Two studies suggest that reproductive life span and adverse pregnancy outcomes are sex-specific risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women. One study included 307 855 women from 12 studies. Overall, the mean ages at menarche, menopause, and reproductive life span were 13.0, 50.2, and 37.2 years, respectively. Pooled analyses […]
The American Heart Association just issued a scientific statement for drug-induced arrhythmias. Drugs from many therapeutic classes may cause or ex-acerbate a variety of arrhythmias. Awareness of drugs that may cause arrhythmias and specific arrhythmias that may be drug induced is important. Numerus drugs can prolong the QT interval and […]
A systematic review suggested that Intensive blood pressure (BP)-lowering treatment decreases risk for orthostatic hypotension (OH). OH, before or in the setting of more intensive BP treatment, should not be viewed as a reason to avoid or de-escalate treatment for hypertension. The data were extracted from 5 trials examined BP […]
An international, investigator-initiated, parallel-group, open, blinded-outcome-assessment trial concluded that early rhythm-control therapy was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular (CV) outcomes than usual care among patients with early atrial fibrillation (AF) and CV conditions. A total of 2789 patients who had early AF (diagnosed ≤1 year before enrollment, median […]
A randomized, controlled, double-blind trial showed that 0.5 mg of colchicine once daily significantly reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in patients with chronic coronary disease in Australia and the Netherlands. The trial included 5522 patients, >80% male, 35 to 82 years of age (2762 assigned to colchicine and 2760 to […]
A meta-analysis suggested that long naps (more than 60 mins) were associated with a 30% greater risk of all-cause death and 34% higher likelihood of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to no napping. When night-time sleep was considered, long naps were linked with a higher risk of death only in those […]
A state-of-the-art review for saturated fats and health challenges current guideline recommendation to limit dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake. Food sources of SFAs contain different proportions of various fatty acids in addition to other nutrients that can substantially influence their observed physiological and biologic effects. Most recent meta-analyses of […]
A multicenter, controlled, prospective endpoint trial confirmed that routinely taking blood pressure (BP)-lowering medications at bedtime, as opposed to upon waking, resulted in improved ambulatory BP control (significantly enhanced decrease in asleep BP and increased sleep-time relative BP decline, i.e. BP dipping) and markedly reduced major cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. […]
Data extracted from a primary prevention trial showed that aspirin significantly increases overall gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding risk in the elderly. The trial was conducted throughout 2010–2017 (n=19 114) in community-dwelling persons aged ≥70 years with low-dose enteric-coated aspirin or placebo. Over a median follow-up of 4.7 years (88 389 person years), there […]
An analysis with critically reviewing the clinical outcomes of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of cholesterol reduction challenges the current approach to cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention through targeted reductions of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Drug treatment to reduce LDL-C to target levels (30% and 50% or more reduction for individuals […]