Cardiovascular Diseases


Salt Substitutes Beneficial and Generalizable

A meta-analyses and metaregressions concluded that the beneficial effects of salt substitutes on blood pressure and clinical outcomes were consistent and might be generalizable across diverse population subgroups worldwide. The study included 21 trials and 31 949 participants, with 19 reporting effects on blood pressure and 5 reporting effects on […]


Antiplatelets and Beta-Blockers Linked to Heat-Related Heart Attacks

Data from a validated and complete registration of all 2,494 acute myocardial infarction (MI) cases in Augsburg, Germany, during warm seasons (May to September) from 2001 to 2014, suggested that heat-related non-fatal MI risk was elevated among users of anti-platelet medication and beta-receptor blockers, respectively, but not among non-users, with […]


Life’s Essential 8

The American Heart Association has updated a construct of cardiovascular health (CVH), Life’s Essential 8, including diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep health, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Each metric has a new scoring algorithm ranging from 0 to 100 points, allowing generation of a […]


Dose‐Response of Omega‐3 Fatty Acids for Lowering BP

A dose‐response meta‐analysis suggested that the optimal combined intake of omega‐3 fatty acids for blood pressure (BP) lowering is likely between 2 g/d and 3 g/d. Doses above 3 g/d may be associated with additional benefits in lowering BP among high risk groups for cardiovascular diseases. The analysis included 71 randomized controlled trials […]


Very High HDL-C Linked to Higher Mortality

A prospective, multicenter biobank cohort study in the UK and US revealed that very high high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were associated with higher mortality risk in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). There were 14 478 UK participants (from 2006; mean age 62.1 years, 76.2% men) and 5467 US participants […]


Prevalence and Clinical Significance of DNA Variants Predisposing to Cardiomyopathy

A genetic association study indicates that 0.7% of participants harbor a pathogenic variant related to inherited cardiomyopathy and are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. The study included 9667 US participants (mean age 54.0 years; 43.8% women; 27.5% African and 72.5% European ancestry) and 49 744 UK […]


SGLT2 Inhibitor’s Heart Benefit Extended

A systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduced hospitalizations for heart failure (HF) regardless of the presence of diabetes. The analysis included trials that randomly assigned adults with HF to SGLT2 inhibitors or control. Time-to-event individual patient data were reconstructed from published Kaplan–Meier plots; time-varying risk […]