Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, have developed an approach to regenerate heart muscle using stem cells. Their method for priming stem cells to become heart tissues could potentially enable heart regeneration stem cell therapies, according to their study published in the journal Cell Reports.

Mobile health apps are a booming market targeted at both patients and health professionals. Medicines-related apps help patients track their prescriptions and remember to take their pills. They also provide drug information to help clinicians prescribe and administer medications.

A new algae-based treatment could reduce the need for amputation in people with critical limb ischaemia, according to new research funded by the British Heart Foundation, published today in the journal npj Regenerative Medicine. Researchers at St Thomas' Hospital and King's College London have made small capsules from brown algae which hold macrophages, a type of white blood cell.

Physical inactivity is a common factor in lifestyle diseases - and one that is often linked to the excessive consumption of fatty and/or sugary foods. The opposite scenario of excessive physical activity at the expense of caloric intake can also be harmful, as cases of anorexia nervosa illustrate. These data therefore point to the crucial need to research the neurobiological processes that control the respective motivations for exercise and food intake.

The cardiovascular benefits of the diabetes drug dapagliflozin extend across a wide spectrum of patients and are especially pronounced in those with reduced ejection fraction, a measure of the heart's pumping ability indicative of poor heart functioning, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session.

Green tea cut obesity and a number of inflammatory biomarkers linked with poor health in a new study. Mice fed a diet of 2 percent green tea extract fared far better than those that ate a diet without it, a finding that has prompted an upcoming study of green tea's potential benefits in people at high risk of diabetes and heart disease.

A new class of oral cholesterol-lowering drug could help patients unable to take statins due to side effects. The findings come from the largest study to date to test the effectiveness and safety of bempedoic acid, an oral medication - yet to be approved in Europe - which inhibits the body's ability to create the building blocks of cholesterol.