CardioExchange Archive

March 7th, 2011

Meta-Analysis Finds Mediterranean Diet Helps Fight Metabolic Syndrome

Larry Husten, PHD

The Mediterranean diet may be a potent weapon in the battle to halt the growth of metabolic syndrome (MS), a new meta-analysis suggests. Christina-Maria Kastorini and colleagues performed a meta-analysis on 50 studies including nearly 535,000 participants. In their paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, they report that adherence to the Mediterranean […]

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March 3rd, 2011

Pennsylvania Hospital: 141 Patients Received Unnecessary Stents

Larry Husten, PHD

A hospital in western Pennsylvania says that at least 141 heart patients received coronary stents that weren’t needed, according to an article by Luis Fabregas in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, PA has informed the patients, and the two interventional cardiologists who performed the procedures have resigned. The hospital says that it will cooperate with […]

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March 3rd, 2011

5-Year Followup of ACCORD: Still No Support For Intensive Glucose Lowering

Larry Husten, PHD

Long-term followup of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial has once again failed to support routine intensive glucose lowering in high-risk type 2 diabetics. In 2008, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, the intensive glucose-lowering regimen (target glycated hemoglobin level of <6%) was terminated early after an increase in mortality was […]

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March 2nd, 2011

FDA Finds No Increased Risk For MI With Abacavir

Larry Husten, PHD

An ongoing safety review by the FDA of the antiviral medication abacavir found no evidence for an increased risk for MI associated with the drug. The FDA said an increased risk for MI with abacavir had been seen in several observational studies and one randomized controlled trial (RCT), but not in other RCTs or in […]

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March 1st, 2011

CV Device Trials Still Fail To Include More Women

Larry Husten, PHD

Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in trials of cardiovascular devices, according to a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Sanket Dhruva and colleagues performed a systematic review of the PMA applications for 78 high-risk cardiovascular medical devices submitted to the FDA from 2000 to 2007. Despite repeated attempts to call attention to the issue […]

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March 1st, 2011

CV Patients Without Hypertension Benefit From Antihypertensive Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study suggests that patients with CV disease who do not have hypertension may nevertheless benefit from antihypertensive therapy. In a study published in JAMA, Angela Thompson and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of 25 trials including 64,162 patients with CV disease or a risk factor equivalent and without hypertension. Compared to controls, patients who received […]

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February 28th, 2011

What is the Role of CV Screening Tests in Medicine and Legislation?

Larry Husten, PHD

Three papers in Archives of Internal Medicine scrutinize the role of cardiovascular screening tests not only in medicine but in legislation. In the first article, Nicholas Wald and Joan Morris introduce a new interactive tool that determines the detection and false-positive rates of screening tests. The authors illustrate the value of the tool with the examples […]

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February 25th, 2011

FDA Approves Azilsartan Medoxomil (Edarbi) for High Blood Pressure

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has approved azilsartan medoxomil (Edarbi, Takeda) for the treatment of high blood pressure. The new angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) will be available in 80 mg and 40 mg doses. The recommended dose is 80 mg once daily. The 40 mg dose is used in combination with a diuretic. The FDA said that, in clinical studies, […]

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February 24th, 2011

Study Probes BMI-Associated Risk in Asia

Larry Husten, PHD

The association between BMI and the risk of death in Asia is mostly similar to that seen in people of European origin, but there may be some important differences between populations, suggesting that being underweight may be a more potent risk factor than being overweight in Asia. In a large pooled analysis including more than […]

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February 23rd, 2011

Air Pollution and Cocaine Among MI Triggers Analyzed in Lancet Study

Larry Husten, PHD

Air pollution is a weak cause of MI, increasing risk by only 5%, but because so many people are exposed to polluted air the population effect is quite large. By contrast, cocaine increases MI risk by 23 times, but does not have nearly as large an effect on the population. These are two of the […]

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