The words “legendary,” “miraculous” and “unique” are so overused in common conversation they’ve almost lost their meaning. Describing a health study as “landmark” falls into the same category. Except for last week, when the initial results of a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proved so impressive about the benefits of….
Continue ReadingStroke
Providers Remain Too Much in Love with Angioplasty and Stents
Although some people in cardiac distress need invasive procedures to survive, some heart treatments are overused, and the cost continues to mount. As explained by patient safety advocate John James in his August newsletter, performing angiography on and inserting stents in patients with stable heart disease not only wastes money, but can be unsafe. An….
Continue ReadingBlood Thinners Are Widely Misused in Nursing Homes
Coumadin is a commonly prescribed drug for treating blood clots and reducing the risk of developing them. It helps reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack and embolisms (clots) forming in the legs or lungs. Using it requires exact dosing and regular testing of its effects – too little won’t protect you against life-threatening clots,….
Continue ReadingA Wise Man Analyzes the Renewed Attention on Statins
A couple of years ago, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology revised the guidelines for prescribing statins, drugs that compromise the body’s ability to produce cholesterol, to recommend that many more people take statins to prevent heart disease. It was a controversial decision, as we described in our blog. Last week,….
Continue ReadingSmoking-Related Cancers Aren’t Limited to the Lungs
According to JAMA Internal Medicine, half of the 346,000 people 35 and older who died from cancer in 2011 had a history of smoking cigarettes. But what’s truly remarkable about the new research is that this is the first study to identify deaths from 11 kinds of cancer besides lung cancer that were associated with….
Continue ReadingFDA Bans Trans Fat … in Three Years
By the early 1990s, scientific evidence was overwhelming that the artificial fat known as “trans” fat was a huge risk factor for heart disease, and in 2006, the FDA required food manufacturers to include the trans fat content on product labels. U.S. consumers have reduced their intake of the artery-hardening substance, but it’s still such….
Continue ReadingDepression and a Higher Risk of Stroke
People with depression know that it can be frustratingly persistent, requiring various kinds of treatment, often more than once. Now, a new study suggests that people with long-term depression face another possible challenge – a higher risk of stroke. The research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, not only showed a doubled….
Continue ReadingStill More Diseases Linked to Smoking
The dangers of smoking cigarettes have been well documented for a long time, but new research shows that inhaling tobacco is even more hazardous than we knew. Scientists writing earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found that in addition to lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, smoking also raises the….
Continue ReadingMore Evidence Not to Take Daily Aspirin If You’re Not at Risk for Heart Trouble or Stroke
About once a year, it seems, we caution readers about taking aspirin regularly to guard against heart problems, and now there’s more solid science to reinforce that advice. A study published this month in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that a significant number of cardiology patients are receiving aspirin primarily to….
Continue ReadingFDA to Require Blood-Clot Warning on Testosterone Labels
Even though drugs to boost testosterone might cause heart problems, the FDA recently approved another one (see our blog from earlier this month). Now, just weeks later, the agency has moved to require testosterone products to carry labels warnings about possible blood clots. The concern is over blood clots in the legs which can travel….
Continue Reading