CardioExchange Archive

February 16th, 2015

Study Tests Very Simple High-Fiber Diet

Larry Husten, PHD

Diets notoriously fail to help people lose a lot of weight. One problem is that most diets include a broad range of restrictions and guidelines that many people find difficult to follow. Another problem is that negative recommendations may have unintended consequences, such as low-fat recommendations leading to increased consumption of refined carbohydrates. Now a […]

---

February 16th, 2015

Cardiovascular Risk Calculators Overestimate

Larry Husten, PHD

Calculating cardiovascular risk has become a central and highly controversial component of cardiovascular guidelines. Now a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that most of the commonly employed tools seriously overestimate the risk of people today. Researchers used data from 4,227 people enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) between 2000 and 2002 to assess the predictive […]

---

February 12th, 2015

Discontinuing Aspirin for Primary Prevention: What Do You Say to Your Patient?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

In this scenario based on a study that found once-daily, low-dose aspirin did not significantly reduce the risk for CV events among older patients with atherosclerotic risk factors, Harlan Krumholz asks, “What do you say to your patient?”

---

February 11th, 2015

New US Guidelines Will Lift Limits on Dietary Cholesterol

Larry Husten, PHD

The influential Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommended that limitations on dietary cholesterol be removed from the upcoming 2015 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Recommendations to reduce dietary cholesterol have been a mainstay of the USDA and other guidelines for many years, starting with guidance from the American Heart Association in the 1960s. The proposed […]

---

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 […]

---

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 […]

---

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 […]

---

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. […]

---

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 […]

---

January 13th, 2015

40-Year Effort in One Rural County to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease Found Successful

Larry Husten, PHD

A 40-year program in one poor rural county to combat cardiovascular disease appears to have been successful, resulting in reduced rates of hospitalization and death compared with other counties in the same state over the same period. The new findings are described in a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Beginning in 1970, Franklin County, […]

---