CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Informational bulletin “Cardioprogress” Bulletin is published four times a year in both Russian and English (special issues) languages.

ED Drugs Linked to Increased Melanoma Risk Larry Hand Use of sildenafil (Viagra, Pfizer) is associated with an increased risk for melanoma, according to an article published online April 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Green Tea’s Impact on Cognitive Function Now Visible Megan Brooks Green tea appears to boost memory by enhancing functional brain connectivity, a new imaging study suggests. A study led by Stefan Borgwardt, MD, PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Switzerland, shows that drinking a green tea extract enhances memory performance, a finding that researchers suggest may have important clinical implications for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, including cognitive impairment.

Upping Coffee Consumption Protects Against Type 2 Diabetes Lisa Nainggolan The first study to examine whether a change in the amount of tea or coffee consumed has any effect on the subsequent risk for type 2 diabetes among healthy individuals has found that it does, at least for coffee. And the effects become apparent within a relatively short period of time, 4 years.

Medicare to Pay for Multiple Chronic Disease Management Starting in 2015, physicians can collect a separate fee from Medicare for managing patients with 2 or more chronic conditions apart from face-to-face visits, according to the final version of the 2014 Medicare physician fee schedule that the government released last week.

COPD Linked to Cognitive Impairment and Memory Loss Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was associated with increased odds of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and memory loss in a cross-sectional, population-based study. The study, published in the November issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, also showed a dose–response relationship with COPD duration and increasing risk for cognitive problems.

No Apparent Motive in Reno Hospital Shooting Deaths Police are interviewing neighbors of a California man in an attempt to learn why he shot and killed a urologist and wounded 2 other people at a Reno, Nevada, hospital Tuesday before killing himself, according to media reports.

BP, Cholesterol Drugs Recalled Over Fears of Contaminated Packaging HANOVER, NJ — More than five-million bottles of antihypertensives, statins, and other drugs made by Novartis may have been contaminated by a chemical used in their packaging, the company has confirmed. Novartis had issued a voluntary recall last summer for Exforge (amlodipine and valsartan) and Exforge HCT (with hydrochlorothiazide); news of the recall was posted publicly in an FDA enforcement report this week.

As Herceptin Goes Off Patent, ’Biosimilars’ Emerge SAN ANTONIO — As the epoch-making breast cancer targeted therapy trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech) is coming to the end of its patent protection, a new kind of knock-off product is being developed to compete in the drug’s large market.

Head Blows Linked to Brain Changes, Even Without Concussion Even in the absence of a concussion, repeated blows to the head during a season of US football or ice hockey appear to be associated with changes in brain white matter and may also be linked to reduced cognition, a new study shows.

Diabetes mellitus has been completely cured for the first time in the world For the first time, scientists transplanted stem cells into a woman with type 1 diabetes, after which she began to produce her own insulin. This is the world's first case of treatment using cells taken from the patient's body.

New Hypertension Approach Hits Multiple Targets at Low Dose Single-pill combinations that include three or four antihypertensive medications are the way forward for the management of patients with elevated blood pressure, according to experts evaluating the new approach.

HEALTHCARE SPENDING ACCELERATING, 19.7% OF ECONOMY BY 2026 By 2026, healthcare is projected to make up 19.7% of the US economy, up from 17.9% in 2016, according to a report released today by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Spending is projected to be $5.7 trillion by 2026, up from $3.5 trillion now. CMS projects that federal, state, and local governments will be financing 47% of that spending, up from 45% in 2016, partly related to the aging of the population.

Anniversary of the President of the Cardioprogress Foundation, Academician Rafael G. Oganov (on the occasion of his 80th birthday) On December 9, 2017, the well-known Russian cardiologist, scientist, clinician, doctor of medical sciences, professor, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, honored scientist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the Russian State Prize, honorary president of the Russian Cardiological Society, editor-in-chief of the 2 leader Russian cardiology journals Oganov Rafael. Rafael Oganov was born in a working family in Moscow. He passed a great life and creative path from a clinical resident to an academician of the RussianAcademy of Medical Sciences, a scientist, a doctor and a teacher widely known in Russia and abroad.

