CDC_eNewsMarch2010



Heart Disease, Stroke & Risk news factors

Diet changes improve older adults' cholesterol too

Older adults can cut their cholesterol levels by revamping their dietary fat intake -- even if they are already on cholesterol-lowering statins, a new study finds.

Even with Heart Disease Awareness on the Rise, Prevention Remains Critically Important for American Women; The Heart Truth campaign urges women to take action

In recognition of American Heart Month, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and its heart disease awareness campaign-The Heart Truth- is reminding all American women that heart disease prevention remains critically important, despite that fact that awareness is at an all time high. More women than ever know that heart disease is their leading killer, yet millions of women are at risk, at increasingly younger ages.

Call for salt target to combat 'white death'

Health experts are calling for government ''salt targets'' for processed and takeaway foods, as a new study shows more than 70 per cent of processed meats, cheeses and sauces contain unacceptably high sodium levels. Researchers from Sydney's The George Institute checked the salt content of 7221 products in 10 processed food groups, in an Australian-first review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Cholesterol's Link To Heart Disease Gets Clearer - And More Complicated

By considering molecular-level events on a broader scale, researchers now have a clearer, if more complicated, picture of how one class of immune cells goes wrong when loaded with cholesterol. The findings reported in the February 3rd issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, show that, when it comes to the development of atherosclerosis and heart disease, it's not about any one bad actor - it's about a network gone awry.

Blood pressure trial at USC

Some high blood pressure patients do all the right things -- make every recommended lifestyle choice, take their drugs completely as prescribed -- and they still can't get their blood pressure down. A trial now underway is testing the Rheos Baroreflex Hypertension Therapy System, a small electronic device (with a big name) that is implanted under the collarbone. Wire leads from it are attached to the left and right carotid arteries, where they send electrical impulses that activate the body's own blood pressure control system and tell the brain to reduce blood pressure.

Racial bias tied to levels of inflammation protein

Experiencing frequent racial discrimination, from signs of disrespect to outright harassment, has been linked to poor health. A new study pinpoints one protein that may be involved in higher rates of cardiovascular disease among people facing racial bias.

Dentists Are Willing to Screen Their Patients for Risk of Chronic Diseases

A nationwide survey published in the January 2010 issue of the JADA (The Journal of the American Dental Association) reports that dentists would be willing to screen their patients for medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases when they come to the office for dental care.

Mediterranean Diet May Prevent Stroke-Related Brain Damage

A new study shows people who most closely followed a Mediterranean-style diet were 36% less likely to have areas of brain damage linked to silent strokes than those who least closely followed the diet. These areas of brain damage, called brain infarcts, are a result of silent strokes that can occur without symptoms or a person knowing it.

U.S. clears wider use of AstraZeneca cholesterol drug

AstraZeneca won U.S. approval on Monday to promote cholesterol fighter Crestor for preventing heart disease in a vast new market of people with healthy cholesterol but other heart risks. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Crestor for a group of people numbering in the millions who are not typically prescribed cholesterol drugs now.

Tobacco Taxes: A Win-Win-Win for Cash-Strapped States

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released a report detailing the revenue and health benefits to each state of increasing its cigarette tax by $1 per pack. The report makes the case that higher tobacco taxes are a win-win-win for states struggling with unprecedented budget deficits: a budget win that can help states raise billions in new revenue and protect vital programs like health care and education; a health win that will reduce smoking and save lives and health care costs; and a political win because voters strongly support increasing the tobacco tax and far prefer doing so to other options, such as other tax increases or budget cuts, for balancing budgets. 

Gout Raises Women's Heart Attack Risk

Women with gout may be at greater risk of suffering a heart attack than men with gout. A new study shows that women with gout were 39% more likely to have a heart attack than women without the disease. In comparison, men with gout were 11% more likely to have a heart attack than healthy men.

Early Life Stress May Predict Cardiovascular Disease

Early life stress could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, researchers report. "We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," said Dr. Jennifer Pollock, biochemist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author on the study published online in Hypertension.

Low IQ Among Strongest Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease-Second Only to Cigarette Smoking in Large Population Study

While lower intelligence scores have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Now, a large study funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, which set out to gauge the relative importance of IQ alongside other risk factors, has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at a greater level of magnitude than found with any other risk factor except smoking.

Kids with heart-disease risk factors don't get a free pass on their effects

Doctors and public health officials have become increasingly concerned about the number of kids with the risk factors for heart disease -- high body-mass index, glucose intolerance, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol. But they've been less clear on how those factors affect life span. Research sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases found that childhood obesity, glucose intolerance and high blood pressure are in fact connected to an increased risk of adult premature death -- meaning before age 55. But not high cholesterol.

 

Use of Multiple Genetic Markers Not Associated With Improved Ability to Predict Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women

 Creation of a genetic risk score comprised of multiple genetic markers associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) was not associated with significant improvement in CVD risk prediction in a study that included more than 19,000 women, according to a study in the February 17 issue of JAMA.

Live near a freeway? Heart disease risk may be higher

Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away, a study has found. The paper is the first to link automobile and truck exhaust to the progression of atherosclerosis — or the thickening of artery walls — in humans. The study was conducted by researchers from USC and UC Berkeley, joined by colleagues in Spain and Switzerland, and was published this week in the journal PloS ONE.

Quarter of stroke patients die within a year: U.S. study

One in four people who have a stroke will likely die within one year from any cause and 8 percent who have a stroke will have another one soon, U.S. researchers said. The risks were higher for African-Americans compared to whites and increased with age and the number of other ailments stroke patients had, the researchers wrote in the journal Neurology.

