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Low-risk hypertensive patients taking a combination of diuretics and calcium-channel blockers had a higher risk of MI than users of other common two-drug BP-lowering regimens in a new case-control study. The authors say a large clinical trial is needed to examine the best options for second-line therapy; others disagree.
Seattle, WA - Low-risk hypertensive patients taking a combination of diuretics and calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) had a higher risk of MI than users of other common two-drug BP-lowering regimens in a new case-control study published online January 25, 2010 in BMJ [1].
Lead author Dr Inbal Boger-Megiddo (University of Washington, Seattle) told heartwire she cannot determine "whether the findings indicate a positive effect of one group of drugs or a negative effect of another." But the new study "raises a good clinical question that we should address in further trials," she says. "We should definitely look into secondary hypertension and the fact that all drug groups, while being comparable in terms of their BP-lowering effects, are not necessarily comparable in terms of cardiovascular outcomes."Read full article »
Inside: Hypertension
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Drs. Izzo and Ruilope discuss the importance of RAS inhibition in controlling hypertension to prevent or delay the development of MA in patients with diabetes.
Read Dr. Kalaitzidis' review of the role of hypertension in the cardiovascular risk continuum, then watch Drs. Weber, Mancia, Williams, and Haller as they present the latest treatment options and preview important clinical trial data.
Hypertension affects approximately 73 million adults in the U.S. and is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular and renal diseases. Dr. Kountz will focus on current hypertension treatment disparities and high-risk patients while providing a thorough exploration of guideline-based management strategies.
Join Drs Giles, Elliott, Mason and White as they discuss a new approach to preservation of NO offered by the cyclooxygenase-inhibiting nitric oxide donating (CINOD) drugs, which may have an important role in treating arthritis patients with hypertension.
African American women have much higher odds of developing peripartum cardiomyopathy than non-African Americans, a new US study shows; the findings illustrate that race is by far the largest risk factor for this disease, say the researchers.
Two doctors from Mozambique are calling for concerted efforts to foster multidisciplinary research into neglected cardiovascular diseases that predominantly occur in Africa. These include newly emerging cardiac manifestations of infectious diseases, say the authors.
Easily added to any other tests performed, a positive finding suggests the patient is susceptible to potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias, according to researchers.
A study comparing cardiovascular outcomes at the "best hospitals," according to two popular hospital ranking systems, shows that the systems do identify high-quality hospitals, but not all of them.
The number of deaths predicted would be half as high, if the US population met goals set out 10 years ago in the Healthy People 2010 report, researchers say. Obesity and diabetes have proved to be the major obstacles.
More than 15 million people in the US alone take herbal remedies and/or vitamins at doses that may be interacting with their cardiovascular medications, potentially putting them at risk.
Most experts agree that reducing salt intake will cut blood pressure and in turn reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes. But messages to limit the amount of salt added to food have had little impact on sodium intake in the West, as more than 75% of salt in the diet there is contained in readily prepared foods. The UK has recently gotten tough with the food industry and cut salt intake by 10%; is it time the US and others took a similar stance? heartwire examines the issues.
A new review of the use of beta blockers as second-line therapy for primary hypertension has shown that they appear to lower BP differently from thiazide diuretics, with less of an effect on pulse pressure.
Although ARBs bested ACE inhibitors in this observational cohort, the data suggest that the lowest risks for Alzheimer's disease and nursing-home admission were seen in those taking both agents.
A new review notes that unlike well-established standards for statistical significance, no guidelines exist for deciding what magnitude of difference is clinically meaningful or practically important. Composite end points and subgroup analyses also pose problems for clinicians trying to understand trial results.
AHA president Dr Clyde Yancy and CEO Nancy Brown share insights from the recent sessions and discuss ongoing initiatives with heartwire's Shelley Wood.
Join Drs Valentin Fuster, Roger Blumenthal, Bob Harrington, Judith Hochman, Sanjay Kaul, Suzanne Oparil, Gregg Stone, Lynne Warner Stevenson, and Bruce Wilkoff as they discuss important news from the Scientific Sessions and tackle the issue of too little, too soon in clinical trials today.
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