A supplement (or anything, really) that might reduce simultaneously the risk of cardiovascular disease and of cancer would be truly revolutionary. This work, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), sought to prove that vitamin D supplements might reduce the risk for both pathologies (the two most frequent diseases in the world). However,…
Skipping Breakfast and Cardiovascular Risk
Several studies have associated skipping breakfast (having little to no breakfast) with increased cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. This study examined all the available evidence on the association of skipping breakfast and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. It included 4 studies with close to 200,000 adults (mean age ≥40,…
Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Alzheimer Risk
Artificially sweetened beverages (with different kinds of sweeteners) could be responsible for increased cerebrovascular risk and close to a 3-fold increase in dementia risk due to Alzheimer’s disease. Both sweet and artificially sweetened drinks have been associated with cardiometabolic, cerebrovascular and dementia risk. This study prospectively evaluated sweet and sweetened beverage consumption in relation to…
Egg Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Events
According to this study recently published in prestigious journal JAMA, eating too much cholesterol or eggs (which have a high concentration of it in the yolk) is significantly associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality, with a typical dose/effect curve. According to the authors, this information should be considered for an…
Ticagrelor Monotherapy One Month After DES Implantation
The GLOBAL LEADERS study includes a pre-specified sub-study, GLASSY, that showed that ticagrelor monotherapy after one month of dual antiplatelet therapy is non-inferior (but not superior) to conventional treatment in terms of ischemic events. As regards safety, ticagrelor monotherapy did not decrease major bleeding compared with conventional therapy. The GLOBAL LEADERS randomized 15,991 patients who required…
Impella: A Revolutionary Device Being Questioned
Observational studies (with their subsequent limitations) show a possible increase in adverse events and costs with the use of the Impella device. Two large observational studies stirred doubts regarding the good performance of new circulatory support devices in real-world daily clinical practice. There were more adverse events, including in-hospital death and major bleeding, and more…
The Elderly and Polypharmacy: What to Discontinue
We often receive elderly poly-medicated patients (with more than 10 different drugs) who ask us to reassess these prescriptions and, if possible, discontinue some drugs. The reasons are many: they forget to take it, mix up intakes or drugs, and of course, most often find it expensive. Statins are one of the most expensive drugs…
Soon after the EXCEL “Scandal” the NOBLE 5-year Outcomes Come Out: Mere Coincidence?
There is no such thing as coincidence, at least not for the evidence-based medical science. This is what the NOBLE 5-year outcomes, soon to be published in the Lancet, seem to say, in line with the BBC exposé of the EXCEL study. The NOBLE study randomized patients with left main disease to compare PCI vs…
We Should Indicate More than 6 Months of DAPT in Lower Limb Disease
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Advanced peripheral vascular disease is frequently associated with cardiovascular events and amputation. It has been proven that mono-antiplatelet therapy (MAPT) offers some benefit (with either aspirin or clopidogrel), but there are scarce data on the role of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in these patients. Researchers analyzed 404 patients who received MAPT for…
The Most Read Articles of December in solaci.org
1- Consensus on How to Conduct Follow-Up in Peripheral Vascular Disease Peripheral vascular disease involves multiple areas and, therefore, can have very different presentations (from complete lack of symptoms to disabling symptoms). Depending on clinical presentation, general condition, anatomical localization, and lesion extension, revascularization can be indicated alongside optimal medical treatment. Read also HERE 2-…