CardioExchange Archive

July 14th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 14th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics are leucocyte telomere length and the risk for CVD, and the association between alcohol and CVD.

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July 10th, 2014

Should Doctors Be Paid Overtime for Taking Call?

David Mann, MD

On call is the worst thing about being a doctor, and here’s why.

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July 8th, 2014

USPSTF Finalizes Recommendations on Carotid Artery Stenosis Screening

Nicholas Downing, MD

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against screening for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in the general adult population (grade D recommendation). Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the statement reiterates the group’s 2007 guidance. The harms of screening outweigh the benefits, the task force says. The groups notes that all screening strategies (e.g., […]

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July 7th, 2014

Statins Are a Mess: We Need Better Data, and Shared Decision Making

Ben Goldacre, MB, BS, BA, MA, MBBS, MSc

The following open letter was originally published on The British Medical Journal‘s editorial page regarding the adverse effects of statins for patients with low risk of cardiovascular disease. It was written in response to an analysis by Abramson et al, and more information on the subject can be found here. I have two observations to […]

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July 7th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 7th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the effect of patients’ risks and preferences on health gains with plasma glucose level lowering in type 2 diabetes, a meta-analysis of revascularization vs. medical treatment in patients with stable CAD, and more.

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July 3rd, 2014

Retraction Dissolves Credibility of Acid-Bath-Generated Stem Cells

Sadly, what seemed too good to be true now is: subjecting adult cells to an acid bath does not transform them into pluripotent stem cells, and the Nature papers reporting the effect have been retracted. After initial excitement over the findings in January, a number of laboratories reported having trouble duplicating the results. Then in April, […]

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July 3rd, 2014

Sitagliptin Associated with Increase in Heart Failure Hospitalizations

Larry Husten, PHD

The cardiovascular effects of drugs used for glucose control in patients with diabetes have been a subject of controversy for many years now. More recently, attention has started to focus specifically on the risk for heart failure (HF). Now, an observational study will likely raise new questions about the dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitor sitagliptin (Januvia, Merck). In […]

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June 30th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: June 30th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include atrial fibrillation and cryptogenic stroke, higher potency statins and the risk for new diabetes, and more.

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June 26th, 2014

To Screen or Not for AF: Is That the Question?

Physician's First Watch, CardioExchange Staff

Up to one third of ischemic strokes are of uncertain etiology or “cryptogenic,” meaning that there is no overt explanation such as severe carotid stenosis, intracranial stenosis, or documented atrial fibrillation (AF). For some of these patients, intermittent AF may be present and could explain the ischemic stroke. This issue has been addressed by two […]

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June 25th, 2014

FDA Completes Safety Review of Olmesartan

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced on Tuesday that it had completed its safety review of the antihypertensive drug olmesartan (sold as Benicar and other names). The investigation was initiated in 2010 when results from the ROADMAP trial showed that patients with type 2 diabetes taking olmesartan had an increased risk for cardiovascular death. Now the FDA says that […]

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