CardioExchange Archive

October 10th, 2013

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Likely to Increase Despite Gains in Treatment

Larry Husten, PHD

It is the best of times and the worst of times in the battle against cardiovascular disease. On the one hand, mortality rates from cardiovascular disease in the U.S. have dropped by more than half in the last 30 years, likely due in large part to improvements in treatment for elevated blood pressure and cholesterol […]

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October 9th, 2013

People Who Live Near Airports at Increased Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Most previous research on the health effects of noise has focused on road noise. Now two new observational studies published in BMJ extend the research to noise from airports and provide fresh evidence that people who live near airports are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. In the first paper, Anna Hansell and colleagues in the U.K. analyzed data from 3.6 […]

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April 11th, 2013

Cuban History Offers Important Lessons For Global Health Today

Larry Husten, PHD

A large new study from Cuba shows the impressive benefits that can be achieved with weight loss and increased exercise. Much more ominously, the same study shows the dangers associated with weight gain and less exercise. In the study, published in BMJ, researchers took advantage of a “natural” experiment that occurred in Cuba as a result of a major […]

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April 3rd, 2013

International Cardiovascular Device Registries: The Next Big Thing

Larry Husten, PHD

A new initiative involving a wide variety of stakeholders — the FDA, the American College of Cardiology, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, industry, medical journals, and others — could lead to an enormous international cooperative effort to make device registries a standard part of the practice of cardiology. This will be a “huge step,” said David […]

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December 25th, 2012

Autopsy Studies Find Dramatic Drop in Early Atherosclerosis Over the Past 60 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

Military service members who died during the past decade were far less likely to have atherosclerosis than service members who died in Korea or Vietnam, according to a new study published in JAMA. Although it is impossible to fully understand the causes and implications of the finding, the results provide powerful new evidence of a very […]

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December 13th, 2012

Hypertension And Smoking Top List Of Global Risk Factors

Larry Husten, PHD

Worldwide, hypertension and tobacco smoking are the single largest causes of death and disability, according to findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010), the largest ever assessment and analysis of global health and disease. In an unprecedented move, the Lancet devoted an entire issue to the study, including seven separate articles and eight comments. GBD 2010 […]

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December 12th, 2012

State of the Heart: AHA Publishes Year-End Statistical Update

Larry Husten, PHD

Although deaths from cardiovascular disease have been declining for many years, continued progress is threatened by disturbing trends in U.S. lifestyles. That’s the clear message from the American Heart Association’s year-end report, “Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update 2013,” published in Circulation. “Americans need to move a lot more, eat healthier and less, and manage risk […]

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July 23rd, 2012

A Proposal To Improve The Value Of Observational Studies

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

I believe that observational studies can reveal important truths and have a critical place in the portfolio of clinical research. However, I sometimes wonder, when I see a study, just how it was conducted. Was the study question clearly defined before the analyses were begun…or did the study question emerge only after the investigator conducted […]

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January 26th, 2012

Big Drop in MI Incidence and Fatality in England

Larry Husten, PHD

Since 2002, the incidence of acute MI in England has dropped by one-half and the case fatality rate by one-third, according to a new study published in BMJ. The overall decline in deaths from MI is about equally due to improvements in the prevention of MI and the treatment of MI. Kate Smolina and colleagues analyzed data from […]

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December 15th, 2011

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: AHA Releases Update of Heart and Stroke Statistics

Larry Husten, PHD

Once again, statistics on the cardiovascular health of the United States portray a complicated picture of improvement and decline. On the one hand, deaths from cardiovascular disease continue to decline. On the other hand, ominous trends, many stemming from the increase in obesity, suggest that the good news may not last much longer. The full […]

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