Yearly Archives: 2024


Sodium Intake Linked to Atopic Dermatitis

A cross-sectional study suggested that higher dietary sodium intake may be associated with a higher risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) diagnosis, active AD, and increasing AD severity. There were 215 832 participants (mean age, 56.52 years; 54.3% female) in the UK analytic cohort with 5% of AD patients. Mean (SD) estimated […]


Active Surveillance Safe and Effective for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer

A prospective multicenter cohort study revealed that protocol-directed active surveillance is safe and effective for avoiding overtreatment and preventing undertreatment in patients with low-risk prostate cancer. The study included 2155 patients with favorable-risk prostate cancer and no prior treatment from 2008 to 2022 with a median follow-up of 7.2 years. […]


Statins Still Beneficial in Old and Very Old Adults

A Chinese sequential target trial emulation comparing matched cohorts initiating versus not initiating statin therapy suggested benefits and safety of statin therapy in adults aged ≥75 years, even ≥85 years. The trial included persons 75 years or older who met indications for statin initiation from January 2008 to December 2015 […]


Gut Microbiota May Have Causal Effects on Non-HDL-c

A Chinese cohort study suggested a causal effect of gut microbiota on non-HDL-c and identified 3-indolepropionic acid and N-methyltryptamine as key effectors of gut microbiota to the variation of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-c). The study included a total of 1361 community-dwelling participants without major diseases and free of antibiotics and lipid-lowering […]


Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Higher Mortality

A US prospective population based cohort study suggested that higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with slightly increased all-cause mortality. The associations were mainly driven by meat/poultry/seafood based ready-to-eat products, sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, dairy based desserts, and ultra-processed breakfast foods. The study included 74 563 women (1984-2018) and 39 501 […]


Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Guidelines Updated

The US guideline for the management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have been updated. The top 10 take-home messages are: Shared decision-making is essential to provide the best clinical care. Referral to multidisciplinary HCM centers with appropriate expertise can be important to optimizing care for patients with HCM. Careful ascertainment of […]


GWAS Improved BP Polygenic Risk Scores

A single-stage common-variant genome-wide association study (GWAS) of blood pressure (BP) in European-ancestry adults improved BP polygenic risk scores (PRS) and provided additional insights into the genetic contribution of BP. The study identified 113 novel loci, reporting a total of 2,103 independent genetic signals in 1,028,980 European individuals from the […]


Effects of Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Calcium Plus Vitamin D Supplementation, and Dietary Modification

The US Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial results do not support hormone therapy with oral conjugated equine estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate for postmenopausal women or conjugated equine estrogens alone for those with prior hysterectomy to prevent cardiovascular disease, dementia, or other chronic diseases. However, hormone therapy is effective for […]


BMI, Waist Circumference, and Mortality in the Oldest-Old

A prospective Chinese Mendelian randomization study revealed that participants with higher body mass index (BMI) but lower waist circumference (WC) had the lowest mortality risk among the oldest-old. The study enrolled 5306 community-based oldest-old (mean age 90.6 years) between 1998 and 2018. Genetic risk scores were constructed from 58 single-nucleotide […]


Brain’s Stress-Related Activity Mediated CVD Benefit of Physical Activity

A US cohort study suggested that physical activity (PA) appears to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in part by acting through the brain’s stress-related activity. The study included a total of 50,359 adults (median age 60 years; 40.1% male). Stress-related neural activity was measured as the ratio of resting amygdalar-to-cortical […]