A retrospective cohort study in the US suggested that myocardial injury was prevalent among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and was associated with higher risk of mortality. The study included 2736 patients (median age 66.4 years, 59.6% men) with COVID-19 admitted between February 27th and April 12th, 2020 with troponin-I (normal […]
International cohort studies suggest that adding azithromycin to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treatment may increase heart failure and cardiovascular mortality, potentially due to synergistic effects on QT length of ECG. Severe adverse events associated with HCQ-azithromycin were compared to HCQ-amoxicillin in rheumatoid arthritis patients aged 18+ and followed up over 30 days. […]
A nationwide Swedish cohort study suggests that in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, low-dose (75 mg or 160 mg) aspirin use was associated with a duration-dependent significantly lower risk of incident hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related death than no use of aspirin, without a significantly higher risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. The […]
A Swedish nationwide cohort study suggests that stress-related disorders may be associated with the subsequent risk of neurodegenerative diseases, possibly through a cerebrovascular pathway. A population-matched cohort included 61 748 individuals who received their first diagnosis of stress-related disorders (posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions) […]
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials concluded that the magnitude of blood pressure (BP) lowering achieved with sodium reduction showed a dose-response relation and was greater for older populations, non-white populations, and those with higher BP. Short term studies underestimate the effect of sodium reduction on BP. The […]
A US prospective nested case-control study revealed that long-term increases in a gut-microbial metabolite, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were associated with higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and repeated assessment of TMAO over 10 years improved the identification of people with a higher CHD risk. The study included 760 healthy […]
A study in Europe supports the feasibility of improving the habitual diet to modulate the gut microbiota and potentially to promote healthier ageing. The gut microbiota were profiled in 612 non-frail or pre-frail elderly subjects across five European countries before and after the administration of a 12-month Mediterranean diet intervention. […]
A randomized controlled trial in Australia suggested that a low dose metoprolol and aspirin for 6 weeks reduces physiological and psychological surrogate measures of cardiovascular risk in early bereavement. After assessment within 2 weeks of bereavement, spouses (n = 73) or parents (n = 12) of deceased (aged 66.1 ± 9.4 years, 55 females) were randomized […]
A cohort study suggests that higher intake of processed meat, unprocessed red meat, or poultry, was significantly associated with an increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), whereas higher intake of processed meat or unprocessed red meat, was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. The study analyzed […]
An exome sequencing study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identified 102 risk genes at a false discovery rate of 0.1 or less. The study included 35,584 total samples, 11,986 with ASD, and used an enhanced analytical framework to integrate de novo and case-control rare variation. 49 of the risk genes […]