CardioExchange Archive

August 16th, 2010

Study Suggests Benefits in Replacing Red Meat with Healthful Alternatives

Larry Husten, PHD

New data from the Nurses’ Health Study suggest that replacing red meat with healthier protein alternatives may reduce the risk for heart disease. Adam Bernstein and colleagues, writing in Circulation, found that women who replaced one daily serving of red meat with a serving of poultry, fish, nuts, or low-fat dairy had significantly lower risk. […]

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August 16th, 2010

Antagonistic People and Carotid Narrowing

Larry Husten, PHD

Researchers from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging studied 5,614 people in four Italian villages and found that those who scored high on a test of antagonism — particularly those who were manipulative and aggressive — were more likely than their more agreeable counterparts to have carotid thickening, as measured by carotid-artery intima media thickness, […]

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August 12th, 2010

CRESCENDO: The Fat Lady Sings for Rimonabant

Larry Husten, PHD

The CRESCENDO (Comprehensive Rimonabant Evaluation Study of Cardiovascular Endpoints and Outcomes) trial, which tested the effects of the endocannabinoid receptor blocker rimonabant for the prevention of cardiovascular events, was terminated early at the request of regulatory agencies in several countries following growing concern that people taking rimonabant were more likely to commit suicide. At the […]

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August 11th, 2010

Colder Outdoor Temperatures Linked to Increase in MIs

Larry Husten, PHD

Researchers in the U.K. used data from 84,000 MI hospitalizations to assess the relationship between the risk for MI and ambient temperature. In their report in the British Medical Journal, Krishnan Bhaskaran and colleagues found no change in risk associated with higher temperatures, but observed a significant 2% increase in the risk for MI associated […]

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August 10th, 2010

Allopurinol in Gout and Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

Thanassoulis and colleagues analyzed data from 25,000 Canadian heart failure (HF) patients in a paper appearing in Archives of Internal Medicine. They found that patients with a recent or remote history of gout were at high risk for HF readmission or death. Although there was no significant association between allopurinol use in the overall study population, […]

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August 9th, 2010

Prior Medication Use Shifts Balance of MIs

Larry Husten, PHD

Patients who present with MI and are taking aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, or statins are more likely to have a non-STEMI than a STEMI, according to findings from a large Swedish registry published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Lena Björck and colleagues analyzed data from over 100,000 consecutive admissions for MI. Some 61% of STEMI […]

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August 9th, 2010

FDA Issues Warning About Inferior Vena Cava Filters

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has issued an initial communication informing health professionals that it is evaluating reports of adverse events with the long-term use of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters. The FDA “recommends that implanting physicians and clinicians responsible for the ongoing care of patients with retrievable IVC filters consider removing the filter as soon as protection […]

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August 3rd, 2010

Vitamin B Trial Finds No Clinically Significant Benefit

Larry Husten, PHD

The VITATOPS (The VITAmins TO Prevent Stroke) Trial randomized 8164 patients with recent stroke or TIA to either placebo or B vitamins. After a median followup of 3.4 years, the primary endpoint — the combined incidence of stroke, MI, or vascular death — occurred in 616 patients in the B vitamin group and 678 in the placebo […]

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August 2nd, 2010

Framingham: Cardiac Function Linked to Brain Aging

Larry Husten, PHD

Brain age is closely associated with cardiac function, according to a new report in Circulation from the Framingham Heart Study. Angela Jefferson and colleagues collected brain MRI, cardiac MRI, neuropsychological, and laboratory data on 1504 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort and found a significant association between neuropsychological and brain MRI variables and cardiac index […]

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July 31st, 2010

Calcium Supplements Linked to Increase in CV Events

Larry Husten, PHD

People who take calcium supplements may be at increased risk for cardiovascular events, according to a meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal. Mark Bolland and colleagues analyzed data from 15 randomized, placebo-controlled trials and found a significant increase in the risk of MI in subjects who received calcium supplements. The authors concluded that “although […]

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