E-Mail
DALLAS and WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2020 Options to treat heart valve disease are expanding, allowing patients to avoid surgery when possible, according to a new joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. The new 2020 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease published today in the AHA s flagship journal
Circulation and in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
About half of all people ages 65 and older have some form of valvular heart disease. If left undiagnosed or untreated in a timely fashion, valvular heart disease can become more severe and can ultimately lead to heart failure and death. Valvular heart disease can affect one or more heart valves - the structures responsible for regulating blood flow to and from the heart. The heart has four chambers for circulating blood into the heart and out to the lungs and the body, and each chamber is separated b
fluoroquinolones are authorised for use in serious, life-threatening bacterial infections
systemic (by mouth or injection) and inhaled fluoroquinolones have been associated with a small increased risk of heart valve regurgitation, with one retrospective case-control study suggesting a 2-fold increased relative risk with current oral fluroquinolone use compared with the risk with use of amoxicillin or azithromycin
fluoroquinolones should only be used after careful benefit-risk assessment and after consideration of other therapeutic options in the following patients at risk:
patients with congenital heart valve disease or pre-existing heart valve disease
patients diagnosed with connective tissue disorders (for example, Marfan syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome)
Heart-Health for Middle-Aged Adults Has Been Linked to a Lower Risk of Late-Life Dementia Kelly Vaughan
From preventing heart disease and sudden heart attacks to improving your overall well-being, good cardiovascular health is key to living a long, healthy life. New research has found that heart-health in middle-aged adults is linked to a lower risk of dementia later in life. A long-term study of 1,449 people in Finland found that those who had better scores on general metrics of cardiovascular health in midlife, especially for behavioral factors such as smoking, had a lower risk of dementia in the years to follow. These findings suggest that maintaining lifelong cardiovascular health, particularly in the areas of smoking, exercise, and body mass index, could reduce dementia risk later in life.
One Ugly Way Drinking Soda Affects Your Body, According to a New Study
One Ugly Way Drinking Soda Affects Your Body, According to a New Study
At this point, you ve most likely heard about the dangers of drinking soda. There are quite a few, after all. And the most fascinating yet rather shocking part of it is that there is still new research being uncovered and shared about the beverage that keeps proving how awful it is for your health. In fact, a new study even revealed that there is a very real reason why those who drink soda often end up eating more, further linking the theory that soda can potentially be linked to obesity because of one key ingredient: Sugar. (And just so you know, you re going to want to be sure to stay away from any of the 108 Most Popular Sodas We Ranked by How Toxic They Are!)
Schwartz and colleagues analyzed data from 408 participants who had a two-dimensional echocardiogram and BP measurement with all three techniques. Data from different BP assessments were summarized as means and analyzed for reliability and correlation with LVMI, a measure of hypertension-related end-organ damage.
Reliability of systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively, was 0.938 and 0.918 for 1 week of resting daytime home monitoring, 0.894 and 0.847 for office monitoring with mercury sphygmomanometry, and 0.846 and 0.843 for 24-hour ambulatory monitoring. Correlations among office, home, and ambulatory blood pressure measurements were 0.74 to 0.89, corrected for regression dilution bias.
After multivariable adjustments including office and 24-hour ambulatory pressure, 10 mm Hg higher systolic and diastolic was associated with 5.07 and 3.92 g/m