Sustaining SBP Control Critical for Mortality Reduction

The secondary analysis of a multicenter randomized clinical trial in the US and Puerto Rico showed that the beneficial effect of intensive treatment on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality did not persist after the trial, with increasing outpatient systolic blood pressure (SBP) levels in participants randomized to intensive treatment following the […]

Moderate Coffee Drinking Beneficial

A UK prospective cohort study suggested that decaffeinated, ground, and instant coffee, particularly at 2–3 cups/day, were consistently associated with significant reductions in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD, such as coronary heart disease, heart failure, and ischemic stroke, etc.) and mortality. Ground and instant but not decaffeinated coffee was also associated with […]

Comparative Effectiveness of Common Glucose-Lowering Medications Used with Metformin

A US multicenter, parallel-group, comparative-effectiveness clinical trial showed that when added to metformin, insulin glargine and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide were significantly, albeit modestly, more effective in achieving and maintaining target glycated hemoglobin levels than sulfonylurea glimepiride or dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor sitagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes […]

Breath Training Lowers BP

A double‐blind, randomized, sham‐controlled trial concluded that high‐resistance inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) improves blood pressure (BP) and endothelial function in midlife/older adults with above‐normal initial systolic BP. Thirty‐six participants of 50–79 years old with systolic BP ≥120 mm Hg were randomized to high‐resistance IMST (75% maximal inspiratory pressure, 30 breaths/day, 6 days/week, n=18) or […]

Artificial Sweeteners Linked to CVD Risk

A French population based prospective cohort study suggests a potential direct association between higher artificial sweetener consumption (especially aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose) and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The study included 103 388 participants of the web-based cohort (mean age 42.2 years, 79.8% female, 904 206 person years) from 2009 to […]

Most Muscle Symptoms with Statin Therapy Were Not Due to Statins

An individual participant data meta-analysis concluded that most (>90%) of all reports of muscle symptoms with statin therapy were not due to the statin, although statins did cause a small proportional increase in reports of muscle pain, largely during the first year of treatment. The analysis included 19 double-blind trials […]

Sedentary Behaviors Differentially Associated with Dementia

A prospective UK cohort study suggested that high levels of cognitively passive sedentary behaviors (SB) were associated with increased risk of dementia, while cognitively active SB were associated with reduced risk of dementia. The study included 146,651 participants who were 60 years or older (mean age 64.59 years) and did […]

Remote Ischemic Conditioning Effective in Stroke

A multicenter, open-label, blinded–end point, randomized clinical trial in China showed that remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) was associated with better neurologic function in patients with acute moderate ischemic stroke. The trial randomly assigned 1893 patients (mean age, 65 years; women 34.1%; 93.8% completed the trial) within 48 hours after symptom […]

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 […]

Statins but Not PCSK9 Inhibition Linked to Adverse Neurocognitive Effects

A drug-target Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis indicated adverse neurocognitive effects related to statins but not proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibition. Data were from a combined sample of ∼740,000 participants in predominantly European ancestry-based genome-wide association cohort studies. There was a neutral cognitive profile related to genetic PCSK9 inhibition, […]