CardioExchange Archive

January 28th, 2015

Tight Control of Hypertension During Pregnancy Tested

Larry Husten, PHD

High blood pressure during pregnancy is increasingly common, largely due to older age and obesity. Although there is widespread agreement that hypertension in these women should be treated when it is high enough to raise the risk of stroke, there is little agreement about whether or how to treat mild hypertension. In a study reported in […]

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January 27th, 2015

Can Precision Medicine Do Better Than Precision Weather?

Larry Husten, PHD

Larry Husten asks the question, “Is the human body simpler than the weather?”

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January 26th, 2015

Califf to Leave Duke to Become FDA Deputy Commissioner

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced today that Duke University cardiologist Robert Califf will be the next FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. The agency said that Califf will be responsible for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Center for Tobacco Products.” […]

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January 26th, 2015

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: January 26th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include dietary sodium content, mortality, and CVD risk in older adults, the ROX CONTROL HTN study, and more.

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January 22nd, 2015

New Device to Lower Resistant Hypertension Shows Early Promise

Larry Husten, PHD

A novel implantable device appears to show early promise in the treatment of resistant hypertension. The “Coupler” device from ROX Medical is about the size of a paper clip and is delivered via a catheter to the upper thigh, where it creates an anastomosis between the distal external iliac vein and artery, thereby mechanically lowering […]

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January 21st, 2015

A Tragic Loss

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

The news of the death of Michael Davidson, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, allegedly at the hands of a patient’s relative, has shaken us all. The words of Betsy Nabel, on behalf of BWH, conveyed how much he was respected and loved. To his family, friends and colleagues, we send our sympathy. As […]

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January 19th, 2015

Intense Exercise Doesn’t Eliminate the Hazard of Intense Sitting

Larry Husten, PHD

A large new analysis published in Annals of Internal Medicine supports earlier observations that the health hazards of sedentary behavior aren’t completely neutralized by exercise. Researchers in Toronto scoured the literature to find studies that assessed the health effects of sedentary behavior adjusted for physical activity. They found 47 studies, including 13 that assessed all-cause mortality, 14 that […]

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January 19th, 2015

Putting Your Heart Into Your Music: Beethoven’s Cardiac Arrhythmia

Edward J. Schloss, MD

Zachary Goldberger discusses his collaborative study of the relationship between cardiac health and musical composition inspired by the work of Ludwig van Beethoven.

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January 19th, 2015

Optimum Salt Intake in Elderly Remains Elusive

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study offers fresh evidence that current salt recommendations should be taken with, well, a grain of salt. Current guidelines now recommend that everyone should have sodium intake levels below 2300 mg per day. For many people at higher risk, including everyone over 50 years of age, sodium intake should be below 1500 mg/d. […]

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January 18th, 2015

“I’m Just Not a Pill Person”: Emotional Underpinnings of Nonadherence

The CardioExchange Editors interview Lisa Rosenbaum about her recent commentary on patients’ emotional responses to taking medications as a factor in nonadherence to therapy for heart disease. The article is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. CardioExchange Editors: In the current model of healthcare delivery, care is fragmented into 15–20 minute clinic visits. Can […]

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