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Cardiology

News, opinions and meeting coverage in cardiology.

Weight-Loss Trial Final Report: 52 Pounds of Fat Melted Away

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The official results are in: My ending weight was 231 pounds -- a loss of 52 pounds from my starting weight of 283 pounds in January 2008.

Diastolic Dysfunction Predicts Reduced Exercise Capacity

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Exercise may be good for the heart, but good diastolic function also appears to protect the capacity for exercise, researchers found.

RSNA: Portable CT Scan Saves Time to Save Brain in Stroke Patients

CHICAGO -- Bringing the CT to the stroke patient, rather than the other way round, dramatically reduced door-to-scan time in a community hospital, researchers said here.

Pregnancy Risks Differ for Interracial Couples

STANFORD, Calif. -- The risk for some pregnancy complications may be greater when one partner is white and the other Asian, researchers found.

Normal Enzyme Levels May Hide Advanced Liver Fibrosis

MILAN, Italy -- Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease but normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels are still at risk of severe hepatic disease, researchers found.

ESC: Peto Analysis Called Short on Proof of Simvastatin/ Ezetimibe Cancer Safety

SEATTLE -- Simvastatin/ezetimibe (Vytorin) may increase the risk of cancer after all, concluded a leading American biostatistician who dismissed as prematurely reassuring an analysis by Richard Peto, Ph.D., F.R.S., that found the link with excess malignancy to be overblown.

ESC: In CABG versus Stent Trial, the Edge Goes to Bypass

MUNICH -- The latest round in the surgeons versus interventional cardiologists appears to have gone to the surgeons. So it would seem from today's roundtable discussion at the European Society of Cardiology meeting here.

Cardiac Arrest Survivors Can Expect Good Long-term Quality of Life

MARBURG, Germany -- Resuscitated cardiac arrest patients treated in an ICU who leave the hospital without severe neurological disabilities may expect a reasonable quality of life over the next five years, a study found.

Herpes Virus Linked to Ketosis-Prone Diabetes

PARIS -- A herpes virus is associated with an atypical form of type 2 diabetes found in people of African origin, researchers said here.

NBC's Tim Russert Dead at Age 58

WASHINGTON -- Tim Russert, 58, host of NBC's "Meet the Press" and the network's Washington bureau chief, collapsed and died at his office today.

ACC: Senate Probe Finds Evidence that Drug Firms Worked to Delay ENHANCE Results

CHICAGO -- E-mails made public today described outrage more than a year ago by the ENHANCE trial's principal investigator because he perceived that a drugmaker was withholding bad results about ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin) for non-scientific reasons.

Parents Pass On Hypertension Risk to Their Children

BALTIMORE -- Men whose parents have hypertension are at an increased risk for developing high blood pressure themselves, a longitudinal cohort study showed.

AHA: Some Statins May Disrupt Sleep

ORLANDO -- If patients taking simvastatin (Zocor) develop sleep disturbances, changing statins may be a good idea, researchers suggested here.

ASNC: Caffeine Screens Before Stress Tests Often Miss Positives

SAN DIEGO -- Routine screening by questionnaire for caffeine intake before pharmacologic cardiac stress testing fails to identify most patients who have detectable serum levels of the stimulant, investigators said here.

Boxed Heart Failure Warning Added to Two Diabetes Drugs

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The makers of rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), have agreed to add a black box warning to the type 2 diabetes drugs' labels about an increased risk of heart failure, the FDA said today.

FDA Warns Against Use of Red Yeast Rice Supplements

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has warned consumers against using three brands of red yeast rice, a product marketed as a natural remedy for high cholesterol, because they may contain lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor.

IAS: HIV Treatment Requires Cardiac Assessment

SYDNEY -- As the long-term prognosis for patients with HIV improves, it becomes more important to assess the patient's risk for cardiovascular disease and other health issues, researchers suggested here.

AAPA: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Wearies the Heart

PHILADELPHIA -- The most obvious clinical feature of obstructive sleep apnea may be weariness of mind, but this breathing disorder also slowly and silently wears down the heart, according to researchers.

Drug-Eluting Stents: What Causes the Thrombosis?

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Although the problem of stent thrombosis has been acknowledged, it is not at all certain what the circumstances are that trigger formation of a thrombus.

Methamphetamine May Trigger Ischemic Stroke

IRVINE, Calif. -- Methamphetamine users may develop carotid artery dissections, leading to a severe stroke, an effect also seen in cocaine users, according to researchers here.

