CardioExchange Archive

March 3rd, 2014

Pfizer Starts Testing for Over-the-Counter Atorvastatin

Larry Husten, PHD

Looking backward to improve its future, Pfizer will once again try to gain FDA approval to market its blockbuster drug, atorvastatin (Lipitor), over-the-counter (OTC). Peter Loftus reports in the Wall Street Journal that the company has started a clinical study to support the application for low-dose atorvastatin (10 mg). Over-the-counter statins have been unsuccessfully proposed in the past. Merck […]

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February 27th, 2014

U.K. Geriatrician: Statins, Antihypertensives “Greatly” Overprescribed for Adults 80 and Older

Nicholas Downing, MD

“The data strongly suggest that we are over-treating many healthy patients aged 80+ regarding stroke prevention,” concludes U.K. geriatrician Kit Byatt in a perspective published in Evidence-Based Medicine. Byatt offers a brief review of the evidence, noting that the large HYVET study in China and Europe showed only modest stroke-prevention benefits with antihypertensive therapy in those […]

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February 25th, 2014

Is Post-MI Statin Therapy Appropriately Intensive?

Suzanne V. Arnold, MD, MHA

Suzanne V. Arnold discusses her research group’s study of statin initiation, intensification, and maximization after acute myocardial infarction.

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February 24th, 2014

Vitamin Supplements Come Up Short Once Again

Larry Husten, PHD

Once again, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that there is no good evidence to support the routine use of multivitamins or most individual or combination vitamins by healthy adults to prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer. The USPSTF also recommended against the use of two specific vitamins — beta-carotene and vitamin E. Beta-carotene has been […]

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February 24th, 2014

Meta-Analysis Links Vegetarian Diet and Lower Blood Pressure

Larry Husten, PHD

A new meta-analysis provides the strongest evidence yet that a vegetarian diet is strongly associated with lower blood pressure. Although various health benefits of a vegetarian diet have often been proposed, a rigorous examination of the effect on blood pressure has not been previously performed. In a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Japanese researchers analyzed data from […]

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February 17th, 2014

Another Satellite of JUPITER: Lipoprotein(a)

Amit Khera, MD

Amit V. Khera discusses his study group’s analysis of lipoprotein(a) concentrations and residual vascular risk among participants in the placebo-controlled JUPITER trial of rosuvastatin.

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February 13th, 2014

Perioperative Beta-Blockade: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Prashant Vaishnava, MD, Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc and Kim Allen Eagle, MD

In light of the continuing controversy over the Don Poldermans research misconduct case, Prashant Vaishnava, Vineet Chopra, and Kim Eagle discuss the use of perioperative beta-blockade.

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February 6th, 2014

First-Ever Guidelines Issued on Stroke Prevention in Women

Nicholas Downing, MD

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have issued the first stroke-prevention guidelines that focus on women’s unique risks. Among the recommendations: Pregnant women with chronic hypertension or a history of pregnancy-related hypertension should take low-dose aspirin, beginning at 12 weeks’ gestation, to reduce pre-eclampsia risk. Preeclampsia is a risk factor for stroke later in life, […]

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February 6th, 2014

Carotid IMT Testing: Misgraded and Misunderstood

James H Stein, MD and Matthew C Tattersall, DO

James Stein and Matthew Tattersall discuss why they believe carotid artery IMT testing was incorrectly graded in the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines, and tell us what they think the grade should be, and why.

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February 4th, 2014

Blood Pressure Trajectory Over 25 Years Predicts Atherosclerosis Risk

Larry Husten, PHD

Everyone knows that blood pressure is one of the most important measurements of cardiovascular risk. Less well known is that most studies of blood pressure have relied on single or isolated measurements of blood pressure. Few studies have even attempted to examine the significance of blood pressure patterns over a long period of time. Now, in […]

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