CardioExchange Archive

March 2nd, 2015

Moderate Coffee Consumption Linked to Lower Coronary Calcium

Larry Husten, PHD

The relationship of coffee and cardiovascular disease has been difficult to assess. Although early studies found a possible increased risk associated with heavy coffee consumption, more recent studies have found the opposite. Now a new study published in Heart finds that people who consume moderate amounts of coffee may be less likely to have atherosclerosis. In a […]

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March 2nd, 2015

Hospitals, Like Vampires, Want Your Blood

Larry Husten, PHD

Anyone who has been in the hospital, either as a patient or a healthcare provider, is keenly aware that hospitals perform a lot of tests. It has even been suggested that some of those tests may not be necessary. Now a new study published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery sheds light on just how excessive […]

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February 24th, 2015

Increased Risk with NSAIDs Following Myocardial Infarction

Larry Husten, PHD

The cardiovascular safety of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and diclofenac  has been the subject of considerable uncertainty and controversy. Now a new study published in JAMA raises specific concerns about the safety of these drugs in the highly vulnerable population of people who have had a recent myocardial infarction. Using data from several linked national […]

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February 23rd, 2015

Study Links Sauna Use to Better Health — In Finland

Larry Husten, PHD

Spending more time in the sauna may lead to a longer and healthier life — at least if you live in Finland, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Finnish researchers analyzed data from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. The new analysis focused on 2,315 middle-aged men who had 1, 2-3, or 4-7 […]

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February 19th, 2015

Companies Plan To Resume Renal Denervation Trials

Larry Husten, PHD

Medtronic and Boston Scientific have announced plans to start phase 2 clinical trials this year for their updated renal denervation catheters. The once promising new technology is intended to treat hypertension unresponsive to drug therapy. The failure last year of Medtronic’s Symplicity HTN-3, the first large pivotal trial to rigorously test renal denervation, sent manufacturers back to their […]

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February 16th, 2015

Study Tests Very Simple High-Fiber Diet

Larry Husten, PHD

Diets notoriously fail to help people lose a lot of weight. One problem is that most diets include a broad range of restrictions and guidelines that many people find difficult to follow. Another problem is that negative recommendations may have unintended consequences, such as low-fat recommendations leading to increased consumption of refined carbohydrates. Now a […]

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February 16th, 2015

Cardiovascular Risk Calculators Overestimate

Larry Husten, PHD

Calculating cardiovascular risk has become a central and highly controversial component of cardiovascular guidelines. Now a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that most of the commonly employed tools seriously overestimate the risk of people today. Researchers used data from 4,227 people enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) between 2000 and 2002 to assess the predictive […]

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February 12th, 2015

Three Trials Show Benefits of Thrombectomy in Stroke Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

Three new studies offer important additional evidence that early treatment with current thrombectomy devices that extract clots from blood vessels in the brain can lead to improved outcomes in carefully selected stroke patients. The trials were stopped early based on efficacy following positive findings last year from another trial, MR CLEAN. The three new trials […]

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February 11th, 2015

New US Guidelines Will Lift Limits on Dietary Cholesterol

Larry Husten, PHD

The influential Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommended that limitations on dietary cholesterol be removed from the upcoming 2015 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Recommendations to reduce dietary cholesterol have been a mainstay of the USDA and other guidelines for many years, starting with guidance from the American Heart Association in the 1960s. The proposed […]

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February 10th, 2015

Study Examines Blood Pressure Thresholds in Hypertensive Diabetics

Larry Husten, PHD

Although the general benefits of lowering high blood pressure are widely accepted, there has been intense debate over specific goals for treatment and the threshold at which therapy should be initiated.  A large new meta-analsysis published in JAMA helps shed lights on this important controversy. U.K. and Australian researchers analyzed the effect of lowering blood pressure in type […]

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