Asked if Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Increase Infection Risk
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May 03, 2009
Another potential problem of using dual antiplatelet therapy in patients due to have surgery has emerged in a new study showing that patients taking both aspirin plus clopidogrel preoperatively had an increased risk of infection after coronary artery bypass surgery...[read article]
Antiplatelet Treatment Associated With Cerebral Microbleeds
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April 22, 2009
A new analysis from the Rotterdam Scan Study shows that cerebral microbleeds on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more prevalent in elderly subjects who use platelet-aggregation inhibitors than in nonusers...[read article]
Genetic Variant Associated With Ischemic Stroke
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April 19, 2009
A prospective population-based study has found variants near gene NINJ2, on human chromosome 12, to be strongly associated with risk for ischemic stroke. Of the 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with genomewide significance associated with ischemic stroke in the large white discovery cohort, 1 SNP was further validated in individual replication samples with white Dutch and black participants...[read article]
Toprol XL, Revlimid, Fludara Take FDA Aproval
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April 19, 2009
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved safety labeling revisions to provide recommendations for extended-release metoprolol therapy in the setting of pheochromocytoma, lenalidomide dose adjustments for patients with renal impairment, and warnings regarding the risk for central nervous system toxicity with recommended doses of fludarabine...[read article]
Increased Waist Size Linked to Heart Failure
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April 16, 2009
Higher waist size is associated with heart failure (HF) in women at all levels of body mass index (BMI), and both waist size and BMI predicted HF in men, according to the results of a study reported online first in the April 7 issue of Circulation Heart Failure....[read article]
Clopidogrel Benefit Greater in Smokers: New CLARITY-TIMI 28 Analysis
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April 13, 2009
Smoking has become the latest factor shown to affect responsiveness to clopidogrel (Plavix, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi-Aventis), with a new post hoc analysis of the CLARITY-TIMI 28 trial illustrating that the benefits of the drug are greater in patients who smoked more than half a pack of cigarettes....[read article]
Nicotine Replacement Therapy May Be Effective in Smokers Unable to Attempt an Abrupt Quit
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April 13, 2009
Nicotine replacement therapy effectively achieves sustained smoking abstinence for smokers who have no intention or are unable to attempt an abrupt quit, according to the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis reported online first April 3 in the British Medical Journal.....[read article]
Older Women With Coronary Heart Disease Associate with Higher Mortality
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April 05, 2009
Older women with higher concentrations of blood lead have an increased risk for death, especially from coronary heart disease (CHD), according to the results of a prospective cohort study reported in the April issue of Environmental Health.....[read article]
Older Women With Coronary Heart Disease Associate with Higher Mortality
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April 05, 2009
Older women with higher concentrations of blood lead have an increased risk for death, especially from coronary heart disease (CHD), according to the results of a prospective cohort study reported in the April issue of Environmental Health.....[read article]
Beta Blockers Blunt Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Statins After Acute MI
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March 29, 2009
C reactive protein (CRP) levels are lowered to a greater extent with simvastatin alone after acute MI (AMI) than when metoprolol or propranolol is added, indicating that the beta blockers attenuate the anti-inflammatory effect of the statin.....[read article]
Postanoxic Status Epilepticus May Not Be Fatal With Aggressive Treatment
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March 22, 2009
In patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest but who develop postanoxic status epilepticus may recover with a favorable outcome if their condition is treated aggressively, as if it were status epilepticus, a Swiss team reports....[read article]
Resting Heart Rate Poor Reflection of Beta Blockade in Heart Failure Patients
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March 22, 2009
Resting heart rate does not accurately reflect the degree of beta blockade in heart failure patients on chronic beta-blocker therapy, according to a report in the Spring 2009 issue of Cardiovascular Therapeutics....[read article]
Rivaroxaban Recommended for Approval by FDA Advisory Panel
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March 22, 2009
An FDA advisory panel has voted 15 to 2 to recommend approval of rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Johnson & Johnson)--which would be the first new oral anticoagulant since the approval of warfarin (Coumadin, Bristol-Myers Squibb) in 1954--for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients undergoing hip- and knee-replacement surgery....[read article]
Antiepileptic Drugs Cause Less Cardiovascular Risk Than Older Agents
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March 20, 2009
Switching patients with epilepsy from older antiepileptic drugs that induce cytochrome P450 to 1 of the newer drugs that do not affect this enzyme system can dramatically reduce cardiovascular risk....[read article]
Aspirin More Evidence That Low Dose is All That is Needed
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March 20, 2009
New guidance on how aspirin should be used in both the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease has come from three new reports published this week Two new studies deal with aspirin use in secondary prevention. These are a post hoc analysis of aspirin use in the CHARISMA trial....[read article]
All Types of Exercise May Be Safe, Effective After Recent Myocardial Infarction
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March 20, 2009
All types of exercise (aerobic, resistance, and their combination) are safe and effective strategies for correcting endothelial dysfunction in patients after a recent myocardial infarction, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the March 16 Online First issue of Circulation....[read article]
Modest Reductions in Dietary Salt Would Reap Great Benefits
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March 18, 2009
