Anxiety disorders raise the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and death in people with heart disease.

Anxiety is common in patients with heart disease, but studies examining the effect of anxiety on cardiovascular prognosis have yielded inconsistent results. To evaluate the effect of generalized anxiety disorder on heart disease, researchers followed 1,015 Americans with stable coronary heart disease who were assessed for anxiety disorder through diagnostic interviews at the start of the study and then followed for almost six years.

During the follow-up, there were a total of 371 cardiovascular events (heart attacks or other incidents that may cause damage to the heart). The yearly rate of cardiovascular events was almost 10 percent among the 106 patients with generalised anxiety disorder and 7 percent among the other 909 patients.

After adjusting for a number of factors - such as other health problems, heart disease severity and medication use - it was found that generalised anxiety disorder was associated with a 75 percent higher risk of cardiovascular events.

The researchers attributed the association between anxiety and heart trouble to many factors. Anxiety may be linked with surges in "fight or flight" hormones called catecholamines that may be related to heart risk, or people with anxiety may be more likely to seek medical care when they have symptoms of a cardiovascular event. It's also possible that a common underlying factor may increase the risk of both anxiety and heart events.

Finally, after a long wait, the vaccine for the H1N1 virus has arrived, much to the relief of health workers and the general public, Health Secretary V K Subburaj told Express on Thursday.

The State Government would shortlist the supplier company on Sunday and, depending on the need, would decide on the number of vials to purchase, he said.

By next week the swine flu vaccine would hit the markets and anybody can buy it. All medical shops will stock the vaccine, Subburaj said. Two shots of the vaccine will have to be taken and each shot is expected to cost around Rs 300.

In March, around 20,000 health workers from Tamil Nadu were administered the vaccine on an experimental basis. The vaccine was, at that time, specially procured from outside the State.

Subburaj said three companies have approached the Government and their vaccines would be tested at the King Institute before finalising one company's product.

During the meeting with the companies to be held on Sunday, the health department will decide on the date by when the swine flu vaccine would be provided to private hospitals, he said.

The Health Secretary insisted that spread of swine flu in the State has been brought under control. Of the 25 persons admitted to various government hospitals in the state, 16 have recovered and have been discharged. Last year, there were 2,400 confirmed cases of the infection and 12 deaths in the state.

All government hospitals should have a quarantine ward, especially for swine flu, as a precautionary measure during rains, Subburaj said. All private doctors would be sent an alert by the health department on diagnosing the flu accurately and in time. He also advised the public to take necessary precautions.

The mystery connected with why people die from sudden cardiac arrest during sleep has been solved by scientists at The University of Manchester.

The pioneering research, using detailed computer models, could help save lives through preventative treatment of those most at risk from a form of heart rhythm disorder called sick sinus syndrome.

This occurs when the activity of the heart's pacemaker, the sinoatrial node, is impaired. Up to now, no-one has been able to work out why this happens.

But groundbreaking research by Professor Henggui Zhang at The University of Manchester shows how gene mutation and activity of the nervous system can combine to seriously disrupt the heart's normal rhythm.

This research means it would be possible to identify those most at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death, which can affect people of any age but particularly the healthy elderly and well-trained athletes.

It could then be possible to control the risk by using drugs or a pacemaker.

"Previously, we did not know why some people with sick sinus syndrome would die suddenly, but now we do know why risk can increase at night during sleep. Our findings may be an important step towards ways of preventing this," Zhang said.

The research, carried out with scientists from The University of Bristol, has been published in the leading journal Circulation Research.

Dispur is contemplating initiating a study to ascertain whether there was any co-relation between conflict and heart ailments in children after it was found that most of the 130 children selected for free treatment at a Bangalore-based hospital were from violence-prone areas of the state.

Dispur will send the first batch of children with holes in their hearts for surgery to the Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals, one of the world's largest paediatric heart hospitals, on July 10. The hospital has performed nearly 15,000 surgeries on patients from 25 foreign countries since it was established in 2001.

The entire cost of treatment will be borne by the Assam government.

Assam health and family welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters that the hospital in Bangalore also receives a lot of children from conflict zones like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with heart ailments.

"Under such circumstances there is an urgent need for a comprehensive study and research on the co-relation between conflict and heart ailments in children. My department will try to conduct a study on the issue for effective prevention and treatment of the disease," he said.

Sarma said various categories of cardiac cases, including those with very highly complex, genetic anomalies, cases where surgical intervention was not required and some which were not congenital, were detected during a screening camp at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital from July 1 to 3.

"I have come to know that many children found with cardiac problems during the screening camp were from districts in Assam where conflict and violence are more severe. So there are reasons to believe that mothers living in conflict zones give birth to children with cardiac problems. But I am not a medical expert and thus favour a scientific study," the minister said.

Sarma said he would disclose the number of children with heart disease and names of the violence affected districts on July 10. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will formally flag off the scheme the same day.

Benedict Raj R, consultant paediatric cardiac surgeon of Narayana Hrudayalaya, said Sarma has given the medical fraternity food for thought to discover any such co-relation. He said an advanced and comprehensive scientific study was necessary to arrive at a conclusion.

A cardiologist at GMCH, requesting anonymity, said the minister's observation did not have any direct scientific bearing. "But women living in conflict zones might be slightly more stressed and tense during pregnancy. Under such circumstances, pregnant women may take an overdose of drugs to reduce stress and for a good night's sleep which might affect the heart of the baby," he said.

HAIR-loss and vomiting will no longer be symptoms of cancer therapy if Geelong researchers are successful in a new treatment bid.

While chemotherapy destroys any fast-dividing cells in the body, including hair cells and good stomach bacteria, the proposed treatment dubbed the "smart bomb" will work like a homing missile.

The smart bomb involves two stages, with the Deakin Geelong team working on the seek, and a collaborative Indian Institute of Technology, the destroy.

A nano-particle attaches to the cancer cells once injected into the bloodstream before a cargo of drugs is unloaded into the cell.

Project leader, Associate Professor Wei Duan, said anti-cancer drugs were powerful but lacked accuracy.

"Our precision-guided cancer therapy will afford reduced side-effects, decreased toxicity to normal cells," he said. "We will probably still be using existing drugs but the way we use them will be much more specific.

"We're not saying we will have a cure cancer in 10 years but at least these people will live longer and importantly enjoy a higher quality of life."

The penetration of the smart-bomb is also more likely to kill the root of the cell and stop re-sprouting.

"Cancer cells are particularly difficult to kill as they contain so-called cancer stem cells, the root or seed cancer cells that are resistant to drugs," Associate Prof Duan said.

"While current treatments kill the bulk of the cancer cell, the cancer root escapes the therapy and can regenerate into a new cancer mass.

"The aim of our research is to develop a smart bomb that can penetrate the cell and release the drugs within the cells, rather than from the outside."

The smart-bomb concept already works in a petri-dish the aim of Geelong and Indian researchers is to replicate that in animals then humans.

If all goes plan the research team hopes to start clinical trials in three to four years.