In Global News: Cardiac Regeneration in Pigs, Health Effects of Marijuana Use, and Running to Reduce Aortic Stiffness

Patient Care and General Interest

As state-specific regulations around marijuana change in the US, physicians and surgeons express concern about the dearth of information about the potential long-term harmful effects of smoking the drug.

A teenage heart transplant recipient has partnered with a chef to create a heart-healthy cookbook.

A genetically-engineered bacteriophage infusion is used to treat a lung transplant recipient’s drug-resistant infection in London, UK.

Patients don’t understand their implanted pacing devices as well as they think they do, and they also want to know more about their devices.

Australian professional golfer Jason Day has partnered with AstraZeneca to raise awareness of biomarker testing for lung cancer, following his mother’s diagnosis of late stage cancer.

Drugs and Devices

A medical device alternative summary reporting program from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be shut down, and past records will be made publicly available.

The US FDA has issued a safety communication, alerting providers that the batteries in certain pacemakers or cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers from Medtronic can fail early.

Research, Trials, and Funding

Research presented at the recent Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in Toronto, Canada, evaluated the use of an ultrasonic vessel-sealing device in minimally invasive lobectomy.

Healthy novice runners who trained for their first marathon showed a reduction in aortic stiffness, say researchers from University College London.

Researchers from London report in Nature the usage of microRNA to induce cardiac regeneration after heart attack in pigs.