CardioExchange Archive

November 12th, 2013

After Long Wait, Updated U.S. Cardiovascular Guidelines Now Emphasize Risk Instead of Targets

Larry Husten, PHD

Updated cardiovascular health guidelines were released today by  the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The guidelines are designed to provide primary care physicians with evidence-based expert guidance on cholesterol, obesity, risk assessment, and healthy lifestyle. The new guidelines reinforce many of the same messages from previous guidelines, but also represent […]

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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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September 3rd, 2013

A Transatlantic Taste

Amanda Ruth Vest, MBBS

A fellow wonders about worldwide differences in clinical and research approaches in cardiology, as she attends a session on a controversial area that sits uncomfortably alongside the weight-loss message central to American efforts to improve cardiovascular health.

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August 19th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: August 19th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include treating to risk, not to target; perceived job insecurity as a risk factor for incident CHD; ischemic preconditioning in patients undergoing CABG, and more.

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July 22nd, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 22nd

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include combined vasopressin-epinephrine and methylprednisolone after in-hospital cardiac arrest, avoiding NSAIDs for patients with heart failure, and more.

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July 9th, 2013

Look AHEAD: More Questions Than Answers

Kasia Lipska, MD, MHS

Reflecting on the LOOK AHEAD trial, an endocrinologist asks some important questions: Should we hold lifestyle interventions to the same high standards of scrutiny as pharmacological interventions? Don’t we already have enough evidence about the impact of lifestyle interventions to implement them in care?

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April 24th, 2013

Adiposity and Natriuretic Peptides: Where Does the Fat Go?

Ian Neeland, MD

In a study recently published online by JACC, investigators assess the association between natriuretic peptide levels and body-fat distribution. Ian Neeland, the lead author of the study, responds to John Ryan’s questions.

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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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December 7th, 2012

Should Body Weight Influence Choice of Antihypertensive Therapy?

Larry Husten, PHD

The hypertension field has been troubled by repeated observations that normal weight patients have more cardiovascular (CV) events than obese patients. Now a new analysis of a large hypertension trial confirms this finding but also suggests that it may be explained by either an adverse effect of diuretics or a protective effect of calcium-channel blockers in non-obese hypertensives. […]

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December 3rd, 2012

The Role of Social Media in Fighting Childhood Obesity

Larry Husten, PHD

“More parental involvement and more interaction with counselors and peers was associated with greater success rates for overweight children and teens who participated in an online intervention.”

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