CardioExchange Archive

July 30th, 2012

And The Survey Says: You Are Thinking About Retirement

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

I saw a news item today with an alarming statistic about the number of doctors who plan to retire in the next decade. We all have days where work can be frustrating – but the article indicated that 45% of cardiologists planned to retire in the next decade. I was thinking about what the natural […]

---

July 23rd, 2012

A Proposal To Improve The Value Of Observational Studies

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

I believe that observational studies can reveal important truths and have a critical place in the portfolio of clinical research. However, I sometimes wonder, when I see a study, just how it was conducted. Was the study question clearly defined before the analyses were begun…or did the study question emerge only after the investigator conducted […]

---

May 30th, 2012

Reality Check: Do Reporters Spin Trial Results?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Do reporters spin trial results – or do some reporters just not understand the science well enough to report results accurately? I was thumbing through Nature Reviews/Cardiology when I happened on this headline in the section on Research Highlights: Vorapaxar beneficial in setting of prior MI, but not in patients who have experienced stroke. This long […]

---

May 24th, 2012

The Next Phase in Outcomes Research: PCORI-Funded Projects

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is distributing $120 million in research grants for comparative effectiveness studies. Learn about PCORI’s mission and the funding opportunities.

---

May 18th, 2012

Standing Up for What You Believe: The Story Behind an Editorial

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

A request from “someone with influence” to cease discussion of a sensitive topic prompts an editorial encouraging younger colleagues to stand up for what they believe.

---

May 10th, 2012

Three Guideposts for Talking to Loved Ones After a Patient Dies

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Harlan Krumholz shares his techniques for helping to heal the people whom a deceased patient leaves behind.

---

April 3rd, 2012

Why We Should Abandon LDL Cholesterol Targets

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

In an interview on CurrentMedicine.TV, CardioExchange editor-in-chief Harlan Krumholz discussed an editorial he co-authored with Rodney Hayward on why the NIH’s forthcoming Adult Treatment Panel IV should abandon LDL Targets.

---

March 22nd, 2012

Uncertainty Over the Clinical Importance of the Diabetes Risk of Diuretics and Statins

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

With all of the hullaballoo about statins and diabetes last week I wanted to point out a paper that was published online this week in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. This study examined the long-term effects of incident diabetes on cardiovascular outcomes in patients enrolled in ALLHAT. As you may remember, this trial included more […]

---

March 16th, 2012

Helping Patients Understand the Statins Controversy

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

After the Topol op-ed in the New York Times last week I began to get a lot of inquiries about the safety of statins. At the beginning of his piece he emphasizes that our use of statins could cause a “sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.” At the end, he states emphatically that “the […]

---

March 15th, 2012

Hospital Readmission Calculator? There’s an App for That!

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Want to calculate the risk of readmission for MI, heart failure, or pneumonia? There’s an App for that!

---