Cardiovascular System

Hyperglycemia drives intestinal barrier dysfunction and risk for enteric infection

Science. 2018 Mar 23;359(6382):1376-1383. doi: 10.1126/science.aar3318. Epub 2018 Mar 8. Thaiss CA. Abstract Obesity, diabetes, and related manifestations are associated with an enhanced, but poorly understood, risk for mucosal infection and systemic inflammation. Here, we show in mouse models of obesity and diabetes that hyperglycemia drives intestinal barrier permeability, through GLUT2-dependent transcriptional reprogramming of intestinal […]

Low-calorie sweeteners may promote metabolic syndrome

MARCH 19, 2018 Top News in Internal Medicine Healthline/Medical News Today New data—presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, held in Chicago, IL—suggest that consuming low-calorie sweeteners could put people at risk of metabolic syndrome. Around 34% of adults in the United States have metabolic syndome—the umbrella term for: high blood pressure; high blood sugar; […]

Stroke Risk Factors Unique to Women

March 19, 2018 Stroke; A Journal of Cerebral Circulation TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors of this literature review summarize woman-specific stroke risk factors, such as hormones, estrogens, and pregnancy. In addition, age at menarche and menopause impacts the stroke risk in women. Unique in this paper is a discussion of exogenous estrogen and testosterone for transgender […]

Curcumin potentiates cholesterol-lowering effects of phytosterols in hypercholesterolaemic individuals. A randomised controlled trial

Metabolism May 2018 Volume 82, Pages 22–35 Jessica J.A. Ferguson Abstract Background Dietary phytosterols (PS) are well-known hypocholesterolaemic agents. Curcumin elicits hypolipidaemic and anti-inflammatory effects in preclinical studies, however, consistent findings in humans are lacking. Objective Concurrent PS and curcumin supplementation may exhibit enhanced hypocholesterolaemic and anti-inflammatory effects to optimise cardio-protection. The objective of this […]

Inflammatory bowel disease may raise heart attack risk

MARCH 01, 2018 Healthline/Medical News Today Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) raises the risk of heart attack. Also, the risk is independent of traditional risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and high cholesterol. This was the conclusion of a study that explored the possible link between IBD and heart disease by analyzing the medical records of more […]

Associations of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplement Use With Cardiovascular Disease Risks: Meta-analysis of 10 Trials Involving 77 917 Individuals

January 31, 2018 Theingi Aung, MBBS, FRCP JAMA Cardiol. Published online January 31, 2018. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2017.5205  Key PointsQuestion  Does supplementation with marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids have any associations with reductions in fatal or nonfatal coronary heart disease in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease? Findings  This meta-analysis of 10 trials involving 77 917 participants demonstrated that supplementation with marine-derived […]

The Association Among Overweight, Obesity, and Low Back Pain in U.S. Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study of the 2015 National Health Interview Survey

Trent Peng, MS, DC Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the association between obesity (via body mass index [BMI]) and presence of low back pain (LBP) in a representative sample of US adults, aged ≥18 years. Methods This cross-sectional study used data from 32 060 respondents to the 2015 National Health […]

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements Do Not Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risks

February 14, 2018 JAMA Cardiology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this meta-analysis of 10 large omega-3 fatty acids supplement trials, the authors evaluated the association between omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and risk of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease and major vascular events. Based on this analysis including 77,917 high-risk individuals, omega-3 fatty acid supplements were not […]

Childhood Antibiotics and Adult Health – Video

Antibiotics play an important role in medicine, but as you may already know, the CDC states that they are frequently overused: up to 50% of antibiotic prescriptions are not optimal or effective.1 Systemic effects are particularly dramatic when antibiotics are given to infants, and research suggests that the effects of antibiotics on the pediatric microbiome […]