US researchers say even a small reduction in the amount of salt in the daily diet would have a huge public-health impact. Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo (University of California, San Francisco) and colleagues calculate that cutting just 1 g of salt a day would prevent a quarter of a million new heart-disease cases and 200 000 deaths from any cause over a decade....[read article]
Diabetic Patients With AF at Increased Risk of Adverse Events
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March 18, 2009
Diabetic patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) are at a significantly greater risk of adverse clinical outcomes than those without AF, a new analysis has shown [1]. Compared with those without the rhythm disorder, diabetic patients with AF are more likely to die from all or cardiovascular causes, as well as have more cerebrovascular events and heart failure, report researchers...[read article]
Trial Stopped Early, and Pactimibe Development Discontinued Based on IVUS Results
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March 17, 2009
The results of the Carotid Atherosclerosis Progression Trial Investigating Vascular ACAT Inhibition Treatment Effects (CAPTIVATE), a study discontinued after 15 months because pactimibe (Daiichi Sankyo) failed to show any benefit in an earlier intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) study, are now published in the March 18, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association....[read article]
Retinopathy Predicts Mortality From Coronary Heart Disease
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March 13, 2009
The presence of retinopathy lesions may signal an increased risk of mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a report in the March issue of Heart."Isolated retinopathy signs, even in people without diabetes, are indicators of heart disease and increased cardiovascular risk," Dr. Jie Jin Wang told Reuters Health....[read article]
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Linked to Cardiovascular Mortality in Elderly
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March 12, 2009
Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) might be independently associated with total and cardiovascular mortality in a community-dwelling elderly population, according to the results of a French population-based multicenter prospective study reported in the February 26 Online First issue of Stroke....[read article]
Compound May Prevent Radiation-Induced Cognitive Impairment
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March 10, 2009
An angiotensin type 1 receptor antagonist (AT1RA) can prevent or ameliorate cognitive impairment induced by whole-brain irradiation in a rat model, according to a report in the February International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics...[read article]
More Support for Clopidogrel Platelet Response Testing
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March 07, 2009
More evidence that patients with a low platelet responsiveness to clopidogrel have an increased risk of stent thrombosis has come from a new study, with the suggestion that antiplatelet therapy should be intensified in this group...[read article]
Adherence to Antihypertensives Does Cut Real-World Cerebrovascular Risk
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FEB 25, 2009
A Canadian study confirms that better adherence to therapy with antihypertensive agents is associated with a reduced risk of cerebrovascular disease, "in real-world practice."Dr. Sylvie Perreault of McGill University, Montreal, and colleagues observe in the January issue of Stroke that...[read article]
Female Doctors Provide Best HF Care
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FEB 24, 2009
A new German study has shown that female doctors appear to provide the best care to heart-failure patients, by being more likely to prescribe guideline-recommended treatment [1]. The results also show that female HF patients are less likely to receive optimum care, particularly when male physicians treat them ...[read article]
EU Agency Warns of Heart Risk With Orion Drug
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FEB 23, 2009
European regulators warned on Thursday that Orion's breast cancer drug Fareston should not be used in patients with heart conditions, denting shares in the Finnish drugmaker.
The London-based European Medicines Agency said its experts had recommended against giving the medicine, known ...[read article]
Recommendations for Prevention of Recurrent Stroke Reviewed
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FEB 21, 2009
Recommendations for prevention of recurrent stroke are reviewed in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In addition to control of modifiable risk factors, virtually all patients who have had ischemic stroke should be prescribed antiplatelet agents..[read article]
Future of Biomarker-Guided Heart-Failure Meds Still Uncertain
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FEB 20, 2009
Adding to a mixed evidence base regarding the use of natriuretic-peptide levels as a treatment target in heart failure, a randomized trial has suggested that the appealing but unproven strategy has little or no effect on survival overall but also hinted at a possible benefit in patients younger than 75 [1] ...[read article]
Prolonged Loop Diuretic Use Linked to Higher Fracture Risk in Postmenopausal Women
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FEB 19, 2009
Prolonged use, but not ever-use, of loop diuretics is linked to a higher fracture risk in postmenopausal women, according to the results of a study reported in the January 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine....[read article]
Cardiac Risk Estimates Differ For Christian And Muslim Patients
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FEB 18, 2009
In a study of medical students, more serious cardiac risk estimates were given to Christians and less serious estimates for Muslims despite the patients being otherwise identical in their characteristics and symptoms, according to research in an upcoming issue of Medical Decision Making...[read article]
xposure To Low Doses Of Mercury Changes The Way The Arteries Work
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FEB 15, 2009
An international team of researchers has shown that mercury is another important factor in cardiovascular disease as it changes the way arteries work. One of the possible sources of exposure of humans to mercury is by eating contaminated fish....[read article]
Depression Following A Heart Attack Increases Risk Of Death Or Readmission
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FEB 14, 2009
Science has found many links between depression and other serious medical illnesses, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. For example, people who develop depression following a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or chest pain ...[read article]
