CardioExchange Archive

August 6th, 2013

George W. Bush Gets Stent After Annual Examination

Larry Husten, PHD

Former U.S. President George W. Bush received a stent today at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Here is the statement from Bush’s office: During President George W. Bush’s annual physical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas yesterday, a blockage was discovered in an artery in his heart. At the recommendation of his doctors, President Bush agreed to have a stent […]

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August 5th, 2013

Deja Vu All Over Again: Study Links Calcium-Channel Blockers to Breast Cancer

Larry Husten, PHD

A new observational study raises the possibility that calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) may be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. Although previous studies examining this relationship have failed to turn up convincing evidence of a link, the authors of a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine state that their study is the first to look at […]

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August 5th, 2013

Faint PRAISE: 13-Year Delay in Publication of a Major Clinical Trial Sparks Criticism

Larry Husten, PHD

Thirteen years after first being presented, the results of the PRAISE-2 trial finally have been published in JACC: Heart Failure. The trial itself is now largely irrelevant to current clinical practice, as the hypothesis it tested has long been abandoned, but the long delay in publication may serve to bring even more awareness to the issue […]

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July 31st, 2013

European Heart Guidelines Based on Disgraced Research May Have Caused Thousands of Deaths

Larry Husten, PHD

Despite a 2-year-old scandal discrediting key evidence, current guidelines relying on this evidence have not been revised. As a result of physicians following these guidelines, some researchers say, it is possible that thousands of patients may have died each year in the U.K. alone. It is unlikely that a true understanding of the damage will […]

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July 30th, 2013

More Bad News for Valsartan

Larry Husten, PHD

In the last few days, more bad news about valsartan (Diovan, Novartis) has emerged. Another major study conducted in Japan — the Jikei Heart Study — will be retracted, and Japanese health authorities said they were investigating severe skin reactions associated with use of the drug. The new events are only the latest problems for the drug […]

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July 29th, 2013

Sex and the Cardiac Patient Should Not be a Taboo Subject

Larry Husten, PHD

It’s not an easy conversation to have. After a heart attack or other major cardiac event, talking about sex is awkward, and often avoided by patients, their partners, and physicians. But a new consensus statement from several major cardiology organizations urges physicians to get over their reluctance or embarrassment and counsel their cardiac patients about […]

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July 29th, 2013

Possible Cognitive Benefits Found in Dementia Patients Taking Centrally Acting ACE Inhibitors

Larry Husten, PHD

An observational study from Ireland raises the intriguing possibility that centrally acting ACE inhibitors may help slow the cognitive decline that is a hallmark of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The study, published in BMJ Open, followed the rates of cognitive decline in 3 groups of patients: dementia patients being treated with centrally acting ACE inhibitors, […]

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July 25th, 2013

Novel Pulmonary Hypertension Drug Shows Modest Promise in Phase 3 Trials

Larry Husten, PHD

A new drug appears to have promising — but not game-changing — effects in people with two forms of pulmonary hypertension. Riociguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator under development by Bayer, is thought to have vasodilating, antiproliferative, and antifibrotic effects. Results of two phase 3, placebo-controlled trials were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. CHEST-1 studied the clinical […]

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July 23rd, 2013

Funding for Landmark Framingham Heart Study Slashed by $4 Million

Larry Husten, PHD

One of the most important studies in the history of medicine will be sharply curtailed as a result of the federal budget cuts. The landmark Framingham Heart Study (FHS) has been told by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) that it will lose  $4 million of its funding. The cut represents 40% of its NHLBI […]

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July 22nd, 2013

Studies Raise Questions About Echocardiography

Larry Husten, PHD

Echocardiography is a safe, noninvasive tool to image the heart without the use of radiation. For this reason it has become the most frequently used method to look at the heart for a wide variety of medical indications. Now two new studies suggest that, despite its popularity, transthoracic echocardiography is often not beneficial. One study […]

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