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heartbriefs

Sen Grassley questions top medical schools about ghostwriting

Nov 20, 2009 13:15 EST

As part of his mission to see more financial transparency in medicine, Sen Grassley has asked eight top US medical schools about their policies on ghostwriting.

Prevention

CDC data show LDL screening rate remains stagnant; many who could benefit go without lipid-lowering drugs

2 COMMENTS - Nov 17, 2009 17:45 EST

Editorialists discuss simplifying LD-management guidelines in light of a CDC study in which two-thirds of subjects who are at high risk for developing coronary disease within 10 years and eligible for lipid-lowering drugs were not on the medication.

Interventional/Surgery

Postop anemia in high-CV-risk patients: No CV gains from fixed hemoglobin target in trial

Nov 16, 2009 17:45 EST

A randomized trial found no protection from in-hospital cardiovascular events with a strategy of blood transfusions to maintain hemoglobin above 10 g/dL, compared with a more conservative approach to transfusion therapy, in patients with CV disease or risk factors who underwent hip surgery.

Prevention

Canadian confusion: Primary-care docs lack knowledge of CVD risk factors, prevention

8 COMMENTS - Nov 15, 2009 09:00 EST

Family doctors and general practitioners in Canada are confused about cardiovascular risk assessment in primary prevention, a new survey reveals.

Medscape Medical News

SGR repair bill failure could cool physician support for healthcare reform

Nov 12, 2009 15:00 EST

Now that the US House of Representatives has passed a healthcare reform bill, organized medicine anticipates another vote—possibly next week—on a second bill that would rewrite Medicare's controversial sustainable-growth-rate formula for physician reimbursement.

Lipid/Metabolic

Total- and HDL-cholesterol levels, not triglycerides, predict vascular risk

Nov 12, 2009 10:00 EST

Clinicians can simplify their existing risk-assessment tools by measuring either total- and HDL-cholesterol levels or apolipoproteins, and this assessment can effectively be done in patients who did not fast before the test.

News

What's going to be hot at AHA 2009?

2 COMMENTS - Nov 11, 2009 09:00 EST

Anticipation is building for full trial results from ARBITER 6-HALTS, plus a better understanding of what went wrong with cangrelor in the CHAMPION trials. Also in the lineup are updates from PLATO, RE-LY, ALLHAT, BARI 2D, STICH, CASCADE, POPULAR, HEARTMATE II, and many more. Indeed, this year's "late-breaking" sessions include more than 30 trials over five days.

Clinical cardiology

Walking speed predicts CV mortality in older people

4 COMMENTS - Nov 10, 2009 19:01 EST

Fast walkers should find themselves less likely to succumb to cardiovascular death, according to a new French study in older adults. Measuring general fitness in this way could easily be incorporated into a general global assessment of cardiovascular risk, say the researchers.

Prevention

No benefits of aspirin for primary prevention in diabetics, meta-analysis suggests

6 COMMENTS - Nov 10, 2009 17:15 EST

Most guideline documents recommend aspirin for primary prevention in people with diabetes, but a new meta-analysis has found no benefit of the widely used drug across a range of different cardiovascular end points. The results speak to the need for dedicated randomized trials, investigators say.

heartbriefs

Medicaid access to smoking cessation falls short

Nov 5, 2009 17:30 EST

A national survey shows that although the majority of state Medicaid programs offer coverage for some form of tobacco-dependence treatment, most fall far short of a stated mandate to provide unrestricted access to approved therapies.

Medscape Medical News

Low-cholesterol/cancer studies should "dispel lingering doubts" of causal link

Nov 5, 2009 14:15 EST

Two new papers should help put to rest concerns that low serum cholesterol levels may increase cancer risk.

Lipid/Metabolic

Not all metabolic syndrome is created equal: Framingham Offspring analysis

3 COMMENTS - Nov 5, 2009 11:45 EST

The syndrome (defined by ATP III criteria) can predict increased cardiovascular and mortality risk or not, depending on which three of five risk factors contributed to the diagnosis, a cohort study suggests; its investigators caution that their observations are only preliminary.

