CardioExchange Archive

August 13th, 2014

Two New Studies Fuel the Debate Over Sodium

Larry Husten, PHD

Three papers and an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine are sure to throw fresh fuel on the ongoing fiery debate over sodium recommendations. Current guidelines recommend that people should limit their intake of sodium to 1.5  to 2.4 grams per day, but these recommendations are based on projections and have never been tested in […]

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August 12th, 2014

What Can We Really Deduce from ACCORD?

Kasia Lipska, MD, MHS

For Kasia Lipska, post hoc analyses of intensive glucose lowering in the ACCORD trial require greater scrutiny.

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August 4th, 2014

Plant-Based Diet, Healthy Heart?

Kim Williams, MD and Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Kim Williams shares with Harlan Krumholz how a patient inspired him to try a plant-based diet, how it has improved his health, and why he now recommends it to his patients.

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August 4th, 2014

Review Panel Exonerates The BMJ in Statin Kerfuffle

Larry Husten, PHD

An independent review panel has rejected a demand by a prominent researcher that The BMJ retract two controversial articles. The report largely exonerates the journal’s editors from any wrongdoing. As previously reported, Rory Collins, a prominent researcher and head of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) Collaboration, had demanded that The BMJ retract two articles that were highly critical of statins. Although The BMJ issued […]

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August 1st, 2014

Noncardiac Surgery Guidelines Updated

Larry Husten, PHD

The reliability of current guidelines regarding perioperative evaluation and treatment of people undergoing noncardiac surgery has been seriously questioned because of a scandal discrediting Don Poldermans, a Dutch researcher widely published in the field. To address the current uncertainty, U.S. and European medical societies today released updated versions of these guidelines. The European guideline can be […]

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July 28th, 2014

No Reduction in Atherosclerosis Progression With Menopausal Hormone Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

More than a decade ago the Women’s Health Study produced surprising and important results when it showed that broad use of hormone replacement therapy did not reduce cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women. However, the study also led to speculation that hormone therapy might be beneficial when delivered closer to the time of menopause. Now a study published […]

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July 28th, 2014

Death by Running: It’s the Heat and Not the Heart

Larry Husten, PHD

The growing popularity of marathons and other extreme sports has sparked worries about the potential dangers of these activities. The press and medical research have both focused on the risk for arrhythmias. But that concern may be misdirected. A new study from Israel published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that a much more […]

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July 28th, 2014

Running: Any Amount Is Good and More May Not Be Better

Larry Husten, PHD

Although there is broad agreement that exercise is beneficial, there has been substantial uncertainty about how much exercise is good for you. Recently some studies have suggested that too much exercise may actually reduce the benefits of exercise. Now a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that even a […]

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July 21st, 2014

Probiotics May Help Reduce Blood Pressure

Larry Husten, PHD

As interest in probiotics has grown in recent years, some evidence has emerged that probiotics may favorably reduce blood pressure, but trials have been small and inconsistent. Now a meta-analysis published in Hypertension suggests that the blood-pressure lowering effects of probiotics may be genuine. Saman Khalesi and colleagues analyzed data from nine parallel, randomized, controlled trials including 543 […]

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July 17th, 2014

Clinical Events vs. Quality of Life: An Insider’s View of TACT

Gervasio Antonio Lamas, MD

TACT investigator Gervasio Lamas provides perspective on two new TACT papers that appear to have contradictory results.

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