CardioExchange Archive

October 18th, 2012

Multivitamins May Confer a Small, but Significant, Cancer Risk Reduction in Men

Nicholas Downing, MD

Middle-aged and older men who take multivitamins have a modestly reduced risk for cancer, according to an industry-supported study in JAMA. Nearly 15,000 male U.S. physicians aged 50 and older were randomized to a daily multivitamin or placebo and then followed for roughly 11 years. Multivitamin recipients had a small but significant reduction in total cancer […]

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October 16th, 2012

FDA Review Raises Safety Concerns About Mipomersen

Larry Husten, PHD

An FDA review raises a number of potentially significant safety concerns about the cholesterol-lowering drug mipomersen. The review appears ahead of a Thursday meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee to evaluate Genzyme’s new drug application (NDA) for use of the drug as an adjunct to maximally tolerated lipid-lowering medications and diet to reduce […]

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October 15th, 2012

FDA Reviewers Raise No New Red Flags Over Lomitapide

Larry Husten, PHD

FDA reviewers have raised no new concerns about lomitapide ahead of a Wednesday meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee.  The FDA today released briefing documents that evaluate the new drug application (NDA) for lomitapide capsules, the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) inhibitor from Aegerion Pharmaceuticals. It’s intended for use as an adjunct to a […]

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October 10th, 2012

Danish Study Gives a Boost to Hormone Replacement Therapy ‘Timing Hypothesis’

Larry Husten, PHD

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) suffered a sharp blow a decade ago when the Women’s Health Initiative failed to show any cardiovascular benefit in women taking HRT. Despite the setback, many researchers theorized that HRT might still be beneficial in women who start HRT close to menopause. Now a study from Denmark published in BMJ lends strong support to […]

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October 9th, 2012

Observational Study Links Common Household Chemical to Cardiovascular Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

High levels of a man-made chemical widely used in common household products and detectable in more than 98% of people may increase the risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease and peripheral arterial disease (PAD), according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. (The study was published online in September and will appear in this week’s […]

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October 4th, 2012

U.K. Study Casts Doubts on Value of Type 2 Diabetes Screening

Larry Husten, PHD

The dramatic growth in type 2 diabetes has resulted in increased interest in screening programs. Now a new study published in the Lancet raises concerns that screening programs may not result in long-term improvement in outcomes. In the ADDITION-Cambridge study, investigators in the U.K. randomized general practices to either screening or no screening.  The practices allocated to screening were […]

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October 3rd, 2012

CRP and Cholesterol Emerge as Equally Strong Predictors of Cardiovascular Risk

Paul Ridker, MD, MPH

Paul Ridker discusses findings from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration showing that C-reactive protein provides incremental risk information comparable to that of total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol.

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October 3rd, 2012

What Is the Benefit of Adding CRP to Risk Factor Assessment?

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years, controversy has swirled around the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and the relative worth of measuring novel risk factors like C-reactive protein (CRP). Now, in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration provide detailed calculations that estimate the benefits of adding inflammatory markers to […]

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October 2nd, 2012

Long-Term Use of Beta-Blockers Questioned in Certain Patients

Sripal Bangalore, MD, MHA

Dr. Sripal Bangalore discusses his JAMA study, which found beta-blocker use was not associated with a reduced rate of cardiovascular eventsin patients who have, or are at risk for, stable coronary artery disease.

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October 2nd, 2012

Registry Study Raises Questions About Cardioprotective Effect of Beta-Blockers

Larry Husten, PHD

Although beta-blockers have been a cornerstone of therapy for patients with coronary artery disease for more than a generation, a new study in JAMA suggests that that in the modern era, beta-blockers might not improve outcomes. Sriapl Bangalore and colleagues analyzed data from 44,708 patients enrolled in the Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH registry), […]

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