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Angina News | Cardiology Updates |
Heart Disease Medical Research
Angina.com is pleased to present Angina and Cardiovascular news items and updates.
These articles and links are presented as background information and not intended as specific medical advice.
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April 2010 |
Vitamin D or Calcium for Heart Disease?
This review examined 17 prospective and randomized studies of Vitamin D supplementation, calcium supplementation or both on the subsequent development of cardiovascular events.
The 5 studies involving dialysis patients seemed to find a lower rate of cardiovascular disease related deaths among the dialysis patients treated with Vitamin D.
The authors report that “the generalizability and applicability’ of a cardioprotective effect of Vitamin D, warrants more study as the remaining studies were not as conclusive in the general population as in the subset of patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis.
Reference:
Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation for Prevention of Cardiovascular Events
Lu Wang, MD PhD et al
Annals of Internal Medicine Vol 152 March 2010 |
March 2010 |
March New Journal of Medicine study reports the findings from the John Hopkins schools, of blood glycated hemoglobin levels evaluated in over 11,000 non-diabetic patients. The study reports that patients with higher levels of glycated hemoglobin (called hemoglobin A1c) had higher rates of development of cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes.
Hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying protein in red blood cells, in exposed to glucose in the blood stream and becomes glycated, the state called A1c. Higher A1c levels are associated with poorer control of blood glucose in diabetes.
Souce: NEJM March 4 2010
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February 2010 |
Read about Arm Cuffing prior to Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting or during a presumed heart attack. |
January 10 2010 |
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A recent report from the American Heart Association notes the increased risk of sudden death in men compared to women.
Some key points of the report include:
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Men have up to three times the risk of sudden death, compared to women.
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The risk of sudden death increases with risk factors of diabetes, hypertension, smoking and cholesterol.
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About 300,000 people in the US die each year of sudden cardicac death
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Black patients have twice the risk of sudden cardiac death as whites.
Primary source: American Heart Association
Source reference:
Lloyd-Jones D, et al "Lifetime risk for sudden cardiac death at selected index ages and by risk factor strata and race: Cardiovascular Lifetime Risk Pooling Project" AHA 2009; Abstract 969.
reported by MedPageToday
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December 15 2009
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Favorable Vote from FDA Advisory Committee on Benefit/Risk of Astra Zenena drug CRESTOR (rosuvastatin calcium) in JUPITER Study, for patients meeting certain criteria, including men age 50 or over and women age 60 or over.
Crestor is a lipid lowering drug.
Link to article on PRNewswire here. |
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Featured Angina| Acute Coronary Syndrome and Heart Disease Interviews
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Author Interview: Claes Held MD
Associate professor at Uppsala Clinical Research Center and the
Cardiology department at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden
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Publication:
Physical activity levels, ownership of goods promoting sedentary behaviour and risk of myocardial infarction: results of the INTERHEART study
Eur Heart J first published online January 11, 2012 doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr432
2012 doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr432
Claes Held, Romaina Iqbal, Scott A. Lear, Annika Rosengren, Shofiqul Islam,James Mathew, and Salim Yusuf
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What are the main findings of the study?
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The main findings are he following:
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It is well known that physical inactivity is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease.
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Our study shows that being physically active reduces the risk of having a heart attack.
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Older studies have mostly studied people in the developed countries. This study which has a global perspective and includes 52 countries from all continents, shows that physical inactivity reduces the risk also in both low- middle-and high-income countries.
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We also found that ownership of a car and TV was associated with a more than doubled risk of being sedentary and that in low- and middle income the risk for a heart attack was increased with 27 %.
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We can however, not conclude from this study that there is a causal relationship but it is an interesting finding.
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Were any of the findings unexpected?
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We looked at the relationship between physical activity both at work and during leisure time.
A bit surprising was that people with heavy physical labor did not have a reduction in the risk of heart attacks, whereas people with both mild and moderate intensity did.
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What should clinicians and patients take away from this study?
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The main findings above and also that physical activity with duration below the recommended 30 minutes/day does seem to prevent from heart attacks as well although not as much as when you do it according to guidelines.
