Five Lessons From the Niacin Failure.
Niacin With Statins? No Dice..
HPS2-THRIVE: As Niacin Fails, HDL’s Role Is Debated Anew.
Enjoy these articles. Taking niacin? Well…
CHD risk factors
ASCVD Risk Estimator
More Docs Wonder If Statins Are Worth the Risks
Fruit, Veg Intake Has Dose-Response Link With CV Death
The inverse association between increased fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality was particularly noticeable for cardiovascular mortality; higher consumption was not significantly linked with reduced risk of cancer mortality
All of the pitfalls of the component studies are present in the meta-analysis, the authors warn, including the fact that fruit and vegetable intake is typically self-reported. Not all studies adjusted for other types of foods consumed, including saturated fats, processed meats, etc. The definition of “portions” may also have been different across studies, the authors caution.
via Fruit, Veg Intake Has Dose-Response Link With CV Death.
Vegans and radical vegetarians take note. Bold in quote above is my emphasis.
Wrist blood pressure monitors: Are they accurate? – Mayo Clinic
Wrist blood pressure monitors: Are they accurate? – Mayo Clinic.
That can’t be right.
I had my blood pressure taken at the dentist the other day. The reading nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. My observations:
- The equipment used was a wrist BP monitor, not exactly known for accuracy.
- The individual who took the reading is a dental hygienist who probably got zero training in the proper positioning and use of the monitor.
- My blood pressure has always been normal.
I’ll stop at one of those ubiquitous upper arm machines you find at any pharmacy and do a recheck. And those iPhone apps that measure blood pressure? Don’t even bother.
Diabetes and the Heart: Risk Greater in Women
Diabetes and the Heart: Risk Greater in Women.
Data from 64 studies with both male and female participants yielded a 44% greater multiple-adjusted relative risk ratio (RRR) for incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in women compared with men (RRR 1.44, 95% CI 1.27-1.63), Rachel Huxley, DPhil, of the University of Queensland in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues found.
Pooled data from 52 studies indicated that women also had a 44% greater chance than men of dying from fatal CHD associated with diabetes, Huxley and colleagues reported online in the journal Diabetologia.
Daily Aspirin – Yes or No?
Aspirin: FDA Says ‘No’ Others Say ‘Yes’.
I found this article quite helpful in my own decision regarding whether or not to continue my daily aspirin 81 mg dose.
The bump I gave myself on the shin a few weeks ago that bled profusely and took hours to clot was also quite helpful in my decision regarding whether or not to continue my daily aspirin 81 mg dose.
Update 06.06.14
Check out the following link. If you’re an older male you might find this of interest.
http://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20110303/regular-use-of-painkillers-linked-to-ed
Update 07.26.14
This link takes you to the 2012 Circulation article.
Update 08.04.14
More links for your reading and research pleasure.
Aspirin May Not Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease – Prevention.com.
Benefits of aspirin more modest than previously believed — St George’s, University of London.
Researchers from Professor Kausik Ray’s group at St George’s, University of London investigated the drug’s effectiveness in primary prevention and the prevalence of side effects. They also assessed if aspirin had any impact on the risk of death from cancer among people considered at risk of cardiovascular disease.
They analysed data from nine clinical trials involving over 100,000 participants without a history of cardiovascular disease. Half of the participants took aspirin and half took a placebo. The average participant in the aspirin arm of these trials took aspirin for about six years.
The researchers found that although aspirin in conventional daily or alternate day doses reduced the risk of total cardiovascular disease events by 10 per cent, this was largely due to a reduction in non-fatal heart attacks. It did not include a reduction in other cardiovascular disease events including death from heart attack, or fatal or non-fatal stroke.
The study also showed that this benefit was almost entirely offset by a 30 per cent increase in risk of life-threatening or debilitating internal bleeding events. This means that while one cardiovascular disease event was averted for every 120 people treated with aspirin for about six years, one in 73 people suffered from potentially significant bleeding during the same period.
Testosterone Treatment and MI Risk
Filling a prescription for testosterone therapy was associated with a greater risk of having a nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) in the next 3 months, a large observational study showed.
The risk after a prescription was filled was more than doubled in men 65 and older overall compared with that in the year before the prescription (rate ratio 2.19, 95% CI 1.27-3.77), according to Robert Hoover, MD, ScD, of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues.
The study was limited, however, by the observational design, the use of administrative data that lacked information on indications for treatment, and the inclusion of nonfatal MIs only.
via Study Feeds Concerns About MI Risk With Testosterone Tx.
Cardiologists Should Mind Radiation Doses, ESC Says
Because radiation used in imaging tests is proven to cause cancer, they wrote, “cardiologists should make every effort to give ‘the right imaging exam, with the right dose, to the right patient.’
via Cardiologists Should Mind Radiation Doses, ESC Says.
We are seeing more applicant/patient initiated cardiac scans. I recently became aware of a life insurance application where the underwriter requested a repeat cardiac CT scan. The applicant’s cardiologist flatly rejected this course of action in an a asymptomatic patient with a correspondingly low CHD risk score.
Now you understand the cardiologist’s thinking.
Did I hear someone say “litigation risk”?
Mediterranean Diet Cuts Risk of Diabetes
Compared with a control diet and a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, the olive oil-supplemented Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40% lower likelihood for new-onset diabetes (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43-0.85) , according to Jordi Salas-Salvado, MD, PhD, of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain, and colleagues.
Dieters who consumed a nut-supplemented Mediterranean diet did not see such protective benefits (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.61-1.10), they wrote online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
via Mediterranean Diet Cuts Risk of Diabetes.
Read the article and then the readers’ comments. The following are some excerpts:
The findings of this study identify inherent weaknesses in methodology. The low fat control group did not adhere to a low fat diet and the improbable risks of CVD were notably higher.
I wonder if the researchers would consider the benefits of asking their subjects to spread their food intake more evenly throughout the day rather than the the usual Spanish pattern of negligible breakfast, snack about 11, then large lunch mid-afternoon and a big, late evening meal. Also in my experience travelling in various parts of Spain, the diet includes plenty of pork.’Every bit of the pig but the eyes.’.
The olive oil group was probably using that in place of other vegetable oils for cooking and salad. Vegetable oils like soy and corn oil are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6, and are often partially hydrogenated (ie trans fats.) Avoidance of these in the olive group could have made a difference.
Be cautious in coming to conclusions based upon this study. The sample size was small. Perhaps too little attention was paid to what the participants did not consume. We all know less red meat is better for health. The Mediterranean style diet is clearly a healthy diet but I’m not quite ready to attribute all the wonderful benefits to the diet alone.
Think lifestyle. Despite the increase in US style fast food restaurants in Spain, the overall dietary preference continues to be a Mediterranean diet. So how much of the study’s effect come from fast food avoidance?
BTW, yesterday was a totally Mediterranean day for me. Veggie pizza for lunch and a Greek salad with grilled chicken for dinner.
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