mobility and physical conditioning.

According to new research by Swedish scientists, older fathers are more likely to have children with bipolar disorder.

Heart failure is a leading cause of death and hospitalisation and represents a major burden on health services. It is estimated that over 15 million people in Europe suffer from heart failure and the syndrome accounts for over 2% of

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a relatively common cardiovascular emergency. Clots originating in the leg veins may become detached and obstruct the lung vessels. This obstruction may lead to a rise of pressure in the pulmonary circulation and possibly to

Existing practice surrounding many cardiovascular medications, including anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering agents, is based on the evaluation of response to therapy. In cases where ideal therapeutic targets (which have been identified through several previous studies) are not met in the single

REGENT is a multicenter, randomized trial for comparison of intracoronary infusion of bone marrow-derived unselected mononuclear cells (MNC) and selected CD34+CXCR4+ cells in 200 patients with acute myocardial infarction and reduced LVEF ¡Ü 40%.

Data presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress demonstrates the effectiveness of a peptide called FX06 in preventing cardiac damage resulting from treatment following a heart attack.

The SEAS (Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis) study has investigated the effects of intensive cholesterol lowering with the combination of simvastatin (40 mg daily) and ezetimibe (10 mg daily) in patients with aortic stenosis.

A twelve month study of treatment with darapladib concluded that,Lp-PLA2 inhibition with darapladib prevented necrotic core expansion, a key determinant of plaque vulnerability.

Data from a phase II study of an investigational drug designed to block formation of blood clots show potential for added protection against a second heart attack or stroke among patients who are already taking state-of-the-art prevention therapy.

The management of acute coronary syndromes (with or without ST segment elevation) requires the use of anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents (aspirin, clopidogrel and/or glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors), beta-blockers, thrombolytics in some cases, and revascularization / reperfusion.

For patients with acute ST-segment-elevation AMI (STEMI) within 12 hours after symptom onset and with persistent ST-segment elevation, or new or presumednew left bundle-branch block with concomitant ST-segment elevation, restoring coronary blood flow as early as possible is the main

The safety debate about drug-eluting stents (DES) is still ongoing. In these times of uncertainty about DES safety, the study has shown that DES markedly improve long-term survival compared to modern bare-metal stents (BMS) implantation in patients with acute ST-segment