Single PILL may prevent heart disease
Auckland participants wanted for polypill trial – A new clinical trial looking at a single pill to prevent cardiovascular disease is starting in Auckland, New Zealand.
Cholesterol
Too much cholesterol in the blood, or high blood cholesterol, can be serious. People with high blood cholesterol have a greater chance of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high.
Ischemic stroke increases with higher nonfasting triglyceride level
The researchers found that the cumulative incidence of ischemic stroke increased with increasing levels of nonfasting triglycerides. – Elevated nonfasting triglyceride levels, previously associated with an increased risk for heart attack, also appear to be associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke.
Ultrasound helps predict heart attacks in low risk patients
Low risk for heart attack? Could an ultrasound hold the answer? Ultrasound helps predict heart attacks in “low risk” patients. – By adding the results of an imaging technique to the traditional risk factors for coronary heart disease, doctors at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found they were able to improve prediction of heart attacks in people previously considered low risk.
New risk factor for cardiovascular disease
Researchers discover new risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and a way to control it. McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) serves as Canadian centre for international study that could revolutionize treatment options. – A team of international researchers – including scientists from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University – have discovered that having high levels of particular protein puts patients at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Decade of change in general practice in Australia
Australia’S GPs are older, more likely to be female and write fewer prescriptions than they did a decade ago. – It’s not only the patients in GP surgeries who are getting older, according to two new reports released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre, an AIHW collaborating unit located at the University of Sydney.
Statins do not increase risk of Lou Gehrig’s Disease
FDA analysis shows cholesterol lowering medications statins do not increase the risk of “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. FDA recommends no change in prescribing and use of statins. – A U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s analysis provides new evidence that the use of statins does not increase incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” The analysis was reported on Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.
Poor weight loss in some after gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass results in substantial weight loss in most patients. Diabetes and larger pouch size are independently associated with poor weight loss after GBP. – Individuals with diabetes and those whose stomach pouches are larger appear less likely to successfully lose weight after gastric bypass surgery, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Some obese individuals appear healthy without heart risk
Some obese individuals do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks. – Some obese individuals do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks, according to two reports in the August 11/25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Lower cholesterol early in life
UC San Diego researchers are proposing that aggressive intervention to lower cholesterol levels as early as childhood is the best approach. – With heart disease maintaining top billing as the leading cause of death in the United States, a team of University of California, San Diego School of Medicine physician-researchers is proposing that aggressive intervention to lower cholesterol levels as early as childhood is the best approach available today to reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease.
People with sleep apnea have a high mortality risk
A study in the August 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that people with severe sleep apnea have a much higher mortality risk than people without sleep apnea, and this risk increases when sleep apnea is untreated. – People with severe sleep apnea have a much higher mortality risk than people without sleep apnea, and this risk increases when sleep apnea is untreated.
Keeping a food diary doubles weight loss
Kaiser Permanente study suggests that the dieters who write down what they eat every day can shed twice as much weight as those who don’t. – Keeping a food diary can double a person’s weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Cholesterol and blood pressure control may reverse atherosclerosis
Aggressively lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels below current targets in adults with type 2 diabetes may help to prevent ? and possibly reverse ? hardening of the arteries. – Aggressively lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels below current targets in adults with type 2 diabetes may help to prevent ? and possibly reverse ? hardening of the arteries, according to new research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Hardening of the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis, is the number one cause of heart disease and can lead to heart attack, stroke, and death.