Magnetic Jewelry May Have Fatal Attraction

ZURICH, Switzerland -- Rare-earth magnets -- now being packaged into necklaces and bracelets -- may have a deadly attraction for patients with pacemakers and implanted defibrillators, warn researchers here.

Plant Sterols Added to Orange Juice May Do the Heart Good

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Plant sterols added to orange juice can significantly reduce markers of cardiovascular risk, researchers here reported.

Heartburn Remedy May Help Treat Heart Failure

SUITA CITY, Japan -- Heart failure patients who added 30 mg of Pepcid (famotidine) to standard therapy significantly improved NYHA functional class and reduced plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels compared with those given 150 mg of teprenone.

FDA Cautions on Mixing Ibuprofen and Aspirin

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA issued a caution today about the potential for attenuation of low-dose aspirin's antiplatelet effect when ibuprofen is used concomitantly for pain relief.

High Blood Pressure Lowers Walking Ability in Elderly

CHICAGO -- High blood pressure appears to impair older patients' ability to walk, and the reason may be more than just peripheral arterial disease.

High-Dose Steroids Linked to Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands 芒鈧€� High dose corticosteroid therapy may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, researchers here reported.

Blood Clots Linked to Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementias

MANCHESTER, England 芒鈧€� Spontaneous cerebral blood clots were detected at similar rates in patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, suggesting a common pathology and a potentially preventable or treatable cause for some dementias, researchers here said.

ACP: Garlic, Ginseng, Ginkgo Biloba, and Ginger All Bad Actors with Coumadin

PHILADELPHIA - When it comes to adverse events associated with Coumadin (warfarin) therapy, beware of herbs and many supplements beginning with the letter G, according to a University of Washington investigator.

ACC: Coronary Artery Disease Patients Should Have Low LDL Goal

ATLANTA, March 10 - For all patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD), the goal of therapy should be to get LDL cholesterol lower than 70 mg/dL, said Christie Ballantyne, M.D., director of the center for cardiovascular disease prevention at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

AHA: Thrill-a-Minute Roller Coasters May Be Dangerous to the Heart

DALLAS - Those heart-stopping roller coasters may be risky for those with existing heart disease, according to a German cardiologist.

Drugs That Lower Blood Pressure Also Prevent Headaches

LONDON - Four classes of drugs that lower blood pressure also prevent headaches, say researchers here who analyzed data from 94 randomized, placebo-controlled trials.

Medicare Will Pay for tPA in Stroke Thrombolysis

WASHINGTON-Medicare is about to announce that beginning in October it will start paying hospitals for use of the thrombolytic drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for treatment of ischemic stroke, according to published reports.

Singer Luther Vandross Dies Two Years After Stroke

EDISON, N.J.芒鈧€漅ecording industry superstar Luther Vandross, 54, died Friday two years after suffering a stroke. African American men, like Vandross, have a significantly higher risk of stroke-related death than white men.

Crestor Called Less Safe Than Other Statins

BOSTON-Adverse event reports from the FDA suggest that Crestor is more likely to cause muscle and kidney damage than other major statins (Lipitor, Pravachol or Zocor), researchers here reported in the journal Circulation.

Morphine for Chest Pain Increases ACS Death Risk

DURHAM, N.C.-Morphine to relieve severe chest pain associated with the non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome may increase the risk of death by nearly 50%, report Duke investigators. They recommend nitroglycerin as first choice.

FDA Approves 'Gila Monster' Diabetes Drug

ROCKVILLE, Md.-The FDA announced today it has approved a new injectable diabetes drug synthesized from gila monster saliva, but says the drug should only be used in combination with older oral medications.

ACC: LDL Cholesterol of Less than 80 mg/dL Reduces Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

ORLANDO-Cardiologists report that aggressive cholesterol-lowering to new super low target levels of LDL is associated with a 22% reduction in risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest and death from heart disease for patients with stable coronary disease. The reduction to a mean of 77 mg/dL compared with standard cholesterol-lowering therapy that aims to reduce LDL to about 100 mg/dL. In addition, stroke risk was reduced by 25% compared with risk in patients treated to the recommended target of 100 mg/dL.

Fiber Supplement Equivalent to Doubling the Dose of Statin

Three servings of psyllium (Metamucil) per day reduced the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels of patients on a statin drug by an additional 6%, roughly the same reduction achieved by doubling the statin dose, according to research presented at the American Heart Association 2004 Scientific Sessions.