Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research / 07.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mario Goessl, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FESC, FSCAI Director, Research and Education, Center for Valve and Structural Heart Disease Director, LAAC/Watchman™ Program Program Director, Fellowship in Advanced Adult Structural and Congenital Heart Disease Interventions and Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Minneapolis Heart Institute | Abbott Northwestern Hospital, part of Allina Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We wanted to investigate if asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis benefit clinically from adherence to current national guidelines that suggest close follow up within 6-12 months. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 07.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nassir F. Marrouche, MD Professor, Internal Medicine Cardiology University of Utah  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Study the effectiveness of catheter ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in patients with heart failure in improving hard primary endpoints of mortality and heart failure progression when compared to conventional standard treatment (more…)
Author Interviews, Electronic Records, Heart Disease, JAMA / 06.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rohan Khera MD Division of Cardiology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Texas  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: An increasing number of studies have used administrative claims (or billing) data to study in-hospital cardiac arrest with the goal of understanding differences in incidence and outcomes at hospitals that are not part of quality improvement initiatives like the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation (AHA’s GWTG-Resuscitation). These studies have important implications for health policies and determining targets for interventions for improving the care of patients with this cardiac arrest, where only in 1 in 5 patient survive the hospitalization. Therefore, in our study, we evaluated the validity of such an approach. We used data from 56,678 patients in AHA’s GWTG-Resuscitation with a confirmed in-hospital cardiac arrest, which were linked to Medicare claims data. We found: (1)  While most prior studies have used a diagnosis or procedure code alone to identify cases of in-hospital cardiac arrest, we found that the majority of confirmed cases in a national registry (AHA’s GWTG-Resuscitation) would not be captured using either administrative data strategy. (2)  Survival rates using administrative data to identify cases from the same reference population varied markedly and were 52% higher (28.4% vs. 18.7%) when using diagnosis codes alone to identify in-hospital cardiac arrest. (3)  There was large hospital variation in documenting diagnosis or procedure codes for patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest, which would have consequences for using administrative data to examine hospital-level variation in cardiac arrest incidence or survival, or conducting single-center studies to validate this administrative approach. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emergency Care, Heart Disease / 06.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sandra L. Jackson, PhD National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chamblee GA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: People who have atrial fibrillation are at increased risk for having a heart attack or stroke. While we know that the percentage of the population with atrial fibrillation is increasing in the US, there is no national surveillance system to track the burden of emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths related to atrial fibrillation across all ages and health insurance provider types. This study combined data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and the National Vital Statistics System to provide national estimates for atrial fibrillation-related healthcare service use and deaths from 2006-2014. (more…)
Author Interviews, Boehringer Ingelheim, Heart Disease, PAD / 03.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Eikelboom MBBS Associate Professor, Division of Hematology & Thromboembolism Department of Medicine Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine Canadian Institutes for Health Research McMaster University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cardiovascular disease affects 1 in 25 persons around the world and a total of more than 300 million individuals. Thrombus formation at the site of a ruptured atherosclerotic plaque is the commonest mechanism of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke in patients with cardiovascular disease. Aspirin is effective for the prevention of these complications but reduces the risk by only 19% during long term therapy. Rivaroxaban has previously been tested in the ATLAS ACS-2 TIMI 51 trial at doses of 2.5 mg twice daily or 5 mg twice daily on top of background antiplatelet therapy and has been shown to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events as well as mortality. We tested these same doses of rivaroxaban for the prevention of cardiovascular death, stroke or myocardial infarction in patients with stable cardiovascular disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Lipids / 03.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Rahul Potluri Senior author and founder of the ACALM Study Unit Aston Medical School Aston University Birmingham, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The links between hyperlipidaemia and cancer has been exciting scientists in recent years.  We have previously shown an association with breast cancer and hyperlipidaemia using a cross-sectional dataset in 2014. In 2016 we showed that in patients with the four main cancers in the UK (namely Breast, Lung, Colon and Prostate) that the presence of hyperlipidaemia improved the long term mortality and prognosis of these patients.  In this study utilising a big data, longitudinal study methodology, we looked at 16043 healthy women above the age of 40 with hyperlipidaemia and compared these to an age and gender matched control sample of 16043 healthy women without high cholesterol. We then followed up these patients and found that subsequent breast cancer rates in the women with hyperlipidaemia were 45% lower. Subsequent mortality in those patients who developed breast cancer was also 40% lower in the hyperlipidaemia group compared to the non-hyperlipidaemia controlled sample. