In elderly patients with documented coronary heart disease, statins reduced all-cause mortality, as well as CHD mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, the need for revascularization, and stroke, a new meta-analysis has shown. Statins reduced all-cause mortality 22%, with a number need to treat of 28, a benefit larger than previously estimated. Heartwire
A new beta-blocker has been approved in the United States for the treatment of hypertension. The drug has the added ability to produce vasodilation and reduce total peripheral resistance. Medscape Medical News
A large population-based study shows that nonfocal transient neurologic attacks increase the risks for major vascular disease and dementia, findings that contest the belief that they are benign. Medscape Medical News
Two reviews have concluded that ACE inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers are similarly effective in hypertension and against proteinuria, respectively; for one of those conditions, however, a combination of the two drug classes appeared better than either alone. Heartwire
Researchers say their analysis paves the way for smaller efficacy DES trials, with safety being the subject of separate, larger but "simpler" studies. Heartwire
The average daily atrial tachyarrhythmia and atrial fibrillation burden in patients with concomitant bradycardia and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation were analyzed. American Heart Journal
The observations reported provide important information for further consideration regarding the design and conduct of future studies on the effect of atrial pacing therapies for the reduction of AF. Europace
Six-week treatment with sibutramine appears to be efficacious, tolerable and safe in high-risk patients with CVD -- a population for whom sibutramine is usually contraindicated. European Heart Journal
Daytime hypercapnia and obesity, obstructive airflow limitation, restrictive lung impairment, and severity of sleep apnea and the response to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) are examined. CHEST
In overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, fitness and fatness were highly related to each other but seemed to have different impact on specific CVD risk factors. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
