CardioExchange Archive

April 19th, 2011

Non-Evidence-Based ICD Implants: The Debate Continues

Larry Husten, PHD

A controversial study published earlier this year in JAMA that found that nearly a quarter of all ICD implantations did not meet evidence-based criteria is the subject of further debate this week in the letters section of JAMA. In the first letter, Jeanne Poole and George Crossley take issue with the designation by the authors of […]

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April 18th, 2011

100 Is the New 150: AHA Lowers Optimal Triglyceride Level

Larry Husten, PHD

In a newly released scientific statement on triglycerides, the AHA recommends that 100 mg/dL replace 150 mg/dL as the upper limit for the “optimal level” for triglycerides. But, the statement acknowledges, the cut point should not be used as a therapeutic target for drug therapy, “because there is insufficient evidence that lowering triglyceride levels” can […]

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April 15th, 2011

FDA Offers Cautious Support for Olmesartan (Benicar)

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced on Thursday that it had reviewed the results of the ROADMAP and ORIENT trials and had determined that the benefits of olmesartan (Benicar, Daiichi Sankyo) “continue to outweigh its potential risks” when used as indicated for the treatment of high blood pressure. In June 2010 the FDA had announced that it was […]

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April 14th, 2011

FDA Officials Offer Explanation for Absence of Low-Dose Dabigatran

Larry Husten, PHD

Following the approval last October of dabigatran, some observers criticized the FDA’s decision not to approve the lower 110 mg dose of the drug in addition to the higher 150 mg dose. Now, in a perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine, 3 FDA officials — B. Nhi Beasley, Ellis Unger, and Robert Temple — explain […]

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April 14th, 2011

Sugar Is Not So Sweet

Larry Husten, PHD

You may want to skip your Sunday sweet this week. On Sunday, the New York Times magazine section will publish a major assault on sugar by the veteran and often controversial journalist Gary Taubes. In a long and detailed feature article, Taubes outlines the case for the prosecution against sugar, along with its nearly identical […]

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April 13th, 2011

Increasing Disparity Found in Stroke Mortality in Europe and Central Asia

Larry Husten, PHD

The difference in stroke mortality among countries in Europe and Central Asia is large and, somewhat surprisingly, is growing larger, according to a new analysis of data from the World Health Organization. In a paper published online in the European Heart Journal, Josep Redon and colleagues examine recent 15-year trends from 39 countries. They report that, […]

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April 12th, 2011

Particle Trap Reduces Harmful Diesel Emissions, Could Be Cardioprotective

Larry Husten, PHD

A commonly available particle trap can dramatically reduce harmful emissions from diesel engines and may prevent adverse cardiovascular effects from the emissions, according to a new study published in Circulation. In a randomized, double-blind, three-way crossover trial, Andrew Lucking and colleagues compared the effects of filtered air to diesel exhaust with or without a particle […]

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April 12th, 2011

Two Studies Try to Improve Risk Prediction for Kidney Disease Progression

Larry Husten, PHD

Two papers presented at the World Congress of Nephrology and simultaneously published online in JAMA raise hope for better tools to calculate the risk for developing kidney failure, but the techniques are not yet ready for clinical use, according to an accompanying editorial. In the first study, Carmen Peralta and colleagues evaluated a triple-marker strategy combining […]

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April 11th, 2011

Phentermine-Topiramate Combination Yields Significant Weight Loss

Larry Husten, PHD

The experimental diet drug combination of phentermine and topiramate demonstrated “robust efficacy” in  CONQUER, a large new trial published online in the Lancet. The trial’s results come after a year in which the FDA turned down three investigational diet drugs (including Qnexa, the phentermine-topiramate combination used here) and removed the diet drug sibutramine from the […]

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April 6th, 2011

Large Study Finds Wide Differences in Risks Among Diabetes Drugs

Larry Husten, PHD

A very large observational study has found an increase in death and cardiovascular risk in people taking insulin secretagogues (ISs) compared with those taking metformin. Tina Ken Schramm and colleagues, reporting in the European Heart Journal, analyzed data from the entire population of Denmark and identified 107,806  people who initiated therapy with an IS or […]

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