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Nutrition / 02.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Mahshid Dehghan, PhD Investigator- Nutrition Epidemiology Program Population Health Research Institute Senior Research Associate – Department of Medicine McMaster University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For decades, dietary guidelines have largely focused on reducing total fat and saturated fat intake based on the idea that reducing fat consumption should reduce the risk of CVD. But this did not take into account what nutrients replace saturated fats in the diet. Given that carbohydrates are relatively inexpensive, reducing fats (especially saturated fat) is often accompanied by increased carbohydrate consumption. This approach continues to influence health policy today. The guidelines were developed some 4 decades back mainly using data from some Western countries (such as Finland) where fat and saturated fat intakes were very high (eg total fat intake was >40% of caloric intake and saturated fats was >20% of caloric intake). It is not clear whether the harms seen at such high levels applies to current global intakes or countries outside North America and Europe where fat intakes are much lower. The PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology) study is a large international cohort study of more than 157,000 people aged 35 to 70 years from 18 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries on 5 continents. In this study, 135,335 individuals with dietary information and without cardiovascular disease at baseline were included in the study. Standardized questionnaires were used to collect information about demographics, socio-economic factors, lifestyle behaviors, health history and medication use. Standardized case-report forms were used to record data on major cardiovascular events and mortality during follow-up, which were adjudicated centrally in each country by trained physicians using standard definitions. The participants were followed-up for 7.5 years, during which time 4784 major cardiovascular events and 5796 deaths were recorded. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Heart Disease / 31.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Julien Vaucher  Physician and clinical research fellow (joint first author) Department of Internal Medicine Lausanne University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Since the sixties, traditional studies have found that people who stay longer in the educational system subsequently develop less coronary heart disease. However, whether this association is causal is not clear, partly because randomised controlled trials are practically infeasible in this area. In our study, we used a genetic approach, called Mendelian randomization, that represents the next best thing to do.Based on genetic variants randomized by nature, we were able to randomize individuals according to 162 genetic markers that associate with more or less education. In other words, we used genetic markers, free from condounding factors, as proxies of education to reproduce the conditions of a trial. Then, if the genetic markers also associate together with coronary heart disease, the association between education and coronary heart disease is likely to be causal. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Pharmacology / 31.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Todd Hobbs, MD Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Novo Nordisk North America  MedicalResearch.com: Would you tell us a little about liraglutide? How does it work to control diabetes/blood sugar?  Response: Victoza® (liraglutide) is a human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010 to help lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. Victoza® is the #1 prescribed (GLP-1) receptor agonist. Victoza® is a non-insulin, once-a-day medication that helps lower blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes by increasing glucose-dependent insulin release, inhibiting glucagon secretion, and slowing gastric emptying. On August 25, the FDA approved a new indication for Victoza®, making it the only type 2 diabetes treatment approved to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular (CV) events, heart attack, stroke and CV death, in adults with type 2 diabetes and established CV disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Lancet, Nutrition / 30.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ms Victoria Miller Population Health Research Institute DBCVS Research Institut McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: PURE study is prospective urban rural epidemiology study that included aged 35 to 70 years from 26 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries on 5 continents. Data were collected at the community, household, and individual levels. Standardized questionnaires were used to collect information about demographic factors, socio-economic status (education, income, and employment), lifestyle (smoking, physical activity, and alcohol intake), health history and medication use. Standardized case-report forms were used to record data on major cardiovascular events and mortality during follow-up, which were adjudicated centrally in each country by trained physicians using standard definitions. Participants’ habitual food intake was recorded using country-specific (or region specific in India) validated food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) at baseline. The median follow up is 7.4 years and we are aiming for follow up people at least for 15 years. During 7.4 years of follow up more than 6000 CVD and 7000 mortality recorded. Higher fruit, vegetable and legume intake is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular, non-cardiovascular and total mortality. Our findings show the lowest risk of death in those who consume three to four servings (equivalent to 375-500 grams per day) of fruits, vegetables and legumes per day, with little additional benefit for intake beyond that range. When examined separately, fruit intake is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular, non-cardiovascular and total mortality, while legume intake is inversely associated with non-cardiovascular and total mortality. For vegetables, raw vegetable intake is more strongly associated with lower risk of total mortality compared to cooked vegetable intake. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, Heart Disease, Social Issues / 30.