Mind-Heart-Body Connection

A scientific statement from the American Heart Association revealed that there are good data showing clear associations between psychological health and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk, so called the mind-heart-body connection; there is increasing evidence that psychological health may be causally linked to biological, behavioral and psychosocial mechanisms that contribute […]

CVD Risk High while “Fat but Fit”

A Spanish observational study suggests that, although physical activity (PA) mitigates partly the detrimental effects of overweight/obesity on the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), excess body weight per se is associated with a remarkable increase in the prevalence of major risk factors. The data from 527 662 participants [32% female; mean […]

Update of Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CAD

An update of the previous 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis of vitamin and mineral supplementation on cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes and all-cause mortality shows similar findings for preventive benefits from both folic acid and B vitamins for stroke, and an increased risk with niacin (with statin) for all-cause mortality. In […]

Alcohol Consumption Linked to AF Risk

A European cohort study revealed that even modest habitual alcohol intake of 1.2 drinks/day was associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). The study followed 107 845 individuals (median age 47.8 years, 48.3% men) from five community-based cohorts across Europe. The median alcohol consumption was 3 g/day. During median […]

Colchicine Reduced CAD Risk

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials concluded that colchicine treatment may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The analysis included 5 randomized controlled trials with follow-up duration ≥6 months, comprising a total of 11,790 patients with CAD. Compared with placebo or no treatment, […]

Make Every Bite Count with the Dietary Guidelines

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are out. For the first time the Guidelines provide recommendations by life stage, from birth through older adulthood, while focusing on dietary patterns and recognizing that more than half of adults have one or more diet-related chronic diseases. The guidelines: for about the first […]

Conservative Management Safer for Inpatient High BP

A US cohort study suggested that in the absence of evidence of end-organ damage, conservative management of inpatient high blood pressure (BP) was associated with improved outcomes compared with more intensive management. The study included 22 834 adults hospitalized for noncardiovascular diagnoses from January 1 to December 31, 2017 (mean age, […]

Physical Activity Lowered Sedentary Death Risk

A harmonized meta-analysis concluded that longer sedentary time is associated with higher mortality in less active individuals when measured by accelerometry. About 30–40min of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) per day attenuate the association between sedentary time and risk of death. The analysis included 44370 middle-aged and older men and women […]

Blood Metabolites Linked to Stroke Risk

Ten metabolites from seven prospective cohort studies were found to be associated with risk of stroke. The studies included 1,791 incident stroke events among 38,797 participants. Independent of traditional risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and body mass index, amino acid histidine (hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation [SD] = […]