CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

FDA Panel Recommends 2 New Anti-MRSA Agents Larry Hand The Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted unanimously to recommend approval of 2 new antibacterial agents for the treatment of skin and skin structure infections caused by gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Newspaper “Cardiology today” Quarterly scientific newspaper "Cardiology Today" is published in conjunction with the Publishing House "ABC-press".

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.

The results of the 35th International Congress of Cardiology "Great Wall" and the Asian Congress of Cardiology 2024 The anniversary 35th International Congress of Cardiology "Great Wall" and the Asian Congress of Cardiology were held in Beijing at the National Exhibition Center on November 7-10, 2024. As part of the four-day congress, 415 scientific sessions were organized and 2177 reports were made on various areas of cardiology. The congress was attended by 23,980 national and international experts, professors and specialists from almost 40 countries from all the continents of the world.

New State Law Will Restrict AI in Prior Authorization, Coverage Decisions California is taking aim at algorithms used by insurers to make prior authorization and other coverage decisions with a new law that will put limitations on how artificial intelligence (AI)–generated formulas are employed.

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.

On behalf of Cardioprogress Foundation let us sincerely congratulate you with the World Heart Day! On behalf of Cardioprogress Foundation let us sincerely congratulate you with the World Heart Day! World Heart Day is celebrated annually starting from 1999, more than in 100 countries around the globe in the last Sunday of September. And in 2011, the World Heart Day. And from 2011 it has its own confirmed date- the 29th of September. Events, that take place during the World Heart Day are attract attention to the problem of cardiovascular diseases, it"s the world"s biggest intervention against these conditions. It’s utterly important to show the world the importance of healthy life style, and the influence of bad habits on the cardiovascular system.

Trump Pick for CMS Would Ease Up on Physicians Seema Verma, MPH, President Donald Trump"s choice to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has mixed feelings about electronic health record (EHR) systems. It"s just one example of how she"s on the same page with many physicians regarding healthcare. "My doctor…is staring at her computer instead of looking at me," the healthcare policy consultant told the US Senate Committee on Finance during her confirmation hearing yesterday. Verma"s comment came in response to a question about the future of the CMS incentive program for meaningful use of EHRs, much criticized by physicians for turning them into data entry clerks. She also recounted seeing signs in physician waiting rooms that apologized for schedule delays due to EHR implementation. Yet another tech challenge she cited was the lack of EHR interoperability, which prevents different programs from freely exchanging data.