CardioExchange Archive

May 11th, 2015

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: May 11th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include a comparison of catheter ablation for persistent AF, left atrial appendage exclusion with the Lariat device, the obesity paradox in type 2 diabetes, and more.

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December 2nd, 2014

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Linked to Marker of Healthy Aging

Larry Husten, PHD

Following a string of recent successes and favorable publicity for the Mediterranean Diet, a a new study published in The BMJ finds that women who more closely followed a Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres, a key measure of healthy aging. The new report is based on data from 4676 women in the Nurses’ Health Study who completed food-frequency […]

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November 12th, 2014

Popular Diets Achieve Only Modest Long-Term Weight Loss

Larry Husten, PHD

Four of the most popular current weight loss diets produce at best only modest long-term benefits, a new study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes shows. The study also found few significant differences across the four diets, offering little hope that any one diet can produce a serious dent in the obesity epidemic. Mark Eisenberg and […]

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October 15th, 2014

Another Diet Myth Exploded: Gradual Weight Loss No Better Than Rapid Weight Loss

Larry Husten, PHD

Once again, a popular weight loss myth has been exploded. It has been widely believed that weight loss, which is nearly always difficult to maintain, is even less likely to be sustained if it’s the product of a rapid weight-loss regimen. This belief is even enshrined in current guidelines. Now a study published in The […]

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September 11th, 2014

FDA Approves New Weight Loss Drug

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced today that it had approved Contrave, the long-awaited and much-disputed weight loss drug.  Contrave is a combination of two drugs already approved for other indications: naltrexone hydrochloride, which is used to combat alcohol and opioid dependence, and bupropion, which is used to treat depression and seasonal affective disorder and as an aid to smoking cessation treatment. […]

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September 2nd, 2014

Low-Carb Diet Linked to Greater Weight Loss Than Low-Fat Diet

A low-carbohydrate diet is associated with greater weight reduction than a low-fat diet among obese adults, according to an Annals of Internal Medicine study. Roughly 150 obese adults who were otherwise healthy were randomized to eat either a low-fat (<30% fat) or low-carbohydrate (<40 g/day of digestible carbohydrates) diet. Participants were provided diet-specific handbooks with recipes […]

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May 28th, 2014

Portrait of the Global Obesity Pandemic

Larry Husten, PHD

A new, comprehensive analysis, published in the Lancet, paints a frightening portrait of the global obesity pandemic.  Analyzing data from a wide variety of international sources, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 finds that from 1980 through 2013, the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity rose by 27.5% for adults and by 47.1% for children. The […]

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May 5th, 2014

What Role Should Coca-Cola Play in Obesity Research?

Larry Husten, PHD

Larry Husten asks: “What role should Coca-Cola and other food and beverage companies play in funding and communicating research about nutrition and obesity?”

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January 22nd, 2014

SERIES: Making Sense of the New Prevention Guidelines — The View from Clinical Practice

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

A series of clinical vignettes involving decisions affected by the recently published prevention guidelines (JNC 8, ACC/AHA, ESC)

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January 13th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: January 13th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the risk for MI and ischemic heart disease among overweight and obese people with and without metabolic syndrome, and the lower risk for CV events in postmenopausal women taking estradiol compared with conjugated equine estrogens.

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