January 19th, 2010
Tuesday January 19 News Roundup: Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Biological Aging in CAD Patients, Genetic Code Pioneer Dies
Larry Husten, PHD
Coronary patients with high levels of omega-3 fatty acid levels in their blood have a lower rate of telomere shortening, according to a new study in JAMA. The study bring together two very different strands of research. In one strand, the shortening of telomeres, the protective caps of DNA at the end of chromosomes, has […]
January 19th, 2010
Do Rapid Response Teams and Remote ICU Monitoring Actually Prevent Deaths?
Paul S. Chan, MD, MS
Hospitals devote a lot of resources to preventing in-hospital cardiac arrests. That makes sense because when one actually occurs, the patient has only a 1 in 6 chance of surviving to discharge. Two popular strategies for helping clinicians recognize and treat clinical deterioration before an in-hospital cardiac arrest are remote ICU monitoring and rapid response […]
January 18th, 2010
Monday January 18 News Roundup: Tailoring Statin Therapy, ED and CVD, Unnecessary Stents
Larry Husten, PHD
New Approach to Statin Therapy: Tailoring statin therapy based on individual risk is more effective and efficient than the treat-to-target approach adopted by NCEP III, according to a new report in Annals of Internal Medicine by Rodney Hayward and colleagues (including CardioExchange’s Editor Harlan Krumholz). Using data from statin trials and national data on CAD […]
January 15th, 2010
Evaluations
Andrew M. Kates, MD
This Journal Watch summary of a recent article from the New England Journal of Medicine made me consider further an issue that seems to be all-consuming: evaluations. In training programs across the country, we are required to give and receive evaluations on a regular basis. The goal, at least in part, seems straightforward enough — trainees require feedback to effectively […]
January 15th, 2010
Japanese Study Links Radiation to Cardiovascular Disease Deaths
Larry Husten, PHD
Between 1950 and 2003 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, according to a new analysis published in BMJ. Japanese researchers estimated a 9% increased risk of stroke per gray and a 14% increased risk of heart disease per gray. An accompanying editorial notes that the study “adds […]
January 14th, 2010
Thursday January 14 Roundup: PLATO, ACC Loses in Court
Larry Husten, PHD
PLATO-Invasive: A large substudy from PLATO of ACS patients undergoing an invasive strategy has been published in the Lancet. The substudy found that ticagrelor was superior to clopidogrel in 13,408 ACS patients for whom an invasive procedure was planned. Christopher Cannon et al. reported that the combined rate of CV death, MI, and stroke was significantly cut from […]
January 13th, 2010
How to Manage Renal-Artery Stenosis: Insights from an ASTRAL Investigator
Philip Kalra, MD
We welcome Philip A. Kalra, MD, one of the investigators and the lead nephrologist for the UK-based ASTRAL trial, to talk about the group’s article in the November 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine: Revascularization versus Medical Therapy for Renal-Artery Stenosis (N Engl J Med 2009; 361:1953). We asked him our questions […]
January 13th, 2010
Wednesday January 12 Roundup: Diabetics in SYNTAX, Obesity in the USA
Larry Husten, PHD
Diabetics in SYNTAX: The one-year results of the subset of diabetic patients enrolled in the SYNTAX trial, the ongoing trial comparing PCI to CABG in patients with left main or multivessel disease for five years, were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Although the investigators found an increase in revascularizations in the PCI […]
January 13th, 2010
Americans IGNORE prevention
JoAnne M. Foody, MD
The American Heart Association has issued its Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2010 Update, which underlines the fact that most Americans are ignoring prevention. While more than half a trillion dollars is spent annually on heart disease, little is spent on prevention. What can we do to change this? If more money were available for prevention, how do you think […]
January 12th, 2010
Tuesday January 12 Roundup: Statin Adherence; FDA Panel Grills Nebivolol; CETP, CRP and APOE in dementia
Larry Husten, PHD
You can save twice as many lives by increasing adherence to already-prescribed statins than by expanding the pool of people eligible for statins, according to estimates by A Shroufi and JW Powles in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the FDA turn down a heart […]