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jarrod Dalton PhD Department of Quantitative Health Sciences Cleveland Clinic , Cleveland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Accurate risk assessment is critical for identifying patients who are at high risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. We evaluated the performance of a widely-used risk assessment tool against the socioeconomic position of patients’ neighborhoods of residence. This tool, called the Pooled Cohort Equations Risk Model, or PCERM, was developed in 2013 jointly by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (ACC/AHA). We found that the PCERM model accurately characterized risk among patients from affluent communities, but performed more poorly among patients from disadvantaged communities. In particular, for these patients, major cardiovascular events occurred at rates that were as much as 2-3 times than predicted from the PCERM model. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Lipids, UCLA / 28.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center Co-Chief of Clinical Cardiology, UCLA Division of Cardiology Co-Director, UCLA Preventative Cardiology Program David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, CA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The study identifies the clinical and economic consequences of treating a population of patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD ) at high-risk of cardiovascular (CV) events and defines the cost-effectiveness of the PCSK-9 inhibitor evolocumab under various clinical scenarios. The analysis is based on the clinical outcomes from the Repatha Outcomes Study (FOURIER) in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), such as those who have already had a heart attack or stroke who require additional therapy. This is the first cost-effectiveness assessment of evolocumab using a model based on a high-quality outcomes trial, combined with U.S. clinical practice data. The analysis identifies the types of high-risk patients for whom this therapy is both clinically beneficial and cost-effective. This study utilized cost-effectiveness and value thresholds employed by the World Health Organization and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association. Evolocumab was found to exceed generally accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds at current list price. However, this medication could be a cost-effective treatment for patients with established ASCVD in the U.S. when the net price is at or below $9,669 per year. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Heart Disease, Lipids, UCLA / 28.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tamer Sallam, MD PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Co-Director UCLA Center for Lipid Management Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine CDF Investigator Assistant Director, STAR Program Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, California 90095-1679 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is extension of our previous work published in Nature showing that a gene we named LeXis (Liver expressed LXR induced sequence) plays an important role in controlling cholesterol levels. What is unique about  LeXis is that it belongs to a group of newly recognized mediators known as long noncoding RNAs. These fascinating factors were largely thought to be unimportant and in fact referred to as “junk DNA” prior the human genome project but multiple lines of evidence suggest that they can be critical players in health and in disease. In this study we tested whether we can use  LeXis “gene therapy”  to lower cholesterol and  heart disease risk. This type of approach is currently approved or in testing for about 80 human diseases. Our finding was that a single injection of LeXis compared with control significantly  reduced heart disease burden in mouse subjects. Although the effect size was moderate we specifically used a model that mimics a very challenging to treat human condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia..Familial hypercholesterolemia is one of the most common genetic disorders affecting up to 2 million Americans and characterized by 20 fold  fold increase risk of early heart attacks and often suboptimal response to currently available treatments. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 25.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James A. Reiffel, M.D Professor Emeritus of Medicine Special Lecturer in Medicine Dept of Medicine Cardiology Columbia University Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia (multi-millions of Americans) and carries with it a risk of stroke and of heart failure (among others) if not treated preventively. In many people, atrial fibrillation comes to attention because of symptoms, but not in all. The chances of developing Atrial fibrillation are substantially increased in certain populations of patients, such as the ones we enrolled in our study.  Continuous monitoring of such patients, as we did, and as others have also done recently, though in smaller numbers of patients, can detect otherwise unsuspected atrial fibrillation, which can lead to treatment before complications arise. We found that using such monitoring, when monitored for 18 months, almost 1 in 3 patients had atrial fibrillation detected, as did 40% by 30 months. Intermittent monitoring, including by cell phones, may detect some atrial fibrillation but it is not nearly as effective as the type of monitoring we did and so many patients will be missed by lesser monitoring methods. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Smoking / 22.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr.  Quinn R Pack MD Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine Baystate Northern Region Cardiology Baystate Health Springfield, MA   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and is very common among patients with heart disease.  Several smoking cessation medications are available and recommended in clinical guidelines to help smokers quite. However, it was unknown how often these were used and what factors make the use of pharmacotherapy more common. The main finding is that, across of broad range of hospitals, smoking cessation medications are infrequently used and the hospital where the patient was treated was the most important factor in determining if the patient was treated. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Heart Disease / 21.