HIGHER COFFEE INTAKE TIED TO LOWER MORTALITY RISK Higher coffee intake is linked to significantly lower risk for death, two large studies confirm. The benefit was found in diverse European populations, as well as across different racial/ethnic groups, researchers report in articles published online today in Annals of Internal Medicine. Because coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the United States and worldwide, the public health effect of coffee intake could be substantial, even if the effect on an individual is small. Despite mounting evidence for the health and mortality benefits of coffee consumption, the relationship between coffee intake and mortality in different European populations in which coffee preparation methods vary has been unclear. Similarly, data on coffee drinking among nonwhite populations were lacking.

FOCUSED ISSUE ON ADVANCES IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE PREVENTION: INTERVIEW WITH PROF. NATHAN D. WONG AND PROV. IAN GRAHAM A very focused issue on “Advances in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention” has been published in Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy(CDT). It was our honor to invite its Guest-editors Prof. Nathan D. Wong and Prof. Ian Graham for an E-interview. Prof. Nathan Wong is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and Professor and Director, Heart Disease Prevention Program, Division of Cardiology at the University of California, Irvine in California. He holds MPH and PhD degrees in epidemiology from YaleUniversity. He is a past president (2010–2012) of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. He is also a fellow of the AmericanCollege of Cardiology, American Heart Association, National Lipid Association, and American Society for Preventive Cardiology and is the current treasurer of the Pacific Lipid Association, and is on the board of directors of the InterAmerican Heart Federation and California Chapter of the AmericanCollege of Cardiology. He also serves on the Member Services and Credentialing Committee and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Committee of the AmericanCollege of Cardiology and is past chair of the American Heart Association Prevention Science Subcommittee.

INFLAMATION MAY EXPLAIN MORTALITY-RISK LINK TO TV WATCHING Prolonged television viewing is associated with an increased mortality risk, including from cardiovascular disease (CVD), that may be at least partially mediated by inflammatory markers, suggest results from a large UK cohort study[1]. The findings, which were published online on June 9, 2017 inAtherosclerosis, demonstrate for the first time that over 15% of the association between mortality and increased TV viewing may be explained by C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels. Dr Mark Hamer (National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, East Midlands, Loughborough, UK) and colleagues note that previous research has shown that prolonged sitting is linked to the expression of genes associated with inflammatory responses. "Fibrinogen, the strongest predictor of mortality in the present study, may also have relevance in terms of elevated risk of vascular conditions, particularly venous thrombosis," they write. "Recent experimental data demonstrated increases in plasma fibrinogen with prolonged uninterrupted sitting that was attenuated with active breaks." While the researchers note that the study design does not allow the temporal relationship between TV viewing and the biomarkers to be determined, previous analyses of the same cohort revealed a prospective association between TV viewing and changes in inflammatory markers.

THE GENDER GAP IN CARDIOLOGY IS EMBARRASSING Since women make up about half of all medical students, the glaring gender gap in cardiology deserves attention. Dr Robert Harrington of Stanford called the dearth of women in cardiology a talent issue for our field. In a tweet, he noted that women make up 45% to 47% of internal medicine residents but less than 20% of cardiology fellows. And it"s worse in the lab-based subspecialties, where <10% of interventional cardiology or electrophysiology fellows are women.

Professor David Wood, WHF President, on participating in the 70th World Health Assembly Today marks the opening of the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA), one of the highlights of the global health calendar. At this annual conference, Ministers of Health, civil society and World Health Organization (WHO) experts will meet to discuss the most pressing health issues of our time, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). As President of the World Heart Federation, I am delighted to welcome a large delegation of member partners, members, Board and staff to the event. Through our leading position in cardiovascular health, we aim to raise the profile of CVD to ensure that global health policies meet the needs of patients and our global membership.

Genetic Risk Could Guide Heart Disease Prevention The use of genetic sequencing to identify which patients would benefit most from aggressive statin therapy for the primary prevention of a heart attack could soon be a clinical reality. And the discovery of genetic mutations associated with cardiovascular disease — but not linked to any known risk factors — opens the possibility of novel therapies to help people cut the risk for future events. "Among those at high genetic risk, statins confer a greater benefit for primary prevention of coronary heart disease," said Sekar Kathiresan, MD, from Massachusetts GeneralHospital in Boston and the Broad Institute in Cambridge.