How fruit juice affects the gut

FEBRUARY 07, 2018 Healthline/Medical News Today It was previously believed that fructose, which is the sugar found in fruit and fruit juice, is processed by the liver. However, a new study suggests that fructose is mainly processed in the small intestine. The study, which is published in the journal Cell Metabolism, reveals that processed high-sugar food and […]

Beauty parlor stroke syndrome due to a bone fragment from an osteophyte of the atlas: case report

Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine Posted online on January 26, 2018. Takuya Kameda, MD Abstract Beauty parlor stroke syndrome (BPSS) is a rare condition characterized by mechanical impingement of a vertebral artery (VA) during neck rotation and/or hyperextension followed by vertebrobasilar insufficiency. However, there have been no reports of BPSS in which the cause of mechanical […]

Lower protein and higher carbohydrate intake is related with altering metabolic syndrome components in elderly women: A cross-sectional study

Experimental Gerontology — | January 19, 2018 Nabuco HCG, et al. – This cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the association of ingested macronutrients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) components in older women. Findings revealed that high carbohydrate or low protein intake could serve as risk factors for altering MetS components and the presence of MetS […]

Lifestyle Factors Affect Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Risk Regardless of Genetic Predisposition

December 27, 2017 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Data from the UK Biobank study were used to create a genetic risk score for high blood pressure (BP) in adults aged 40 to 69 years without established cardiovascular diseases (CVD) to study the interaction between lifestyle factors and genetic profile and the effect on CVD risk. There was a […]

The Benefits of High Cholesterol

Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD People with high cholesterol live the longest. This statement seems so incredible that it takes a long time to clear one´s brainwashed mind to fully understand its importance. Yet the fact that people with high cholesterol live the longest emerges clearly from many scientific papers. Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan […]

Effect of high-dose oral multivitamins and minerals in participants not treated with statins in the randomized Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT)

American Heart Journal Volume 195, January 2018, Pages 70-77 Omar M.Issa DO Importance In a prespecified subgroup analysis of participants not on statin therapy at baseline in the TACT, a high-dose complex oral multivitamins and multimineral regimen was found to have a large unexpected benefit compared with placebo. The regimen tested was substantially different from […]

Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

European Journal of Nutrition December 06, 2017 Rosato V, et al. – This systematic review was performed to present evidence of the association of Mediterranean diet (MD) on incidence/mortality for cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary/ischemic heart disease (CHD)/acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke (ischemic/hemorrhagic) by sex, geographic region, study design and type of MD score (MDS). […]

Nut Consumption Linked With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

December 04, 2017 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors of this study aimed to determine if an association exists between intake of specific types of nuts (peanuts, walnuts, other tree nuts) and cardiovascular disease. They analyzed questionnaire and outcome data from three different longitudinal cohort studies. Higher total nut consumption, peanut and other tree nut consumption, and […]

Ketogenic diet in endocrine disorders: Current perspectives

J Postgrad Med. 2017 Oct-Dec;63(4):242-251. doi: 10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_16_17. Gupta L, Khandelwal D, Kalra S, Gupta P, Dutta D5, Aggarwal S. Abstract Ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet that leads to nutritional ketosis, long known for antiepileptic effects and has been used therapeutically to treat refractory epilepsy. This review attempts to summarize the […]

Low-Sodium Plus DASH Diet Can Significantly Lower Blood Pressure

November 29, 2017 JACC: Journal of the American College of Cardiology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors evaluated the DASH diet and various levels of sodium intake on blood pressure (BP). They randomized 412 adults with pre- or stage 1 hypertension (not using antihypertensive medication) to either the DASH diet or a control diet; all patients were […]

Efficacy and safety of turmeric and curcumin in lowering blood lipid levels in patients with cardiovascular risk factors

Efficacy and safety of turmeric and curcumin in lowering blood lipid levels in patients with cardiovascular risk factors: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Nutrition Journal | October 13, 2017 Qin S, et al. – This study appraised turmeric and curcumin with respect to efficacy and safety in lowering blood lipids in patients at risk […]