Ischaemic heart disease remains the leading cause of heart failure in the Western World, and its prevalence continues to rise. Despite marked advances in the treatment of heart failure, heart muscle death remains irreversible. However, over the last decade the concept of the heart as a terminally differentiated organ has been refuted, and this has […]
Month: January 2012
ADHD medications and cardiovascular events
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often treated with stimulants such as mephyphenidates and amphetamines, and additionally with a newer non-stimulant agent, atomoxetine. Placebo-controlled studies have shown that all of these drugs are capable of increasing systolic and diastolic blood pressure in addition to heart rate. However, no clinical trial to date has been large […]
Long-term efficacy and safety of statins
Alth0ugh an overwhelming amount of evidence now points towards the beneficial effects of statins, most of the large statin studies have only had 5-year follow-up and there have been observational studies that have suggested a long-term increased risk of particular types of cancer, and of other non-vascular morbidity and mortality. […]
Biodegradable polymer stent shows promise in LEADERS
Drug eluting stents have reduced restenosis rates, and the need for further revascularisation after stenting, despite initial concerns over late stent thrombosis. This complication has been attributed to chronic inflammation and neoatherosclerosis induced by the durable polymers used in these stents. Biodegradable stents have been hypothesised to reduce this inflammatory burden, by degrading to leave […]
Cardiac arrest in marathon runners investigated
Despite the increasingly sedentary nature of society, one participation sport that is thriving is long-distance running with approximately 2 million people participating in marathon or half-marathons in the United States annually. Tragically, this increase in participants has led to an increase in reports of race-related cardiac arrests and in this study by Kim et al […]
Subclinical AF significantly increases stroke risk
Approximately 25% of all strokes are of unknown cause, and it has long been hypothesised that short subclinical episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) may be an important common etiologic factor. While several studies have attempted to detect episodes of subclinical AF, most have been hampered by the infrequency of such episodes and the unlikelihood of […]