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander Egeberg, MD PhD Gentofte Hospital Department of Dermatology and Allergy Kildegårdsvej 28 2900 Hellerup Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The majority cardiovascular events in psoriasis occur in patients at low risk by traditional cardiovascular risk calculators. It has been speculated that long-term exposure to systemic inflammation may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Therefore, clinically available historical features such as disease duration may identify those at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Using a translational epidemiological approach, combining 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography scanning with nationwide epidemiological data of more than four million individuals, we provide the first convincing evidence to suggest a detrimental effect of psoriasis duration on cardiovascular disease beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors, even in patients deemed “low-risk” by conventional risk scores. We found a 1% increase in future major adverse cardiovascular event risk per additional year of disease duration. This finding has an effect size similar to smoking, a well-established cardiovascular risk factor. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, NEJM, Surgical Research / 16.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: A. Laurie Shroyer, Ph.D., M.S.H.A. WOC Health Science Officer Northport VAMC Research and Development Office (151) Northport, NY 11768 Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Surgery Stony Brook University, School of Medicine Stony Brook, NY  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Since the 1990’s, two different approaches have been commonly used by cardiac surgeons to perform an adult coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure, these approaches have been referred to as  “on-pump” (with cardiopulmonary bypass) or “off-pump” (without cardiopulmonary bypass) procedures. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Randomized On/Off Bypass Follow-up Study” (ROOBY-FS) compared the relative performance of off-pump versus on-pump approaches upon 5-year patients’ clinical outcomes including mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Pediatrics, Social Issues / 10.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lead author, Dr Richard Liu, MCRI Ph.D. student and Senior author - Professor David Burgner PhD The Child Health CheckPoint Investigator Group Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The Royal Children’s Hospital Parkville, Victoria, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The socioeconomic gradient in cardiovascular disease is well recognised in adults. The more disadvantaged someone is, the higher their risk of heart attack and stroke. The mechanisms by which this occurs are not well understood, but we know the pathological process underlying this, thickening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, begins very early in life. Our current understanding of the early development of atherosclerosis has previously been limited mainly to autopsy studies. Non-invasive imaging is increasingly being used to examine the early development of atherosclerosis. We wanted to determine if there was an association between socioeconomic disadvantage and the thickness of the carotid artery wall in mid-childhood, which in adults is a proxy for atherosclerosis and indicates higher risk for heart attack and stroke in later life. We analysed both family and neighbourhood socioeconomic position data from 1477 Australian families, which included data on income, education and occupation of parents, as well as the relative socioeconomic status of the immediate neighbourhood. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 09.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Lee Joseph, MD, MS Postdoctoral fellow at University of Iowa Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Department of Internal Medicine University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Iowa City MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is common and affects more than 200,000 patients every year. Although survival for in-hospital cardiac arrest has improved in recent years, marked racial differences in survival are present. A previous study showed that black patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest have 27% lower chance of surviving an in-hospital cardiac arrest due to a shockable rhythm compared to white patients. Moreover, lower survival in black patients was largely attributable to the fact that black patients were predominantly treated in lower quality hospitals compared to white patients.  In other words, racial disparities in survival are closely intertwined with hospital quality, and this has been borne out in multiple other studies as well In this study, we were interested in determining whether improvement in in-hospital cardiac arrest survival that has occurred in recent years benefited black and white patients equally or not? In other words, have racial differences in survival decreased as overall survival has improved. If so, what is the mechanism of that improvement? And finally, did hospitals that predominantly treat black patients make the greatest improvement in survival? To address these questions, we used data from the Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation, a large national quality improvement registry of in-hospital cardiac arrest that was established by the American Heart Association in the year 2000. Participating hospitals submit rich clinical data on patients who experience in-hospital cardiac arrest. Over the last 17 years, the registry has grown markedly and currently includes information on >200,000 patients from > 500 hospitals. The primary purpose is quality improvement. But it has also become an important resource to conduct research into the epidemiology and outcomes associated with in-hospital cardiac arrest. Using data from the Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation, we identified 112,139 patients at 289 hospitals between 2000-2014. Approximately 25% of the patients were of black race and the remainder were white patients. We constructed two-level hierarchical regression models to estimate yearly risk adjusted survival rates in black and white patients and examined how survival differences changed over time both on an absolute and a relative scale. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Menopause, Race/Ethnic Diversity, University of Pittsburgh / 03.