Cardiovascular System

Morbidly Obese Have Death Risk Similar to Smokers

Marcia Frellick July 08, 2014 Extremely obese people — those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 kg/m2 — have higher mortality rates, and most of these additional deaths are caused by cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, according to a study published online July 8 in PLOS Medicine. Cari Kitahara, PhD, from the […]

Medical research related to low-carbohydrate diets

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Low-carbohydrate diets became a major weight loss and health maintenance trend during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[1][2][3] While their popularity has waned recently from its peak, they remain popular.[4][5] This diet trend has stirred major controversies in the medical and nutritional sciences communities and, as yet, there is not a general consensus […]

Chelation Fails to Improve Quality of Life After MI

MedPageToday.com Published: Jul 7, 2014 By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today A new TACT analysis showed that chelation therapy did not enhance quality of life in patients recovering from a heart attack. Also, very late stent thrombosis does not appear to be a major issue with newer drug-eluting stents. Chelation Fails to Improve […]

Restoration of normal glucose regulation in people with prediabetes significantly decreases the risk of future diabetes

Regression from prediabetes to normal glucose regulation is associated with reduction in cardiovascular risk: results from the diabetes prevention program outcomes study Diabetes Care, 07/07/2014 Clinical Article Perreault L, et al. – Restoration of normal glucose regulation (NGR) in people with prediabetes significantly decreases the risk of future diabetes. The authors sought to examine whether […]

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in a Patient With Low Back Pain

Authors: Joshua J. Van Wyngaarden, PT, DPT Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2014, Volume: 44 Issue: 7 Pages: 500-507 doi:10.2519/jospt.2014.4935 Journal Reference Study Design Resident’s case problem. Background The purpose of this report was to describe (1) the clinical reasoning that led a clinician to identify an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a […]

Identification of Groups at High Risk for Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis

RESEARCH · July 03, 2014 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this study, the authors created a model to predict asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) in the general population. Through analysis of individual participant data from four population-based cohort studies totaling 23,706 patients, predictors of stenosis (>50% and >70%) included age, gender, history of vascular disease, systolic and […]

Long-term use of beta blockers increases the risk for developing psoriasis.

Risk for Psoriasis Associated With Hypertension and Its Treatment RESEARCH · July 02, 2014 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this prospective cohort study using data from participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, the authors found a small, but significant, increased risk for psoriasis in individuals with hypertension for ≥6 years and in those on beta blockers for […]

Dark Chocolate May Relieve Walking Pain in Peripheral Artery Disease

Medscape Multispecialty July 02, 2014 Story Source PAD: Dark Chocolate May Make Walking Easier – from MedPageToday Maybe we should go on a chocolate-study-news diet – Not so fast ROME, ITALY — Shortly after eating the equivalent of a small bar of dark, but not milk, chocolate, patients with moderate to severe peripheral arterial disease […]

Growing Doubt on Statin Drugs: The Problem of Drug-Lifestyle Interaction

John Mandrola July 02, 2014 Editor’s Note: This blog entry originally posted at drjohnm.org My mind is changing about statins. I’m growing increasingly worried about the irrational exuberance over these drugs, especially when used for prevention of heart disease that is yet to happen. An elderly patient called my office last week to tell me thank you . . . not for […]

Egg consumption and insulin metabolism in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS)

Lee CT Public Health Nutr. 2014 Jul;17(7):1595-602. doi: 10.1017/S1368980013001572. Epub 2013 Jun 19. PubMed Reference Journal Reference Abstract OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between egg consumption and measures of insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response (AIR) and metabolic clearance rate of insulin (MCRI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. Settings Egg consumption, categorized as <1/week, 1 to <3/week, […]

Extravirgin olive oil consumption reduces risk of atrial fibrillation

Circulation, 07/01/2014 > Clinical Article PubMed Reference Journal Reference Martínez–Gonzalez MA, et al. – The authors assessed the effect of these diets on the incidence of atrial fibrillation in the PREDIMED trial. In the absence of proven interventions for the primary prevention of atrial fibrillation, this post hoc analysis of the PREDIMED trial suggests that extravirgin olive oil […]

Raised Vitamin-D Levels May Lower Blood Pressure: Gene Study

Heartwire Steve Stiles June 30, 2014 Story Source LONDON, UK — Elevated levels of vitamin D may well lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension, an analysis of gene variants in several large cohorts cautiously suggests[1]. The study found that the presence of several specific genetic mutations associated with reduced metabolic synthesis of […]

Recognition of Spontaneous Vertebral Artery Dissection Preempting Spinal Manipulative Therapy: A Patient Presenting With Neck Pain and Headache for Chiropractic Care

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine Volume 13, Issue 2, June 2014, Pages 90-95 Ross Mattox DC Abstract Objective The purpose of this case report is to describe a patient who presented to a chiropractic physician for evaluation and treatment of neck pain and headache. Clinical features A 45-year-old otherwise healthy female presented for evaluation and treatment […]

Extra virgin olive oil blunt post-prandial oxidative stress via NOX2 down-regulation

Atherosclerosis, 06/30/2014 Clinical Article PubMed Reference Journal Reference Carnevale R, et al. – The authors speculated that olive oil could inhibit oxidative stress, which is believed to be implicated in the atherosclerotic process. The study provides the first evidence that post–prandial oxidative stress may be triggered by NOX2 up–regulation. EVOO but not corn oil, is […]

Effects of magnesium supplements on blood pressure, endothelial function and metabolic parameters in healthy young men with a family history of metabolic syndrome

E. Cosaro Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases Abstract Background and aims Magnesium plays an important role in the modulation of vascular tone and endothelial function and can regulate glucose and lipid metabolism. Patients with hypertension, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have low body magnesium content; indeed, magnesium supplementation has been shown to have […]

ADHD Meds Tied to Cardio Risk

by John Gever, Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today June 28, 2014 Danish children taking stimulant drugs for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had roughly double the risk for cardiovascular problems compared with other ADHD kids, a large registry study found, although the absolute incidence was still very low. Among some 714,000 Danish children born from 1990 […]

Moderate Alcohol Intake May Lower AAA Risk

Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a Swedish cohort study suggested. by Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today June 26, 2014 Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a Swedish cohort study suggested. Among current drinkers, consuming […]

Could Vitamin D Play a Role in BP?

Low levels of vitamin D may play a causal role in the development of hypertension, researchers found. by Parker Brown June 26, 2014 Low levels of vitamin D may play a causal role in the development of hypertension, researchers found. Each 10% increase in vitamin D concentration was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure (-.29 […]

Lipid Hypothesis 2.0: Eat Butter

Posted on June 24, 2014 The original lipid hypothesis stated, more or less, that lowering blood cholesterol would reduce premature mortality from heart disease.  At the time, it was thought that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat increased the ‘bad’ type of blood cholesterol, so the advice was to restrict those foods.  All of that was wrong. Lipid […]

Lipid Hypothesis 2.0: Eat Butter

Posted on June 24, 2014 | 161 Comments The original lipid hypothesis stated, more or less, that lowering blood cholesterol would reduce premature mortality from heart disease.  At the time, it was thought that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat increased the ‘bad’ type of blood cholesterol, so the advice was to restrict those foods.  All of that was wrong.   […]