CardioExchange Archive

June 23rd, 2010

• Lowering Homocysteine Fails Again to Reduce Events
• European Atherosclerosis Society Will Recommend Lp(a) Screening and Niacin

Larry Husten, PHD

Lowering Homocysteine Fails Again to Reduce Events: U.K. investigators randomized 12,064 MI survivors to folic acid and vitamin B12 or placebo. No difference was observed between the two groups in either major vascular events or in the incidence of cancer. In their report in JAMA, the SEARCH (Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in […]

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June 22nd, 2010

• Aggrenox Fails to Beat Aspirin in Japanese Study
• Livalo Now Available in the U.S.
• New York Times Spotlights ICDs with Benefits

Larry Husten, PHD

Aggrenox Fails to Beat Aspirin in Japanese Study: Aggrenox, the combination of extended-release dipyridamole and aspirin, is indicated for the reduction of subsequent stroke in patients who have had a TIA or ischemic stroke. But results from JASAP (Japanese Aggrenox Stroke Prevention vs. Aspirin Programme), which compared Aggrenox to aspirin in 1294 patients, found that Aggrenox […]

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June 21st, 2010

Coffee and Tea: Go Ahead and Have a Cup

Larry Husten, PHD

Coffee and Tea: Go Ahead and Have a Cup: Moderate consumption of both coffee and tea was associated with a reduction in coronary heart disease (CHD) in a Dutch study that followed 37,514 people for 13 years. The paper appears in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Compared to people who drank less than 1 cup of […]

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June 18th, 2010

• PFO Closure Trial Misses Primary Endpoint
• New Concerns Raised Over Insulin Glargine and Taspoglutide
• INTERSTROKE: Accounting for Stroke

Larry Husten, PHD

PFO Closure Trial Misses Primary Endpoint:  The CLOSURE 1 trial, which was designed to test the efficacy of PFO closure in preventing recurrent strokes and TIAs, failed to meet its primary endpoint, according to a press release from the trial’s sponsor, NMT Medical.  The primary endpoint of the trial, which was designed to compare PFO closure to medical […]

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June 18th, 2010

Is Optimal Medical Therapy Really Optimal?

Nihar Desai, MD, MPH and James Fang, MD

A 61-year-old man with a past medical history significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia (LDL-C, 145 mg/dL; HDL-C, 38 mg/dL), and type 2 diabetes (HbA1c, 8.2) presents to his primary care physician after several months of exertional chest tightness that is associated with dyspnea and relieved by rest. His current medications include lisinopril at 20 mg/day, metoprolol succinate […]

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June 16th, 2010

• Industry Employees May Not Be Allowed to Speak at the AHA
• New-Generation Stent Tested
• BMS Versus DES for STEMI

Larry Husten, PHD

Industry Employees May Not Be Allowed to Speak at the AHA: Industry employees may no longer be allowed to speak at the AHA scientific sessions and other CME-accredited events, according to an article by John Fauber in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The ruling by the the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) is being appealed by the AHA. The […]

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June 15th, 2010

HDL and Cancer: Study Finds Strong Inverse Relationship 

Larry Husten, PHD

Jaffri and colleagues found a significant inverse association between HDL and the risk of cancer in a meta-analysis of 24 trials that included more than 600,000 person-years of follow-up and 8,185 cancer cases. In their paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, they report a dose-response relationship in which each 10-mg/dl increase in HDL was associated […]

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June 14th, 2010

ARBs Under Fire: Perspectives from Nissen, Yancy, and Messerli

Larry Husten, PHD

Angiotensin-receptor blockers have been the subject of recent critical scrutiny. Last week, the FDA announced it was conducting a safety review of olmesartan. Over the weekend, the Lancet Oncology published a meta-analysis that found a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of developing new cancers in subjects taking ARBs. The authors of the […]

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June 11th, 2010

FDA Announces Ongoing Safety Review of Olmesartan

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced an ongoing safety review of olmesartan (Benicar). The agency said it “has not concluded that Benicar increases the risk of death” and advises patients and healthcare professionals that it “currently believes that the benefits of Benicar in patients with high blood pressure continue to outweigh its potential risks.” The review was prompted […]

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June 10th, 2010

•Cardiac Embolism May Have Killed 13th Century Mummy
•FDA Panels to Review Rosiglitazone and Dabigatran

Larry Husten, PHD

Cardiac Embolism May Have Killed 13th Century Mummy: Italian researchers may have solved a 700-year-old medical mystery. It had previously been speculated that tuberculosis had been the cause of death of an 18- to 19-year-old girl who died in the 13th century and whose mummified remains have been preserved at the Santa Rosa monastery in […]

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