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Clinical researchers at the National Institutes of Health's Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP) have identified the genetic cause of a rare and debilitating vascular disorder not previously explained in the medical literature. The adult-onset condition is associated with progressive and painful arterial calcification affecting the lower extremities, yet spares patients’ coronary arteries. The new disease finding was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Medscape (Cardiology) - Mon, 7 February 2011
http://www.medscape.com
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Clinicians have long suspected that depression worsens cardiac symptoms, but recent research suggests this combination is even more dangerous than previously believed. A study published in the journal Heart found that on any given day participants with both depression and heart disease were nearly five times more likely to die than their healthy peers. Depression alone doubled mortality risk, and heart disease increased risk by only two thirds.
Scientific American (Cardiology) - Mon, 7 February 2011
http://www.sciam.com/
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Are any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs truly safe in terms of cardiovascular risk? This meta-analysis evaluated seven different NSAIDs, and the results were unsettling.
Medscape (Cardiology) - Tue, 1 February 2011
http://www.medscape.com
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The efforts to obtain reliable and non-invasive coronary imaging techniques have led to CT and NMR, but, compared to traditional coronary angiography, do we obtain some advantages or do we “lose” some diagnoses?
MedNews (Cardiology) - Tue, 1 February 2011
http://mn.medsurfnews.com/
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The results from some observational trials performed in England have suggested the hypothesis that venlafaxine, differently from other SSRIs, can more easily induce deaths for overdose because of its toxicity. Considering these data, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has not advised the use of this antidepressant in patients with a high risk of ventricular arrhythmias or affected by non-controlled hypertension.
MedNews (Cardiology) - Tue, 25 January 2011
http://mn.medsurfnews.com/
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In a novel study, published in JAMA, scientists at Karolinska Institutet show that there is a difference in efficacy between two important drugs for heart failure, which previously where believed to be equivalent. According to the study, the drug that is patented and more expensive works better than its cheaper and patent-free counterpart.
Karolinska Institutet (Cardiology) - Mon, 17 January 2011
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&l=en
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A meta-analysis in 2008, performed on randomized trials on patients affected by COPD and published on JAMA (2008; 300:1439), had shown an increase in the risk of deaths for cardiovascular cause and infarctions associated with the use of inhaled anticholinergics (ipratropium and tiotropium), even if the meta-analysis had not considered the widest trial performed up to then on tiotropium (the UPLIFT trial) published in 2009, when this anticholinergic resulted associated with a lower number of cardiovascular events than the one recorded with placebo.
MedNews (Cardiology) - Wed, 29 December 2010
http://mn.medsurfnews.com/
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An excessive use of salt is associated with a greater incidence of hypertension and coronary artery diseases, but which are the acceptable and non-risky quantities? Present data say that, in the USA, males daily take 10.4 g of salt, while women take 7.3 g of it (60-70% of these quantities derive from salt used in packed foods): these quantities are about the double of advised quantities.
MedNews (Cardiology) - Tue, 14 December 2010
http://mn.medsurfnews.com/
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Even if we know that high levels of PCR are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, it is not yet clear which is the exact role of PCR in these circumstances: causal agent, mediator or simple marker? In order to deeply explore the relation between this protein and cardiovascular diseases, the data of 54 prospective long-term trials, involving over 160,000 subjects with no cardiovascular history have been studied.
MedNews (Cardiology) - Tue, 7 December 2010
http://mn.medsurfnews.com/
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Elevated IR, among non-diabetics significantly impairs the overall mean levels of CAM. However, the A or theta of CAM were not significantly affected by IR, suggesting that the circadian mechanisms of CAM are not impaired. However, among persons with type 2 diabetes, a group clinically has more severe form of IR, the adverse effects of increased IR on all three HRV circadian parameters are much larger.
BioMed Central (Cardiology) - Mon, 6 December 2010
http://www.biomedcentral.com