CardioExchange Archive

Screening for Type 2 Diabetes: Kahn et al. used a sophisticated computer model to assess the impact of 8 different screening strategies to detect type 2 diabetes in the US. The researchers concluded that screening is cost effective when started between the ages of 30 and 45 years of age, with screening repeated every 3–5 years. The study appears online in the Lancet. In an accompanying comment, Guy Rutten write that the study “provides further evidence that screening for diabetes should be combined with screening for hypertension and lipid tests.”

FDA Cracks Down on Unapproved Nitroglycerin: Last week the FDA ordered two companies to stop selling unapproved nitroglycerin tablets. A New York Times story over the weekend explored the larger dimension of the story, pointing out that only one nitroglycerin tablet, Pfizer’s Nitrostat, has undergone the FDA approval process, and that 80% of the nitroglycerin used in the US has never been subject to regulatory scrutiny. The Times story quotes Harry Lever, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic: “If it’s not approved and no one has tested it, we can’t be sure that it’s safe and effective.”