Hypertension

Adding fuel to the J-curve fire; debate is reignited

2 COMMENTS - Nov 4, 2009 14:30 EST

More discussion about the J-curve in hypertension is published this week; one expert believes the undue attention being paid to this subject might discourage doctors from treating high blood pressure aggressively.

heartbriefs

No CV risk reduction with B vitamins posttransplant

Nov 4, 2009 13:15 EST

In keeping with all the other evidence showing no effects of homocysteine-lowering with B vitamins, the FAVORIT study now confirms that this lack of benefit is also seen in renal-transplant recipients.

Prevention

Another in-hospital CV risk marker: 24-hour shifts with overnight on-call duty

1 COMMENT - Nov 4, 2009 09:45 EST

Long work shifts with nighttime on-call duty, with the inevitable interruptions of sleep, are associated with ECG, blood-pressure, and biochemical changes associated with increased cardiovascular risk, suggests a randomized crossover study that hints at a sustained effect on the risk markers if the 24-hour shifts happen too frequently.

Imaging

CAC scoring plus SPECT provide long and short view of cardiac risk

7 COMMENTS - Nov 3, 2009 17:00 EST

UPDATED // An 1126-patient trial shows that SPECT and CAC scoring imaging tests are independent and complementary predictors of short- and long-term cardiac risk, respectively.

Hypertension

Combined home/GP hypertension control program successful in Pakistan

3 COMMENTS - Nov 2, 2009 17:00 EST

A synergistic approach of educating general practitioners about hypertension control together with a program to send lay workers into people's homes to educate them about the management of high blood pressure has proven successful in low- to middle-income households in Pakistan.

Prevention

Advocates build support for Canadian Heart Health Strategy in a difficult environment

1 COMMENT - Nov 2, 2009 11:15 EST

Supporters of the Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan continue to solicit support from physicians and the public for a comprehensive strategy for improving Canadian's heart health at both the provincial and federal level.

Imaging

Imaging study shows plaque regression with niacin vs placebo

19 COMMENTS - Oct 30, 2009 16:00 EDT

Just weeks before ARBITER-HALTS 6 results come out at AHA 2009, an MRI study suggests that niacin is better than placebo in statin-treated patients with low HDL, at least for reducing carotid wall area. Experts say they'd also like to see insights into niacin effects on lipid-rich plaque volumes—the more commonly seen end point with MRI.

Lipid/Metabolic

Lifestyle-based diabetes prevention seen to endure for at least a decade

1 COMMENT - Oct 30, 2009 10:00 EDT

The protective effects of diet modification, exercise, and other lifestyle changes against new-onset diabetes showcased in the three-year Diabetes Prevention Program continued out to 10 years in a follow-up analysis.

Acute Coronary Syndromes

Sex differences in changing MI prevalence, mortality challenge conventional wisdom

Oct 29, 2009 10:30 EDT

Two well-known observational registries highlight such changes in women and men over a decade or more: Do women younger than 55 still have an advantage over men in the same age group?

Acute Coronary Syndromes

Bariatric surgery fails to reduce risk of MI long term

1 COMMENT - Oct 28, 2009 14:30 EDT

After a median follow-up of 12 years, MI rates were essentially the same among those treated with surgery and those who received conventional care for weight loss.

Prevention

Lorcaserin passes weight-loss and valvular hurdles in BLOSSOM study

1 COMMENT - Oct 27, 2009 16:15 EDT

Among overweight patients, including those with preexisting echocardiographic valvulopathy, the average weight loss was approximately 5 kg with lorcaserin. Importantly, there were no concerns raised about new or worsening cardiac valve problems with the 5HT2C-receptor agonist.

Prevention

Experts weigh in on calorie lists on menus, despite "mixed" science

2 COMMENTS - Oct 26, 2009 16:45 EDT

Results showing that people eat less when they know how many calories are in that Big Mac are mixed, but experts say that menu labeling provides only upside, with no public-health cost, and that over time results will show the information to have a positive effect on obesity rates in the US.

heartbriefs

Distribution of body fat important in VTE

Oct 26, 2009 16:00 EDT

The distribution of body fat, as well as the amount, is important when it comes to the risk of venous thromboembolism, Danish researchers have discovered.

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