Cardiology

Despite achieving optimal goals for "bad" cholesterol levels, individuals with diabetes and chronic kidney disease still have an elevated risk of vascular complications.

Heart failure and other cardiac events can leave lasting effects on the lives of patients. Scientists are working on ways to help make the recovery process easier and smoother by generating cells that can help the healing process.

Taking beta blockers-a common drug regimen for patients with clinically stable coronary heart disease (SCHD)-likely does not have a benefit or outweigh these drugs' risk for most patients, a University of Florida team report.

Despite previous research suggesting HIV patients have an increased likelihood of suffering from a heart attack, kidney failure, or cancer, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health investigators showed the age they encounter these conditions were similar to their uninfected counterparts.

Rheumatic conditions may have an increased association with adverse cardiovascular events, according to research published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

Low testosterone is a common condition among men with diabetes-diabetic men are approximately twice as likely as others to develop low testosterone and hypogonadism. Because its symptoms mimic other conditions, patients often fail to report concerns and clinicians may fail to diagnose "Low T."

It is well known that patients who get primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after an ST segment elevation myocardial infarction usually survive. But a new study from Denmark looked at a large population of such patients over several years to track just how many deaths there were each year and from what cause.

A meta-analysis of many older studies may explain the recent observation that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently suffered cognitive impairment without suffering from any signs of stroke.

New research suggests that a simple blood test could identify people with a genetic predisposition towards atrial fibrillation and justify prophylactic treatment to cost-effectively prevent strokes.

Moderate alcohol consumption can protect against coronary heart disease. But according to a study of 618 Swedes with coronary artery disease, that is true only for those who have a particular genetic makeup, a mere 15% of the general population.

A small but rigorous 6-month randomized, controlled parallel arm trial comparing alternate day fasting and daily calorie restriction showed that each approach can result in significant weight loss for individuals who are overweight or have obesity, with similar adherence between the two methods of dieting.

Alternate day fasting can be an effective weight loss strategy, but optimal meal timing on fast days has not been thoroughly examined.

For individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a low carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet in combination with exercise resulted in superior glycemic control with less medication use than did a higher carbohydrate diet

Acceptance-based therapy encourages a mindful but nonjudgmental approach to give participants the tools to note, but not act on, urges to overeat or to make unhealthy food choices.

Use positive language, start with the basics, and keep it fun. These are the fundamentals in designing a family-based program to combat childhood obesity.

Mindfulness-based treatment for obesity and binge eating disorder can promote self-regulation and yield significant results. A dose-response effect may yield better results for those who practice the approach more intensively.

A recent study has shown that in addition to losing weight patients who undergo weight loss surgery also decrease their chances of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

There is currently no algorithm to guide clinicians in deciding which medication to choose to help promote weight loss in individuals with obesity. Rather, clinicians must take stock of a variety of factors when making treatment decisions for a particular patient.

The range of medication choices to treat obesity is expanding, and a rational prescribing plan requires a solid grasp of medication side effects.

Using a variety of cognitive strategies may help dampen food cravings and boost inhibitory control in individuals with obesity, according to a small neuroimaging study that draws methods from addiction research.

An intragastric dual-balloon device was well tolerated and proved effective for patients with moderate levels of obesity, owing in part to its ability to conform to stomach anatomy, according to Jaime Ponce, MD, Medical Director for the Bariatric Surgery program at Hamilton Medical Center, in Dalton, Georgia.

Even as Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems become more commonplace in the medical community there is still a large knowledge gap between health care professionals and their patients regarding the availability and use of these systems, according to a recent survey.

Low total serum testosterone was independently associated with greater carotid intima media thickening and endothelial dysfunction but not with atherosclerotic plaques.

In older adults, mild control of systolic pressure is good enough, an Oregon research team has found. Writing in Drugs & Aging, Leah Goeres and colleagues at the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University said that for adults age 60 and over, said a reading of 150 for systolic blood pressure (SPB) is adequate-upsetting the conventional wisdom that these patients should get enough medications or other treatments to bring SPB down to 140.

Phthalates may be replacing lead as the leading environmental exposure concern. Some studies indicate that there may be a link between phthalates, obesity, endocrine disruption, and metabolic interference.

Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare and severe hereditary lipid disorder. Patients with HoFH generally have very high serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) that is treatment-resistant. HoFH puts affected patients at extremely high risk of premature onset coronary heart disease, and many patients die before they reach their mid-30s.

As the number of bariatric surgeries increase, clinicians require more and better data about its long-term outcomes. As we know, as more people take a medication or undergo a surgical procedure, the better the quality of the collective data. It's the strength in numbers concept. In the case of bariatric surgery, many clinicians have questions about treatment failure rates and they suspect that reports of sustained weight loss may be overly optimistic.

While the dangers of smoking are well known to most people there still remains a segment of the population who continues to smoke despite efforts to encourage them to quit.

There are many factors that go into a successful lung transplant operation. One key factor after surgery is routine radiological checks of a patient's progress.

Looking at patients with asthma it can be easy to group them all together for treatment options. Recent studies have shown that that may not be the best way to approach helping people dealing with both obesity and asthma.