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Samar R. El Khoudary, PhD, MPH, BPharm, FAHA Associate Professor, Epidemiology PITT Public Health Epidemiology Data Center University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Heart fat is associated with greater coronary heart disease risk. Postmenopausal women have greater heart fat volumes than premenopausal women, and the association between specific heart fat depots and calcification in the coronary arteries is more pronounced after menopause. Race, central adiposity, and visceral adiposity are important factors that could impact heart fat volumes. We evaluated whether racial differences in heart fat volumes and in their associations with central (abdominal visceral fat) and general adiposity (as measured by body mass index [BMI]) exist in midlife women. Our study included 524 women from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) (mean age: 51 years; 62% White and 38% Black) who had data on heart fat volumes, abdominal visceral fat and BMI. After accounting for the potential health effects of lifestyle and socioeconomic factors we found that midlife Black women had less heart fat volumes than white women and not surprisingly, the more fat a women carries overall, the higher her risk for a fatty heart. However, white women with higher BMI had significantly more heart fat, as measured by a CT scan, than black women with the same BMI. For black women, the levels of heart fat were greater if they carried more fat in their midsection, as measured by a cross-sectional CT scan, compared with white women with the same volume of fat in their midsection. The results echo the findings we have reported previously in midlife men and published at the International Journal of Obesity (2015) 39, 488–494. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 28.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tom Marshall, MSc, PhD, MRGP, FFPH Professor of public health and primary care Institute of Applied Health Research University of Birmingham Birmingham UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is widely recognised that anticoagulants are underused in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) although they are effective in reducing risk of stroke. We investigated whether this could be explained by the fact that many AF patients have conditions which are considered relative contraindications to their use. We analysed electronic medical records from 645 general practices from 2004 to 2015 and included over 1 million patients with AF. We found that about 6% of AF patients had are relative contraindications such as recent history of major bleeding. In each of the 12 years, similar numbers of patients with and without contraindications were prescribed anticoagulants. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Heart Disease, JAMA, Lifestyle & Health, Primary Care, UCLA / 28.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carol M. Mangione, MD, MSPH, FACP Barbara A. Levey, MD, and Gerald S. Levey, MD Endowed chair in medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles Professor of public health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Americans can experience several health benefits from consuming healthy foods and engaging in physical activity. The Task Force recommends that primary care professionals work together with their patients when making the decision to offer or refer adults who are not obese and do not have hypertension, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, or diabetes to behavior counseling to promote healthful diet and physical activity. Our focus was on the impact of a healthful diet and physical activity on cardiovascular risk because this condition is the leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality. The Task Force evaluates what the science tells us surrounding the potential benefits and harms of a particular preventive service. In this case, the Task Force found high quality evidence focusing on the impact a healthful diet and physical activity can have on a patient’s risk of cardiovascular disease. Relying on this evidence, the Task Force was able to conclude that there is a positive but small benefit of behavioral counseling to prevent cardiovascular disease. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, AstraZeneca, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Heart Disease, Merck, Pharmacology / 25.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander Turchin, MD,MS Director of Quality in Diabetes Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cardiovascular disease is the # 1 cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide. Statins are some of the most effective medications available for prevention of cardiovascular events. However, many patients stop statins, frequently because of adverse reactions. In our study we aimed to assess the risk-benefit balance of trying a statin again after experiencing an adverse reaction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 24.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Abhishek Sharma MD and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine State University New York Downstate Medical Center Dr.Sahil Agarwal M.B.B.S., M.D. Division of Cardiology St. Luke's University Health Network Bethlehem, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Prior randomized control trials (RCTs) and meta-analysis of these trials which have attempted to compare differences in outcomes between strategies of short (S) (3-6 months) and longer (L) (12-30 months) durations of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) after drug eluting stents (DES) implantation have reported conflicting results. In general, the events rates in these studies were small, affecting statistical power. To overcome this limitation, we conducted an updated meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of strategies of S-DAPT versus L-DAPT strategy after DES implantation by restricting inclusion to randomized studies with follow-up durations of 24 months or longer. The current meta-analysis is the first to compare outcomes between S-DAPT and L-DAPT in a meta-analysis restricted to trials with patient follow-up of 24 months or longer. We found no significant difference in the rates of mortality or of stent thrombosis with S-DAPT or L-DAPT. S-DAPT was associated with significantly lower risk of major bleeding but slightly higher risk of future myocardial infarctions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Heart Disease, JAMA, Pediatrics / 19.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Holly Gooding, MD, MSc Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine Boston Children's Hospital Division of General Internal Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Dr Stephanie Chiuve and colleagues at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health developed the Healthy Heart Score to predict the risk of heart disease in older adults based on lifestyle factors measured in middle age. We have known for some time that the precursor to heart disease – known as atherosclerosis – actually starts in childhood and adolescence. We calculated the Healthy Heart Score for young adults ages 18-30 years old and found it works in this age group as well. (more…)
