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The warning will inform clinicians that tests are available to predict whether a patient will convert the drug to its active form based on the genetic profile of a key liver enzyme.
Drinking four or more cups of java per day is associated with an 18% lower risk of hospitalization for arrhythmias, new research shows. While the data are observational and researchers don't advocate for greater consumption, they say it is good news that coffee doesn't appear to be harmful to the heart's electrical system.
A new IVUS study has found that although the metabolic syndrome is associated with accelerated plaque progression, this can be attributed to its individual component risk factors rather than the syndrome itself.
The overweight and obese should be more aggressively treated with antihypertensive therapy than normal-weight individuals, because they will derive greater benefit, a new analysis of the PROGRESS study suggests.
Data presented last week suggest the secret to weight loss might lie in DNA and that the best way to shed excessive pounds is to diet according to genotype.
Pack this up for your patients: program chairs say a patient-care focus means results of this year's line-up of late-breaking clinical trials will have immediate relevance to clinical practice. Highlights include two ACCORD analyses looking at blood pressure and lipids, the EVEREST II results with the MitraClip, the MM-WES study of warfarin genotyping, plus a range of DES, HF, and atrial-fibrillation studies that may help answer the question of what therapies work best and at the best price.
Normal-weight individuals whose weight fluctuated, defined as a change in one BMI unit over a two-year period, had a risk of cardiovascular-disease events similar to individuals who were overweight. Overweight individuals who cycled did not experience an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
The investigational anticoagulant apixaban is more effective than the dose of enoxaparin commonly used in Europe for preventing venous thromboembolism in those undergoing knee replacement, according to new study results.
Researchers say the incremental benefit of vigorous activity over moderate physical activity is small and that as long as individuals are burning a certain number of calories per week they lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.
Glycated hemoglobin, even at levels in the normal range, independently predicted heart-disease events, stroke, and death in people initially without diabetes followed for a median of 14 years. As a risk marker, how did it compare with fasting glucose?
Less than 10% of adults in the US with prediabetes are aware that they are at high risk of developing diabetes, according to the first nationally representative survey of adults there. But gaining advice from a doctor to improve lifestyle was motivating, the study found.
Improvements in carotid disease severity, as measured by conventional ultrasound but also a three-dimensional volumetric ultrasound technique, were independent of whether patients followed a low-fat, "low-carb," or Mediterranean diet in an imaging substudy of a randomized trial.
Authors of the study say their study does not rule out a role for ankle/brachial index screening in the clinic or for other CVD drugs to reduce risk in asymptomatic subjects. But for aspirin and for populationwide screening, the study raises some questions.
Two new studies looking at the link between use of vitamin D or blood levels of the supplement tilt in favor of the vitamin playing a role in preventing cardiovascular disease or helping improve CV risk factors. But more research is needed.
Researchers say the physical examination, medical history, and 12-lead ECG were "complementary," with the exam and history detecting individuals with valvular disease, while the ECG picked up myocardial abnormalities, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Still, one expert says there are too many obstacles to establishing mandatory preparticipation screening with ECGs.
The COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib completely abolished the beneficial preconditioning effect of rosuvastatin in a small mechanistic study in human volunteers.
Adding more weight to the argument for a populationwide approach to reduce dietary sodium levels in the US is a new study suggesting such a move would save $32 billion in medical costs.
The move by Medicare is intended to blunt the effect of the 21.2% pay cut. If a fix is passed, CMS carriers will pay March claims that had been put on hold, at the current rate.
Senate Democrats will not introduce legislation creating a new effective date for the reduction until next week, according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Researchers say their study is the first to confirm a link between dietary fat and stroke in older women and should serve as a reminder to clinicians to educate their patients about food choices.
Rather than concentrating primarily on medical technologies and greater use of pharmacotherapy, the US needs to seriously address lifestyle risk factors if it wants to properly tackle its heart-disease epidemic, a new Lancet editorial concludes.
New research has shed some light on a hitherto-unsolved genetic mystery: how a common variation on chromosome 9p21, associated with an increased risk of early coronary artery disease, might exert its effects. But the scientists stress that more work will be needed to see whether the findings in mice translate into humans.
A small randomized crossover trial showed that flow-mediated dilation improved in people with type 2 diabetes who added walnuts to their meals over an eight-week period.
Most patients diagnosed with hypertension do not have their blood pressure adequately controlled, the report found. Physicians are also failing to adhere to guidelines for treating mild hypertension in older patients.
Dyslipidemia is only one signal of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Inflammation is a frequent precursor of cardiac-related events. Drs. Willerson, Ballantyne, and Ridker critically examine the mechanisms of atherosclerosis, elevated C-reactive protein and other risk factors, and statin therapy to preemptively address or ameliorate CVD.
Little success has been realized in achieving target levels for glycemic control, lipids, and blood pressure, as a result the number of patients with diabetes in the U.S. with these risk factors has increased. Drs. Davidson, Blumenthal, and Svec discuss appropriate treatments to guide the physician in the prevention of CVD.