This may be a comfort to those who are completely sedentary and feel that it would be a too big step to move to the 30 minutes/day right away.
All PA does a good job for the heart as compared to not doing anything at all!
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What recommendations do you have for cardiology health care providers as a result of your study?
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It would be interesting to follow up on the ownership of car and TV and do a prospective study to see if the theory holds true.
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Abstract
Background— Despite data showing the benefits of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) insertion for primary prevention in populations at risk for sudden death, professional society guidelines recommending primary prevention, and recognition by payers of the clinical value of ICDs in these populations, ICDs for primary prevention remain underused. We sought to determine whether implementing a screening tool would increase appropriate identification of patients showing clinical evidence of ICD benefit and prompt referral to an electrophysiologist for ICD implantation.
Methods and Results— Screening tools were affixed to medical records for patients seen in 2 outpatient cardiology offices that queried ejection fraction and whether referral to an electrophysiologist was made (N=6632).
The number of appropriate referrals in the screening period were compared with analogous data collected before implementation of the screening tool (control period) through retrospective record review (n=3606). Significantly more eligible patients were offered referral during the screening period than during the control period at both sites, 80% (8/10 eligible) versus 33% (5/15) at site 1 (P<0.02) and 100% (44/44) versus 60% (21/35) at site 2 (P<0.001). Of all patients offered referral, 41% (32/78) accepted.
Conclusions— The use of a screening tool increases referral to electrophysiology for patients in whom placement of an ICD confers the benefit of sudden cardiac death primary prevention. Barriers to referral include both physician and patient factors. Verification of these findings on a larger scale as well as studies defining the foundation of these barriers may further improve use of ICDs in patients for whom their mortality benefit is well described.
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Keywords and tags:
Angina, atypical angina, heart disease,chest pain, angina pectoris, chest pains, cardiology ,ivabradine for chronic angina, emergency room evaluation of chest pain, heart attacks, cardiac syndrome X,cpr, heart disease in women, cholesterol, lipids, heart medications, aspirin, cardiologists, ekg, ecg, echocardiology, heart surgery, bypass surgery, stents, spiral CTs, 64 slice CTs, chest pain, heart risk factors, cardiology news, angina.com, CRP, C Reactive Protein, troponins, troponin I, troponin T, Prinzmetal's angina, nitrates, angina treatment, JUPITER study, Crestor, CHF, congestive heart failure, Avandia, myeloperoxidase, MPO, biomarkers, AEDs, cardiac defibrillators, cardiac CTs, coronary 64 slice scanners,128 slice CT, 256 Cat Scan, Vitamin D and heart disease, Get with the Program -Coronary Artery Disease updates, Acute Coronary Syndrome, stress tests, thallium stress test, PCI, angioplasty, CABG, coronary artery bypass surgery, calcium
Angina | Heart Disease Resourses
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Amazon.com 's Editorial Reviews
Angina: New Ways to Treat
Chronic Chest Pain
Part of the award winning public television series Healthy head
/Healthy Mind. It's one of the scariest medical symptoms for people who are generally healthy: a tightening, painful feeling in the chest known as Angina. In some cases this chest pain can be a serious warning that requires immediate treatment. But for the millions of people with chronic, stable angina the discomfort is something that can be readily managed with a variety of treatments. In this program we take a look at what generally causes angina, what can be done to prevent it and how it can be effectively treated with lifestyle changes, innovative drug therapies and medical procedures.
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Amazon.com Editorial Review:
Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)
Be prepared for the unexpected.
When sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) strikes, the electrical system of the heart short circuits, causing the heart to quiver rather than pump in a normal rhythm. It typically results in the abnormal heart rhythm know as ventricular fibrillation (VF). It usually happens without warning and the majority of people have no previously recognized symptoms of heart disease. And it most often happens at home. For the best chance of survival from SCA caused by VF, a defibrillator should be used within 5 minutes. Yet, less than 1 in 20 people survive largely because a defibrillator does not arrive in time.
Just as seat belts or airbags do not save every life in a traffic accident, a defibrillator will not save every person who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest. Yet many lives could be saved if more people could be reached more quickly.
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June 10 2010 Number 23 
