There is a significant association between lowering uric acid in patients with high levels and a reduction of their mortality from cardiovascular disease, researchers said here.
During the study period, hyperuricemia patients who were treated with urate lowering drugs such as allopurinol achieved a 44% reduction in death caused by heart disease and a 58% reduction in deaths caused by stroke (P<0.001 for both), according to Jiunn-Horng Chen, MD, PhD, of China Medical University, Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan).
Stroke risk
Binge Drinking and HTN
Binge Drinking, Hypertension a Deadly Combo
The report is published in the Aug. 19 online edition of Stroke.
For the study, Ohrr’s team collected data on 6,100 men and women living in a farming community. The researchers followed these people for almost 21 years.
The participants were divided into four groups: nondrinkers, non-binge drinkers, moderate binge drinkers (defined as having six or more drinks on one occasion), and heavy binge drinkers (defined as having 12 or more drinks on one occasion).
Among the men with high blood pressure, 17.8 percent were moderate binge drinkers, and 3.9 percent were heavy binge drinkers (a percentage similar to the men with normal blood pressure). As for the women, there were too few who said they were binge drinkers to be able to draw conclusions, the researchers said.
Ohrr’s group found that compared with nondrinkers, the risk of stroke among men with high blood pressure was increased threefold. If these men drank six or more drinks at one time, their risk for stroke increased fourfold, and with 12 drinks or more, the risk rose 12-fold.
Thought For Today – 5/15/10
I know people have been asking about drinking and being diabetic, and it’s a very honest question,” he blogged. “Here is the honest answer, and this is the truth: when I say ‘party’ and ‘let’s have fun,’ I’m one of those guys that just likes to have a great time. I’m not a belligerent drunk. I don’t need to drink. … For a diabetic … it’s a double whammy because here’s what happens with alcohol: when you’re hung-over then you don’t eat right, you don’t take your insulin right. So it’s best to stay away. But, I pick and choose my times when I’m going to have fun.
Reality star and aging rocker Bret Michaels, just weeks before his cerebral hemorrhage.
Don’t Take Plavix if You Are a Poor Metabolizer
A “poor metabolizer” does not effectively convert Plavix to its active form because of low CYP 2C19 activity.
How does someone figure out they are a “poor metabolizer”?
Read the FDA communication if you’re seriously interested in the answer to this question.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added a Boxed Warning to the label for Plavix, the anti-blood clotting medication. The Boxed Warning is about patients who do not effectively metabolize the drug (i.e. “poor metabolizers”) and therefore may not receive the full benefits of the drug.
Another Reason Why I Drink Coffee
Drinking just one cup of coffee a day — either regular or decaffeinated — was associated with a 30% reduced risk of stroke, a large, prospective study showed.
Listen and Learn – Med Diet May Lower Stroke Risk
Carotid Artery Stenosis – Endarterectomy or Stent?
Conclusions Carotid endarterectomy was found to be superior to carotid artery stenting for short term outcomes but the difference was not significant for intermediate term outcomes; this difference was mainly driven by non-disabling stroke. Significantly fewer cranial nerve injuries and myocardial infarctions occurred with carotid artery stenting.
High Risk for Recurrence or Death After 1st Stroke
After a Stroke, High Risk for a Recurrence – BusinessWeek
For the study, published in the Feb. 16 issue of Neurology, Feng’s team collected data on almost 10,400 people in South Carolina who’d had a stroke.
They found that 25 percent of those who had a stroke died within a year, and eight percent had another stroke within a year of their first stroke.
After one year, the risk for another stroke or death continued to rise, the researchers found, with about 18 percent having had another stroke within four years. In that time, about six percent had a heart attack and 41 percent had died from any cause, including 27 percent whose deaths were attributed to a stroke or heart attack.
Reduce Salt Intake – Lower Stroke, CVD
A decrease of 5 grams of salt a day (about one teaspoon) was associated with a 23% lower stroke rate and up to 17% less total cardiovascular disease, reported Pasquale Strazzullo, MD, of the “Federico II” University of Naples, Italy, and colleagues online in BMJ.
Lose Weight (and possibly your life) with Meridia
Preliminary analysis of data from a placebo-controlled study of sibutramine (Meridia) suggested an excess risk of cardiovascular events including myocardial infarction and cardiac death among patients taking the diet drug, according to the FDA.
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