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Patients suffering a heart attack received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure to clear blocked arteries in the heart, an average of 10 minutes faster after clinicians and paramedics began using an app to facilitate efficient hospital intakes for these patients, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session.
The study was conducted at Baystate Medical Center, a health system headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, that, like many U.S. hospitals, serves patients across a wide geographic area. Before adopting the app, clinicians typically only had about five minutes of advance notice when a heart attack patient was en route, even if the patient had traveled a long distance. The app allowed clinicians to begin coordinating with paramedics much earlier, helping teams prepare for rapid response upon arrival.
People with prediabetes were significantly more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or other major cardiovascular event when compared with those who had normal blood sugar levels, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session. Researchers said the findings should serve as a wake-up call for clinicians and patients alike to try to prevent prediabetes in the first place.
May 05, 2021
The combination of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood and being Black significantly raises the risk of death in the years after being discharged for an acute MI, new research shows.
“Patients from worse neighborhoods tended to have worse outcomes after acute myocardial infarction. This was seen across all races,” the study’s lead author, Jesse Goitia, MD (Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, CA), told TCTMD. “What particularly stood out was that African-American patients tended to have worse outcomes, but African-American patients from good neighborhoods did not. It seemed that the neighborhood was the mediating factor.”
“It makes sense,” Quinn Capers IV, MD (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas), chair of the ACC’s diversity and inclusion committee, commented to TCTMD. The study adds evidence, he said, to support the idea that the same social determinants of health that increase risks for having an MI things like crowde
Sleeping six to seven hours a night associated with more favorable heart health
People who clock six to seven hours of sleep a night had the lowest chance of dying from a heart attack or stroke when compared with those who got less or more sleep, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70
th Annual Scientific Session. This trend remained true even after the research team accounted for other known conditions or risk factors for heart disease or stroke.
The study, according to researchers, is the first to explore the association between baseline cardiovascular risk and duration of sleep and adds to mounting evidence that sleep similar to diet, smoking and exercise may play a defining role in someone s cardiovascular risk.
Exposure to secondhand smoke may increase odds of developing heart failure
Breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke may leave you more vulnerable to heart failure, a condition where the heart isn t pumping as well as it should and has a hard time meeting the body s needs, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70
th Annual Scientific Session.
The data showed that nonsmokers with recent exposure to secondhand smoke had a 35% increased odds of developing heart failure compared with those who hadn t been around tobacco. The association between tobacco exposure and heart failure remained, even after controlling for other factors known to heighten the risk for heart failure such as a history of other heart conditions, high cholesterol and diabetes.