ISCP September 2019 newsletter available online
April 04 ,2019
Overview:Latest newsletter including message from ISCP President Augusto Gallino and more ISCP news and upcoming meetings. more
VIDEO: Potassium-binding agents help enable tolerance of HF medications
October 13 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — In this video exclusive, Cardiology Today Editorial Board Member Ileana L. Piña, MD, MPH, discussed her Cardiometabolic Health Congress workshop on the role of potassium-binding agents in optimizing guideline-directed therapy for HF.Piña, professor of medicine at Wayne State University, clinical professor of medicine at Central Michigan University and director of CVD research and academic affairs and regional and national director of HF at Detroit Medical Center, said the workshop focused on complications that prevent some clinicians from starting patients on more
Icosapent ethyl appropriate to use to reduce CV risk, despite pending questions
October 12 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — Findings of cardiovascular benefit with icosapent ethyl treatment from the REDUCE-IT trial have already revealed actionable clinical implications, but determining whether triglyceride reductions or eicosapentaenoic acid increases are the key mechanisms will be the focus of continuing research, according to a speaker at the Cardiometabolic Heath Congress.“Regarding triglycerides, there is not really too much question anymore that these are indeed a causal risk factor; not just a risk marker but on the pathway to atherosclerosis,” Cardiology Today Editorial Board more
Top 10 takeaways from lipid management guidelines
October 12 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — The 2018 Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol, published by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association in collaboration with other societies, offered a number of pointers for clinicians to diagnose, treat and manage patients with elevated cholesterol.Roger S. Blumenthal, MD, FACC, FAHA, Kenneth Jay Pollin Professor of Cardiology, director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and editor of the Cardiology Today Prevention section, who was a member of the writing committee for the guideline, more
Earlier introduction of insulin may improve type 2 diabetes care for some patients
October 12 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — Health care providers who treat patients with type 2 diabetes still need to include insulin among therapeutic options, and it may even be prudent to consider it earlier in the treatment process, according to a presenter at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.“Insulin remains a critical medication in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, although its role is different than it was prior to the introduction of SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists,” Irl B. Hirsch, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, said during a presentation.To more
Lifestyle changes as important as medication to prevent, treat type 2 diabetes
October 12 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — Intensive lifestyle interventions and metformin therapy have had significant success in treating type 2 diabetes and should both be considered when deciding on prevention and treatment, according to a presentation at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.“Both approaches should be used to prevent diabetes and I think that brings us into the whole discussion of how we fit lifestyle interventions into the use of medications,” Edward S. Horton, MD, professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School and senior investigator at the Joslin Diabetes Center, said during his more
Four strategies to obtain affordable insulin
October 11 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — As the cost for insulin continues to rise, clinicians can take several proactive steps to help uninsured and underinsured patients afford their medications today, according to a speaker at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.Insulin prices, which tripled from 2002 to 2013, continue to climb, nearly doubling between 2012 and 2016, according to 2017 data from the Health Care Cost Institute. The steady increase in prices has led to an outcry from stakeholders on all sides, including clinicians, patient advocates and the federal government, yet little has changed with respect to more
DAPA-HF, REWIND, other cardiometabolic science highlighted at CMHC
October 11 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — Healio presents live updates from the late-breaking trials session at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.Presenters highlighted notable recent research involving drugs to address diabetes and cardiometabolic health, including DECLARE-TIMI 58, REWIND, GLP-1 receptor agonist and SGLT2 inhibitor meta-analyses and DAPA-HF.DECLARE-TIMI 58 trialBeyond improved cardiovascular outcomes, the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (Farxiga, AstraZeneca) may also offer adults with type 2 diabetes the potential to prevent and treat kidney disease, according to findings published in The Lancet more
GLP-1 receptor agonists a ‘key building block’ for improving cardiovascular health
October 11 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — GLP-1 receptor agonists are a medication class that has exhibited many benefits, especially in the cardiovascular realm, since being introduced, and more recent evidence has only solidified this notion, but the mechanisms behind their success are still difficult to pin down, according to a speaker at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.“We’ve had decades of GLP-1 biology,” Daniel J. Drucker, MD, a professor of medicine at the Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute of Mt. Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto, said during a presentation. “The more
Role of wearable devices increasing in health care
October 11 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — The integration of wearable devices into clinical care is still in its beginning stages, but the devices’ use for ECG and the diagnosis of various arrhythmia disorders remains a top priority for research, according to a presentation at Cardiometabolic Health Congress.“As of 3 years ago, 77% of people owned a smartphone, not any cellphone, but a phone that has screen interactive capabilities and network connection,” Cardiology Today Next Gen Innovator Mintu Turakhia, MD, MAS, associate professor of medicine and executive director of the Center for Digital more
Parental alcohol exposure tied to congenital heart disease risk in children
October 11 ,2019
