CardioExchange Archive

August 3rd, 2011

Recommended Reading: A Critical (and Funny) View of Antioxidants

Larry Husten, PHD

“Antioxidants don’t work, but no one wants to hear it,” writes Kent Sepkowitz, an infectious diseases specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, in Slate. Sepkowitz reviews the sparse scientific knowledge about antioxidants and then discusses the difficulties faced by physicians who “were slow to jump onto the antioxidant bandwagon and are slower still to jump off.” “Few medical […]

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August 1st, 2011

Moderate Exercise Delivers the Biggest Bang for the Buck

Larry Husten, PHD

Although the beneficial effects of physical activity in lowering risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) have been long recognized, the relative benefits of different levels of activity are not well understood. Now, a meta-analysis published in Circulation helps fill this significant gap. Jacob Sattelmair and colleagues identified nine studies that provided quantitative data about the effects […]

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July 27th, 2011

Mixed Results for New Implantable Device to Treat Resistant Hypertension

Larry Husten, PHD

A phase III trial has yielded mixed results for an experimental implantable device that uses baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) to treat resistant hypertension. The article on the manufacturer-funded Rheos Pivotal Trial, by John Bisognano and colleagues, has been published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The Rheos device was implanted in 265 […]

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July 26th, 2011

Coronary and Cerebrovascular Disease May Differ in Their Heritability

Larry Husten, PHD

Although coronary and cerebrovascular disease usually receive equal weight when family history is assessed as a risk factor, a new study suggests that family history may play a more important role in MI and ACS than in stroke or TIA. In an article published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, Amitava Banerjee and colleagues report the results of […]

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July 25th, 2011

Adding HbA1c Measurements Improves CV Risk Prediction in Diabetics

Larry Husten, PHD

Current risk prediction models classify diabetes as equivalent to established cardiovascular disease. Now, a new report from the Women’s Health Study and the Physician’s Health Study II suggests that adding HbA1c measurements to the model can improve risk prediction and lead to downward classification of some diabetics. In a paper published in Archives of Internal Medicine, […]

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July 21st, 2011

FDA and EMA Issue Updates on Dronedarone, Varenicline, and Pioglitazone

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has issued an update on dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi Aventis), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has updated its reviews of dronedarone and 2 other drugs that also have been the subject of recent controversies: pioglitazone (Actos and other names, Takeda) and varenicline (Champix, Pfizer). The FDA and dronedarone: The FDA issued a safety communication about […]

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July 18th, 2011

Study Suggests Possibility That CETP Inhibitors May Improve Glycemic Control

Larry Husten, PHD

A new analysis of the ILLUMINATE trial raises the possibility that CETP inhibitors like torcetrapib might have the unexpected beneficial effect of improving glycemic control in addition to their intended effect of raising HDL cholesterol. Development of torcetrapib was halted several years ago following the early termination of the large ILLUMINATE trial due to an […]

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July 12th, 2011

Study Finds High Sodium-Potassium Ratio Strongly Tied to Mortality and CV Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

The separate roles of sodium and potassium in cardiovascular disease have been extensively observed in epidemiologic studies. Now a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine examines their joint effect. Quanhe Yang and colleagues analyzed data from 12,267 adults participating in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. As expected, they found that higher […]

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July 6th, 2011

Lower Sudden Cardiac Death Rates Observed in Women with Healthy Lifestyles

Larry Husten, PHD

It probably won’t come as a big surprise, but a new study finds that women who live a healthy lifestyle have a lower risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). In a paper published in JAMA, Stephanie Chiuve and colleagues analyzed data from 81,722 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study. They used 4 factors to […]

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July 4th, 2011

Meta-Analysis: Increased CV Risk Associated with Varenicline (Chantix)

Larry Husten, PHD

The anti-smoking drug varenicline (Chantix, Pfizer) is associated with an increased risk for serious adverse cardiovascular events, according to a new meta-analysis published in CMAJ. In the meta-analysis, Sonal Singh and colleagues analyzed data from 14 double-blind randomized trials involving 8216 subjects. The rate of serious adverse cardiovascular events was 1.06% (52/4908) among varenicline recipients versus […]

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