CardioExchange Archive

November 26th, 2012

Model Finds High Cost for ECG Screening of Athletes

Larry Husten, PHD

A national program of ECG screening for U.S. athletes would save almost 5,000 lives over 20 years but would cost more than $50 billion dollars, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The advisability of routine ECG screening for athletes has divided the experts: currently the ESC recommends ECG screening […]

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November 24th, 2012

Author of Trial on Transcendental Meditation and Heart Disease Responds

Robert H. Schneider, MD, FACC

Dr. Robert H. Schneider, lead author of a recent study on cardiovascular benefits of Transcendental Meditation, responds to Larry Husten’s corrected critique of that study.

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November 23rd, 2012

Undiagnosed Hypertension in Younger Adults

Heather M Johnson, MD, MS

Dr. Johnson answers questions about her research group’s study of undiagnosed hypertension in younger adults.

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November 19th, 2012

Comprehensive Guidelines for Stable Ischemic Heart Disease Released

Larry Husten, PHD

New comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of stable ischemic heart disease have been released by the ACCF/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines.

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November 15th, 2012

In Acute VTE, Novel Oral Anticoagulants and Conventional Therapy Show Similar Efficacy

Nicholas Downing, MD

Novel oral anticoagulants and vitamin K antagonists offer similar protection against venous thromboembolism recurrence, according to a BMJ meta-analysis. However, one of the newer agents, rivaroxaban, seems to offer better protection against bleeding. The analysis included nine randomized controlled trials comparing apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, or ximelagatran (no longer on the market) with traditional vitamin K antagonists […]

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November 12th, 2012

Nonfasting Lipid Testing Gains Growing Acceptance

Larry Husten, PHD

Although fasting before a lipid test has long been recommended, a new study and accompanying commentaries make the case that nonfasting lipid levels are acceptable and may even be superior to fasting levels for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. Investigators at the University of Calgary analyzed data from laboratory tests obtained from more than 200,000 people […]

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November 7th, 2012

Statins Use Linked to Reduction in Cancer Mortality

Larry Husten, PHD

A large new study raises the possibility that statin use may lead to a decline in cancer mortality. Researchers in Denmark used health data from the entire population of the country and analyzed the information from nearly 300,000 patients who were diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2007. The authors note that the relationship is biologically […]

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November 7th, 2012

Risk Prediction and Translation to Clinical Practice

Amit Shah, MD, MSCR

Are we focusing too much on risk prediction of CVD? Or not enough?

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November 6th, 2012

What Tack to Take in Thinking about TACT?

Reva Balakrishnan, MD, MPH

A fellow encounters a little-understood intervention and startling study results; can informal discussions with senior faculty at AHA provide insight?

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November 5th, 2012

Early Look: New Methods to Enhance Cholesterol Efflux

Larry Husten, PHD

Although clinical trials of HDL-boosting CETP inhibitors have so far failed to produce positive results, many other avenues of HDL-related research remain active. Conference attendees got a glimpse of the very early phases of two intriguing lines of research in this area on Monday. Apoliporotein A-I is thought to be the key HDL component that removes […]

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