CardioExchange Archive

November 9th, 2013

Yet Another Blow to Combination Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Blockade

Larry Husten, PHD

ACE inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers have been found to effectively slow progression of kidney disease. It has been theorized that dual blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) might prove even more beneficial, but these hopes have not been realized. Now a new trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine throws further cold water on the once-promising hypothesis. […]

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January 30th, 2013

How Insurance Status Affects Treatment for Patients with CAD

Kim G. Smolderen, PhD, Paul S. Chan, MD, MS and John Ryan, MD

Does a patient’s insurance status affect a physician’s decision to prescribe evidence-based therapies for CAD?

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January 28th, 2013

Study Warns Against Dual Blockade of Renin-Angiotensin System in Heart Failure and Hypertension

Larry Husten, PHD

The enormous success of ACE inhibitors in hypertension and heart failure spurred hope that adding a second drug to block the renin-angiotensin system would yield improved outcomes. Although definitive evidence supporting dual blockade of the renin-angiotensin system has never been found, more than 200,000 patients in the U.S. currently receive this therapy. Now a large new meta-analysis […]

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April 11th, 2012

Study Evaluates Losartan Efficacy in Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

The angiotensin II-receptor blocker (ARB) losartan has labored under the perception that it is not as potent as other ARBs, and some evidence has suggested that it may not confer the same clinical benefits as other ARBs in heart failure patients. In a paper from Denmark published in JAMA, Henrik Svanström and colleagues performed a country-wide registry study […]

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February 13th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of February 13th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include communicating with patients about screening and treatment and the association between blood-pressure-lowering drugs and gout.

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June 2nd, 2011

FDA: ARBs Don’t Increase Risk of Cancer

Larry Husten, PHD

Concluding a nearly one-year safety review, the FDA has announced that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) do not increase the risk of cancer. The FDA initiated the review after a meta-analysis published in Lancet Oncology found a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of cancer among people taking ARBs. The FDA meta-analysis included 31 […]

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