Articles related to CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD)

These recommendations “attempt to provide practical guidance for clinicians and patients regarding the use of nonstatin therapies to further reduce ASCVD risk in situations not covered by the guideline until such time as the scientific evidence base expands.”

The USPSTF comes to the conclusion that statin use has at least a moderate net benefit for adults aged 40 to 75 who have no prior history of CVD, at least one CVD risk factor, and an estimated 10-year CVD event risk of 10% or greater. There is at least a marginal net benefit from using statins to prevent CVD events and all-cause mortality in adults aged 40 to 75 who have no prior history of CVD, at least one of these risk factors, and an estimated 10-year CVD event risk of 7.5% to less than 10%. Still, is the evidence enough?

This review with case example explores pericarditis and myocarditis and implications on limiting exercise. The authors summarize relevant guidelines and provide their own conclusion and guidance. They offer a helpful algorithm combining the ESC, ACC, and AHA guidelines and suggest an additional element around limiting heart rate during an acute inflammatory episode.

More than 15 professional societies now recommend the use of icosapent ethyl to treat ASCVD, but clinical questions about the use of omega-3 fatty acids remain. Drs. Leslie Cho and Erin Michos discuss the role of DHA and EPA and whether all omega-3 fatty acids are the same. But what about EPA plasma levels, incidence of atrial fibrillation, and differences between the STRENGTH and REDUCE-IT trials? Tune in to get these answers and more in this 13-minute, 0.25-CME credit hours video podcast.

‘Bikini medicine’ (see the Boston Globe article) is an outdated, sexist idea that men and women should be cared for similarly — dubbed as such due to the mistaken belief that women’s health only differs in the parts of women that bikinis cover. A ridiculous notion, considering that cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and autoimmune diseases affect women differently than men. Last time we checked, the bikini doesn’t cover any of them.

In this update to its 2014 recommendation, the USPSTF concluded “with moderate certainty that the harms of beta carotene supplementation outweigh the benefits for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or cancer.”