CardioExchange Archive

September 25th, 2012

Another One Bites the Dust: Diovan Patent Expires but Generic Valsartan Is MIA

Larry Husten, PHD

Although the patent on valsartan (Diovan, Novartis) expired last Friday, a generic version of the popular antihypertensive drug has yet to make it to market. By contrast, a generic version of Diovan HCT, the combination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide, was recently launched by generic drug maker Mylan. As reported on Pharmalot, Ranbaxy, the embattled generic drug maker, holds the exclusive […]

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September 19th, 2012

An Ad That Doesn’t Tell the Entire Story — Part 2: Niaspan

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

A print ad for Niaspan focuses only on how it raises HDL-cholesterol levels, with no mention of the lack of benefit in improving outcomes.

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September 18th, 2012

Screening for AAA Comes Under Renewed Scrutiny and Criticism

Larry Husten, PHD

A 2007 Medicare initiative to increase AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) screening in appropriate patients failed to prevent AAA rupture or reduce all-cause mortality, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The larger implications of the study are unclear, but two accompanying papers, an invited commentary and a perspective, emphasize the darker side […]

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September 18th, 2012

International Cardiology Groups Push for Aggressive Public Health Goals

Larry Husten, PHD

Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death in the world and accounts for almost half of all deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Earlier this year, in response to a high-level UN meeting on NCDs in 2011, the World Health Assembly set a global target  to reduce premature NCD mortality by 25% by the year 2025. Now, the Global […]

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September 13th, 2012

Meta-Analysis Links Stress at Work and Heart Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study in the Lancet provides the best evidence yet that work-related stress and, in particular, job strain — “the combination of high job demands and low control at work” — plays a small but important role in causing heart disease. In order to address the limitations of previous studies on this topic, including […]

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September 13th, 2012

A Manhattan Project to End the Obesity Epidemic

Larry Husten, PHD

A newly launched nonprofit organization, the Nutrition Science Initiative, will try to find an answer to the question,  “What should we eat to be healthy?” Called NuSI (pronounced “new see”) for short, the organization is nothing if not ambitious: its goal is to seek “the end of fad diets and high obesity rates.” NuSI’s founders are Gary Taubes and Peter Attia. Taubes is the […]

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September 12th, 2012

Study Predicts Renal Denervation Will Be Cost-Effective in Resistant Hypertension

Larry Husten, PHD

Renal denervation (RDN) for resistant hypertension may be cost-effective and may provide long-term clinical benefits, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Benjamin Geisler and colleagues developed a model to predict the impact of the Medtronic Symplicity RDN system in patients with resistant hypertension. Over 10 years, according to […]

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September 11th, 2012

Advertising That Falls Short — Part 1: Omega-3 Fatty-Acid Supplements

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

What is the role of a clinician in putting misleading ads in context for patients?

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September 11th, 2012

More Evidence That Omega-3 Supplements Don’t Work

Larry Husten, PHD

Once again researchers have failed to find any clinical benefit for omega-3 supplements. In a new meta-analysis and systematic review published in JAMA, Evangelos Rizos and colleagues analyzed 20 randomized controlled trials including  68,680 patients and found no significant effect on any of the endpoints: all-cause mortality: relative risk (RR) 0.96, CI 0.91 – 1.02 cardiac death: RR […]

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September 10th, 2012

Antihypertensive Use Among Pregnant Women on the Rise

Larry Husten, PHD

Growing numbers of pregnant women are taking antihypertensive drugs that may harm themselves or their babies, according to a new study published in Hypertension. Brian Bateman and colleagues analyzed Medicaid data on more than 1.1 million pregnant women from 2000 to 2007. Overall, 4.4% of the women received antihypertensive medications at some point during their pregnancy. During […]

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