Black Women At Increased Risk For Weakened Heart Muscle At Childbirth

Black women are at significantly increased risk for developing a potentially deadly weakening of the heart muscle around the time of childbirth, researchers report. A study examining the incidence of peripartum cardiomyopathy in women who gave birth at a Medical College of Georgia's teaching hospital between July 2003 and July 2008, showed that while 55 percent of the women were white, 93 percent of those who developed cardiomyopathy were black, said Dr. Mindy B. Gentry, an MCG cardiologist.

Single Men Have Higher Risk of Stroke

Single and unhappily married men are at increased risk of dying from stroke, suggests a study of more than 10,000 men. After taking into account other stroke risk factors, men who were single in the 1960s were 64% more likely to suffer a fatal stroke over the next three decades than their married counterparts, the study shows.

Strokes Up Among the Young, Down Among the Old

The incidence of stroke seems to be falling among the old, however strokes appear to be occurring more often among the young, a group that has not been considered at high risk for the debilitating and deadly condition, caused by a blood clot or bleeding in the brain. Even as doctors are getting a handle on the problem among seniors, the proportion of strokes that occurred among those ages 20 to 45 rose from 4.5 percent in 1993-94 to 7.3 percent in 2005, according to new data. Researchers found that the average age of stroke patients also dropped by about three years, from 71.3 years old in 1993-94 to 68.4 in 2005.

What matters in stroke treatment? Location, location, location

Many Americans live far from primary stroke centers, a new study finds, putting them in possible danger if care can't be given quickly.

Heart disease risk tied to mom's number of births

A woman's risk of heart disease and stroke in middle-age and beyond may be associated with the number of children she gives birth to, a large study of Swedish women hints. "Women having two births had the lowest risk of future cardiovascular disease," Dr. Erik Ingelsson, at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, “while women having five or more births had the highest risk.”

Stents, surgery both prevent strokes

A newer, less invasive approach to preventing strokes using a device called a stent proved to be as safe and worked just about as well as surgery, a finding that may be a boon to medical device makers. For many years, surgery has been the preferred way to clear away dangerous fatty deposits in neck arteries that can cause strokes. But newer, less invasive approaches using angioplasty and stents have been approved for use in higher-risk patients, stirring debate over which approach is best.

Aspirin Use Does Not Significantly Reduce Vascular Events Among Individuals Identified by Certain Screening Method as Being at Higher Risk

Individuals who were identified as being at increased risk of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events based on screening for low ankle brachial index, a type of pressure measurement used in the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease, did not significantly reduce their risk of these events with the use of aspirin, according to a study in the March 3 issue of JAMA.

Stopping arm blood 'saves heart'

Temporarily stopping blood flow in the arm prevents damage in people having a heart attack, a Danish study has shown. It is thought the procedure "kick-starts" natural mechanisms in the heart to counter the lack of oxygen. In a study of around 150 patients, those who were treated this way in the ambulance on the way to hospital sustained less damage to heart tissue. The British Heart Foundation said The Lancet study was "interesting" but more research was needed.

Coffee Drinking May Lower Stroke Risk

Study finds a 27 percent reduction, but experts say link not yet proven. Regular coffee drinking appears to reduce the risk of stroke, a new study indicates.The study of 23,000 men and women who were followed for an average of 12 years found that "self-reported coffee consumption was inversely related to stroke risk," said study leader Yangmei Li, an epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge in England.

Health News Articles

Wall Street Journal

PepsiCo Develops 'Designer Salt' to Chip Away at Sodium Intake

By BETSY MCKAY, PLANO, Texas—Later this month, at a pilot manufacturing plant here, PepsiCo Inc. plans to start churning out batches of a secret new ingredient to make its Lay's potato chips healthier.

Reuters

Pepsi to cut salt, sugar and saturated fats

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc said on Sunday it would cut the levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats in its top-selling products.

Australian Food News

Salt and sodium research published

The Food Standards Agency last Thursday published details of qualitative research exploring people’s preferences and understanding of the way in which salt and sodium information is presented on food labels.

Resources

A Systematic Review of Selected Interventions for Worksite Health Promotion: The Assessment of Health Risks with Feedback An article in the February 2010 issue, Volume 38 of the American journal of Preventive Medicine by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services

The Salty Stuff: Salt, Blood Pressure and Your Health is the topic of the March issue of the NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter provding practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research.

The Effect of Giving Global Coronary Risk Information to Adults An article published in the February 8, 2010 issue, Volume 170 of the Archives of Internal Medicine by the Cardiovascular Health Intervention Research and Translation Network

The U.S. Food Environment Atlas

Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics—interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions.

Conferences, Trainings & Events

2010 Joint Conference of the Society for Public Health Education and CDC Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) Program, April 7-9, 2010 in Atlanta, GA

8th National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention April 25-28, 2010 Washington DC

Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke 2010 Scientific Sessions May 19-21, 2010 Omni Shoreham Hotel – Washington, DC

News content is selected solely on the basis of newsworthiness and potential interest to readers. CDC and DHHS assume no responsibility for the factual accuracy of the items presented. The selection, omission, or content of items does not imply any endorsement or other position taken by CDC or DHHS. Opinions expressed by the original authors of items included in the News, or persons quoted therein, are strictly their own and are in no way meant to represent the official position of CDC or DHHS. References to products, trade names, publications, news sources, and non-CDC Websites are provided solely for informational purposes and do not imply endorsement by CDC or DHHS.

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