CardioExchange Archive

Salty Stuff: Reducing dietary salt by 3 g per day would cut the annual number of new cases of CHD in the U.S. by 60,000 to 120,000, stroke by 32,000 to 66,000, and MI by 54,000 to 99,000, according to a report released early online in the NEJM by researchers from UCSF, Stanford, and Columbia University. Even smaller reductions would be beneficial, write the authors: “The population-wide benefits of salt reduction are similar in magnitude to the benefits that would accrue from other public health and clinical interventions and would reduce costs even if only a more modest reduction of 1 g of salt per day were achieved gradually over time.” In an accompanying editorial, Lawrence Appel and Cheryl Anderson call on the US “to swiftly implement public health interventions that result in population-wide reduction in salt intake.”

AHA’s Life’s Simple 7: As part of an effort to improve the nation’s cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association has developed seven simple measures of cardiovascular health for adults. Here are the measures, which the AHA is calling Life’s Simple 7:

Never smoked or quit more than one year ago;
Body mass index less than 25 kg/m2;
Physical activity of at least 150 minutes (moderate intensity) or 75 minutes (vigorous intensity) each week;
Four to five of the key components of a healthy diet consistent with current American Heart Association guideline recommendations;
Total cholesterol of less than 200 mg/dL;
Blood pressure below 120/80 mm Hg;
Fasting blood glucose less than 100 mg/dL.

HeartMate II Gains New Indication: The FDA announced today that Thoratec’s HeartMate II continuous flow left ventricular assist system (LVAS) had been approved for use as destination therapy for patients not eligible for a heart transplant. The device had been previous approved as a bridge-to-transplant.