Overview:Alcohol consumption of would-be parents may be a significant risk factor for the development of congenital heart disease in their subsequent children, according to a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.In a meta-analysis of 55 studies, researchers found that mothers who had alcohol exposure 3 months before pregnancy and the first trimester imparted a greater risk for congenital heart disease in their offspring compared with those who did not have alcohol exposure (OR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.27). However, there was substantial heterogeneity among the studies (P more
‘Digiceuticals,’ new CGM devices, HbA1c alternatives transform diabetes management
October 10 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — The growing abundance of technology options for better diabetes management and the trend away from HbA1c as the only evaluation metric for the condition are important parallel phenomena, according to a speaker at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.Anne Peters, MD, director of USC clinical diabetes programs and professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, said during a presentation that health care providers must not only acknowledge but seek to understand these trends in order to help improve diabetes care.The idea more
Health technology offers new opportunities for physician-patient engagement
October 10 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — New health technologies that focus on self-management of patients may be a unique way for cardiologists to engage with their patients, according to a presentation at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.Patrick Wayte, senior vice president of the American Heart Association Center for Health Technology and Innovation, said the center focuses on the intersection of medical and consumer technologies, especially as there has been an increase in consumer technology products that concentrate on health care and engage consumers in different ways.“It’s really in this more
VIDEO: Updates on direct-to-consumer genetic testing for CVD
October 10 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — In this video exclusive, Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, cardiologist and director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University, discusses implications of straight-to-consumer genetic testing, the subject of her presentation at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.In her presentation, McNally highlighted the newly evolving use of medically actionable genetic testing for cancer or heart diseases such as HF and aortic disease that is also becoming available directly to consumers.Watch the video for more. more
Real-world evidence can better inform diabetes, cardiometabolic care
October 10 ,2019
Overview:CHICAGO — The use of real-world evidence together with randomized controlled trial data can provide further insight into the effectiveness and safety of drugs for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in real-life clinical settings, according to a speaker at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.Randomized controlled trials remain the gold standard for the initial assessment of efficacy and safety for any therapy, but real-world evidence can answer some questions that are difficult or impossible to answer with a randomized controlled study design, Lawrence Blonde, MD, FACP, MACE, director more
‘Unexpected’: Physician burnout rate lower in rural areas
October 10 ,2019
Overview:Family medicine doctors who practiced in rural areas were less likely to experience burnout than those who practiced in medium-sized and metropolitan areas, according to survey results.“We hypothesized that family physicians working in rural areas have increased burnout rates due to significant practice demands and potentially increased work hours, lack of resources, lack of ready access to specialty consultation, lack of privacy from patients and increased isolation,” Amy Hogue, MD, FAAFP, and Mark K. Huntington, MD, PhD, FAAFP, physicians with the Center for Family Medicine in more
Anxiety, depression may reduce adherence to cardiac rehabilitation
October 10 ,2019
Overview:With World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, cardiologists should take the mental health of their patients into consideration, as a recent study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that patients with anxiety, stress or depression who were participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program were more likely to drop out compared with those without the conditions.“Heart patients living with depression are more likely to feel despondent and hopeless, which reduces their ability to manage their symptoms,” Angela Rao, RN, PhD candidate at the University of more
ATTEST: Radiofrequency ablation superior to antiarrhythmic drugs for AF progression
October 10 ,2019
Overview:PARIS — Early radiofrequency ablation was superior to antiarrhythmic drugs to delay the progression to persistent atrial fibrillation among patients with drug-refractory paroxysmal AF, according to 3-year data from the ATTEST trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.“To date, catheter ablation has been primarily indicated for second-line, symptomatic treatment of paroxysmal AF after failure of at least one antiarrhythmic drug,” Karl-Heinz Kuck, MD, head of the department of cardiology at Asklepios Klinik St. Georg in Hamburg, Germany, said during the more
Household income drop over 6 years may raise long-term CVD risk
October 09 ,2019
Overview:In the U.S., changes in household income were significantly associated with subsequent incident CVD, with a strong link between drop in income and risk for CVD, according to a study published in JAMA Cardiology.Individuals who experienced a household income drop of more than 50% during a 6-year period had a significantly higher risk for incident CVD, defined as MI, fatal CHD, HF or stroke, during a mean 17 years of follow-up (HR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.03-1.32) compared with those whose income remained the same.Moreover, individuals who received an income rise of more than 50% during a 6-year more
Elevated PE risk seen beyond 6 weeks after various types of surgery
October 09 ,2019
Overview:Regardless of the surgery type, the risk of postoperative pulmonary embolism was elevated at more than 6 weeks postoperatively, according to published results.Using a French national inpatient database, researchers performed a case-crossover analysis of 60,703 cancer-free middle-aged patients with a diagnosis of a first pulmonary embolism (PE) who underwent either hip or knee replacement (n=989), fracture surgery (n=1,146), other orthopedic procedures (n=1,944), vascular surgery (n=1,002), gynecological surgery (n=522) or gastrointestinal surgery (n=2,061). Diagnosis of a first PE was the more
Maintained weight loss improves cardiometabolic risk factors in diabetes
October 09 ,2019