Author Interviews, Boehringer Ingelheim, Heart Disease, JAMA / 18.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Javed Butler, MD, PhD Chief of the Cardiology Division Dr. Vincent Yang, Simons Chair in Internal Medicine Stony Brook University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Persistent congestion is associated with worse outcomes in acute heart failure (AHF). Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists at high doses may relieve congestion, overcome diuretic resistance, and mitigate the effects of adverse neurohormonal activation in AHF. We therefore studies high dose spironolactone in patients with AHF. Unfortunately all of our primary and secondary endpoints were not different between spironolactone and placebo arms. (more…)
Artificial Sweeteners, Author Interviews, CMAJ, Heart Disease, Weight Research / 17.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meghan Azad PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics & Child Health and Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba; Associate Investigator, Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study Research Scientist, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; co-Lead, Population Health Pillar, Developmental Origins of Chronic Diseases in Children Network MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Consumption of artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, sucralose and stevia, is widespread and increasing.  Emerging data indicate that artificial, or non-nutritive, sweeteners may have negative effects on metabolism, gut bacteria and appetite, although the evidence is conflicting. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: We conducted a systematic review of 37 studies that collectively followed over 400,000 people for an average of 10 years. Only 7 of these studies were randomized clinical trials (the gold standard in clinical research), involving 1003 people followed for 6 months on average. The trials did not show a consistent effect of artificial sweeteners on weight loss, and the longer observational studies showed a link between consumption of artificial sweeteners and relatively higher risks of weight gain and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and other health issues. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, JAMA / 11.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sacha Bhatia, MD, MBA, FRCPC Scientist, Women's College Research Institute Director, Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care Cardiologist, Women's College Hospital and University Health Network Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The USPSTF recommends against screening with resting electrocardiography (ECG) for the prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in asymptomatic adults at low risk for CHD events. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the frequency of resting ECGs in low risk patients within 30 days of an annual health exam. We found that 21.5% of low risk patients in Ontario, Canada had a ECG, with significant variation among primary care physicians (1.8% to 76.1%). Moreover, low risk patients who had a ECG were five times more likely to receive another cardiac test or cardiology consultation than those that did not receive an ECG. At one year the rate of mortality, cardiac hospitalizations and revascularization was <0.5% in each group. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research / 29.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Suzanne J. Baron, MD, MSc Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute School of Medicine University of Missouri, Kansas City MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) has emerged as a viable treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis in patients at high and intermediate surgical risk.  Prior studies have demonstrated that both TAVR and surgical AVR (SAVR) results in substantial quality of life benefit in patients at high surgical risk. Whether these results applied to an intermediate risk population was unknown and so we performed a prospective study alongside the PARTNER 2A trial to compare both short- and long-term health status outcomes in intermediate-risk patients with AS treated with either TAVR or SAVR.   The analysis included 1833 patients (950 TAVR, 833 SAVR), who were evaluated at 1 month, 1 year and 2 years post procedure.  By 1 month, quality of life had improved in both the TAVR and SAVR groups, although the gain was significantly greater in patients treated with TAVR via the transfemoral approach as opposed to patients treated with SAVR or with TAVR via the transthoracic approach (i.e. direct aortic access or transapical access).   At 1 and 2 years, both TAVR (via either approach) and SAVR were associated with similarly large, clinically meaningful improvements from baseline in both disease-specific and generic health status scales at 2 years. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Women's Heart Health / 27.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, FACC  Director, Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center Director, Linda Joy Pollin Women's Heart Health Program Director, Erika Glazer Family Foundation Women's Heart Disease Initiative Director, Preventive Cardiac Center Professor of Medicine Cedars-Sinai Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number 1 killer of women in the U.S.A., yet few younger women personalize awareness. CVD campaigns focus little attention on physicians and their role assessing risk. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: Overall, 45% of women were unaware that CVD is the #1 killer of women, only 11% knew a woman who has died from it.  Overall, 45% of women reported it is common to cancel or postpone a physician appointment until losing weight. Cardiovascular disease was a top concern for only 39% of PCPs, after weight and breast health. A minority of physicians (22% of PCPs and 42% of cardiologists) felt well prepared to assess women’s CVD risk, and infrequently use guidelines. (more…)