Cholesterol News and Research

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Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver, and found in the blood and in all cells of the body. Cholesterol is important for good health and is needed for making cell walls, tissues, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acid.

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid appears to increase risk of CVD and peripheral arterial disease

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a manmade chemical used in the manufacture of some common household products, appears to be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease in a study of 1,216 individuals, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

4 Sep 2012

Low blood pressure increases diabetes mortality risk

Tight blood pressure control fails to confer a survival benefit in patients newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and may even increase mortality risk when low blood pressure levels are achieved, UK investigators have discovered.

3 Sep 2012

Metabolic syndrome associated with cognitive and brain impairments in adolescents

A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals for the first time that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with cognitive and brain impairments in adolescents and calls for pediatricians to take this into account when considering the early treatment of childhood obesity.

3 Sep 2012

Researchers identify several genetic factors linked to C-reactive protein

African Americans have higher blood levels of a protein associated with increased heart-disease risk than European Americans, despite higher "good" HDL cholesterol and lower "bad" triglyceride levels. This contradictory observation now may be explained, in part, by a genetic variant identified in the first large-scale, genome-wide association study of this protein involving 12,000 African American and Hispanic American women.

31 Aug 2012

Renal artery stent revascularization reduces blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension

Patients with uncontrolled renovascular hypertension saw a significant improvement in their blood pressure with renal artery stent deployment. The multicenter HERCULES trial, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the RX Herculink Elite Stent, found that patients with higher blood pressure levels at baseline had the most dramatic reduction in blood pressure following intervention.

31 Aug 2012

Mortality risk similar for White vs Black diabetics

Diabetes does not lead to an intrinsically poorer survival in African Americans than it does in White Americans, report US researchers.

29 Aug 2012

VA report shows improvement in gender disparities in 12 out of 14 HEDIS measures

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a report that shows improvement in gender disparities in 12 out of 14 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures in VA since 2008.

29 Aug 2012

Study raises cautionary note about preferential use of endovascular technique for ruptured AAA

A new study raises a cautionary note about the increasing use of a minimally invasive procedure to repair ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms, according to vascular surgeon Dr. Jae Sung Cho of Loyola University Medical Center.

28 Aug 2012

Personalized antiplatelet treatment leads to better outcomes in patients undergoing PCI

Personalized antiplatelet treatment leads to better outcomes than standard antiplatelet treatment in patients undergoing coronary stent implantation, according to results from the MADONNA study presented at ESC Congress 2012.

28 Aug 2012

Insulin glargine retards progression of atherosclerosis in high-risk people

A sub-study of the Outcome Reduction with an Initial Glargine Intervention (ORIGIN) trial, designed to investigate the effect of insulin glargine and omega-3 fatty acids on atherosclerosis progression, has found that, compared to standard care, only insulin glargine (a long-acting insulin) had a "modest" statistically non-significant reducing effect on the primary outcome of rate of change in maximum carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) at 12 carotid sites.

27 Aug 2012

Update on Merck's development programs for vorapaxar, ER niacin/laropirprant and anacetrapib

Merck today provided an update on the development programs for vorapaxar, extended release niacin/laropirprant (MK524A, Tredaptive) and anacetrapib in association with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting in Munich.

27 Aug 2012

Latest issue of IBM Journal of Research and Development now available in IEEE Xplore

IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization, announced that the latest issue of IBM Journal of Research and Development, a special issue on Technologies for Healthcare Transformation, is now exclusively available in the IEEE Xplore digital library.

27 Aug 2012

Mexican-Americans with ancestral links have higher insulin resistance levels

Mexican-Americans with an ancestral link to Amerindian tribes were found to have higher insulin resistance levels, which is an indication of several chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, according to research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

26 Aug 2012

Cocoa and blood pressure: an interview with Dr Karin Ried

The compounds in cocoa responsible for blood pressure reduction are called flavanols or polyphenols. Flavanols are also found in green tea, dark berries or red wine.

24 Aug 2012

Women with heart attack symptoms receive lower quality of care than men

A new study published recently in the American Journal of Medicine, conducted by researchers in the Cardiac and Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, found there was significantly lower quality of care and worse outcomes in women compared to men - particularly young women under age 35 who had heart attack symptoms.

23 Aug 2012

Statin's potency may cause muscle problems in patients with cardiovascular disease

A study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, published August 22 online by PLoS ONE, reports that muscle problems reported by patients taking statins were related to the strength or potency of the given cholesterol-lowering drugs.

23 Aug 2012

Brand-name drug makers bet coupons will help their products edge out generic competition

If brand-name prescription medicines cost you as little as generic pills, which would you choose? A few drugmakers are betting Americans will stick with the name they know. They've begun offering U.S. patients coupons to reduce copayments on brand-name medicines and compete with new generic versions of the drugs.

22 Aug 2012

Coronary artery calcium tool proves effective in detecting risk of cardiovascular disease

Heart calcium scans are far superior to other assessment tools in predicting the development of cardiovascular disease in individuals currently classified at intermediate risk by their doctors, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

22 Aug 2012

CIRT to determine whether methotrexate can reduce heart attacks, strokes and CVD deaths

An international multi-site trial has launched to determine whether a common anti-inflammatory drug can reduce heart attacks, strokes, and deaths due to cardiovascular disease in people at high risk for them. This study is being supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Aug 2012

VolitionRX to initiate NuQ blood-based tests in colorectal cancer clinical trial

VolitionRX Limited, a life sciences company focused on developing blood-based diagnostic tests, announces that its subsidiary Belgian Volition has signed an agreement with the Biobank of CHU UCL Mont-Godinne, an academic hospital in Yvoir, Belgium.

22 Aug 2012

Cholesterol News and Research

Further Reading

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid appears to increase risk of CVD and peripheral arterial disease

Low blood pressure increases diabetes mortality risk

Metabolic syndrome associated with cognitive and brain impairments in adolescents

Researchers identify several genetic factors linked to C-reactive protein

Renal artery stent revascularization reduces blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension

Mortality risk similar for White vs Black diabetics

VA report shows improvement in gender disparities in 12 out of 14 HEDIS measures

Study raises cautionary note about preferential use of endovascular technique for ruptured AAA

Personalized antiplatelet treatment leads to better outcomes in patients undergoing PCI

Insulin glargine retards progression of atherosclerosis in high-risk people

Update on Merck's development programs for vorapaxar, ER niacin/laropirprant and anacetrapib

Latest issue of IBM Journal of Research and Development now available in IEEE Xplore

Mexican-Americans with ancestral links have higher insulin resistance levels

Cocoa and blood pressure: an interview with Dr Karin Ried

Women with heart attack symptoms receive lower quality of care than men

Statin's potency may cause muscle problems in patients with cardiovascular disease

Brand-name drug makers bet coupons will help their products edge out generic competition

Coronary artery calcium tool proves effective in detecting risk of cardiovascular disease

CIRT to determine whether methotrexate can reduce heart attacks, strokes and CVD deaths

VolitionRX to initiate NuQ blood-based tests in colorectal cancer clinical trial

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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