Overview:Among patients with diabetes who lost weight, those who maintained their weight loss significantly improved their cardiometabolic risk factors compared with those who regained weight, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.The benefits, including improvements in HDL, triglycerides, glucose, BP, waist circumference and diabetes control, were greatest among patients who lost at least 10% of their body weight and maintained at least 75% of their weight loss at 4 years, according to the researchers.Maintaining weight loss“Our findings suggest that in more
WHF releases new Advocacy Strategy for 2019-2022
October 03 ,2019
Overview:The World Heart Federation has released its new Advocacy Strategy for 2019-2020: Advocating like Investors. Why an Advocacy Strategy? The new Advocacy Strategy aims to specify what WHF wants to achieve through advocacy by 2022, including broad goals and detailed objectives. It will guide our work and help us measure success over the next four years. […] The post WHF releases new Advocacy Strategy for 2019-2022 appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Anthony King
October 03 ,2019
Overview:On World Heart Day, we are celebrating Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who have shown commitment, courage, empathy, and care in relation to heart health. “I’m motivated to counsel people on paying attention to their heart and any signs that there may be trouble.” I was in what I thought was very good […] The post Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Anthony King appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Anne Dalin
October 02 ,2019
Overview:On World Heart Day, we are celebrating Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who have shown commitment, courage, empathy, and care in relation to heart health. “My promise for World Heart Day is to stay focused on taking care of my health and to ensure that I’m around to have a good, long and […] The post Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Anne Dalin appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Brenda Cooperstone
October 02 ,2019
Overview:On World Heart Day, we are celebrating Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who have shown commitment, courage, empathy, and care in relation to heart health. “My promise for World Heart Day is to help increase awareness of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), a uniformly fatal disease, to ensure early diagnosis and treatment so that […] The post Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Brenda Cooperstone appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Wrapping up the UN General Assembly and High-Level Meeting on UHC
October 02 ,2019
Overview:On 22 September world leaders met in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, a jam-packed week of meetings, discussions, and side events organized around the most pressing global issues. The World Heart Federation was proud to represent our Members and the cardiovascular community at the highest levels of global governance, including at the UN High-Level Meeting […] The post Wrapping up the UN General Assembly and High-Level Meeting on UHC appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Walter
October 01 ,2019
Overview:On World Heart Day, we are celebrating Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who have shown commitment, courage, empathy, and care in relation to heart health. “Most cardiologists have never knowingly seen a patient with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), so they often miss the diagnosis.” I’m 71 years old. For more than a decade, […] The post Celebrating our Heart Heroes 2019: Walter appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
WHF is pleased to partner with Withings on World Heart Day to increase awareness of CVD prevention
September 28 ,2019
Overview:In recent years much has been done to improve mortality caused by the cardiovascular epidemic, but it remains the number one killer on the planet and any decline may be short term and can change direction so we cannot relax our vigilance. Human behaviour plays a huge part in CVD risk, with lifestyle factors such […] The post WHF is pleased to partner with Withings on World Heart Day to increase awareness of CVD prevention appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Manulife employees unite across the globe to improve their heart health
September 28 ,2019
Overview:Yesterday, in support of World Heart Day, thousands of Manulife employees joined forces to take part in the financial institution’s fourth annual Global Walk. Physical activity is an important part of CVD prevention and activities like these can really spread awareness of heart-healthy lifestyles as part of workplace wellness strategies. From North America, to Europe, […] The post Manulife employees unite across the globe to improve their heart health appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
On World Heart Day, 29 September 2019, the World Heart Federation calls for heart health equity … because every heartbeat matters
September 27 ,2019
Overview:Not all hearts are equal … but they should be WHF, our Members and Partners believe in a world where heart health for everyone is a fundamental human right and a crucial element of health justice. Regardless of country, region, origin, race, gender, age, education and incomes, each human being is entitled to cardiovascular health […] The post On World Heart Day, 29 September 2019, the World Heart Federation calls for heart health equity … because every heartbeat matters appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
Disseminating the National CVD Guidelines in Kenya
September 25 ,2019
Overview:“Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are of social-economic importance, taking into account that CVD are the second cause of mortality and morbidity in this country,” highlighted Dr. Ephantus Maree, Head of the Division of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Kenya. For this reason, the MoH joined forces with the Kenya Cardiac Society […] The post Disseminating the National CVD Guidelines in Kenya appeared first on World Heart Federation. more
European Cardiology Review (ECR) now on PubMed and PubMed Central
October 30 ,2018
Overview: European Cardiology Review (ECR) confirms that it has been accepted for indexing on PubMed Central and PubMed. All ECR articles starting from the first issue in July 2014, will now be published online in full on PubMed Central, providing greater access for our authors’ articles amongst the global cardiology community. ECR is a […] more
WHF to attend the WHO Executive Board meeting in January 2017
January 23 ,2017
Overview:From 23 January to 01 February 2017, the World Health Organization(WHO) will host the 140th session. From 23 January to 01 February 2017, the World Health Organization(WHO) will host the 140th session. From 23 January to 01 February 2017, the World Health Organization(WHO) will host the 140th session. From 23 January to 01 February 2017, […] more