Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Cardiology for May 2018. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
THURSDAY, May 31, 2018 -- The data on popular supplements show no consistent cardiovascular benefit, according to a study published in the June 5 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
THURSDAY, May 31, 2018 -- Obesity is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease risk even among metabolically healthy women, according to a study published online May 30 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
THURSDAY, May 31, 2018 -- The widespread shortages of injectable opioids and small-volume parenteral (SVP) solutions are jeopardizing patient care and placing a strain on hospital operations, according to a report published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
WEDNESDAY, May 30, 2018 -- Individuals with hypertension have a higher annual adjusted incremental expenditure of $1,920, according to a study published online May 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
WEDNESDAY, May 30, 2018 -- Genomic medicine is likely to help clinical care shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, especially in the field of cardiovascular medicine, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association published online May 29 in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.
WEDNESDAY, May 30, 2018 -- In 2015, 35.5 percent of adult stroke survivors used outpatient rehabilitation, up from 31.2 percent in 2013, according to research published in the May 25 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
WEDNESDAY, May 30, 2018 -- Higher dietary protein intake is associated with a trend toward increased heart failure risk among middle-aged men, according to a study published online May 29 in Circulation: Heart Failure.
TUESDAY, May 29, 2018 -- Clinicians caring for older adults with hypertension should be mindful of the specific blood pressure (BP) goals proven to reduce cardiovascular disease events, while adopting the new 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) hypertension guideline, according to an article published online May 20 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
TUESDAY, May 29, 2018 -- For an extended duration, reduced-dose direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) may be as effective as full-dose treatment for preventing recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to a review published online May 17 in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
FRIDAY, May 25, 2018 -- The 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association hypertension guideline is associated with an increase in the proportion of adults recommended for antihypertensive treatment compared with the 2014 guideline, according to a study published online May 23 in JAMA Cardiology.
FRIDAY, May 25, 2018 -- Adults with severe atopic eczema are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online May 23 in The BMJ.
FRIDAY, May 25, 2018 -- Long-term mortality after congenital heart surgery is higher than that of the general population for all forms of congenital heart defects (CHDs), according to a study published in the May 29 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
FRIDAY, May 25, 2018 -- For patients with very severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 60-day mortality is not significantly lower with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) than with continued conventional treatment, according to a study published online in the May 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 -- Patients served by the beleaguered Veterans Affairs health system may have wider access to private care, thanks to a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate. President Donald Trump is known to support the bill, which now awaits his signature.
THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 -- South Asians in the United States have increased proportional mortality rates from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), although there are no unique risk factors in this population, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association published online May 24 in Circulation.
THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 -- Financial incentives added to free cessation aids can improve the rate of sustained abstinence among smokers, according to a study published online May 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 -- Greater perceived social isolation is associated with an increased risk of death and health care use among patients with heart failure, according to a study published online May 23 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 -- There is considerable global variation in personal health care access and quality, according to a study published online May 23 in The Lancet.
WEDNESDAY, May 23, 2018 -- Pediatricians should advocate for life support training for children, parents, caregivers, school personnel, and the public, according to a technical report and policy statement published online May 23 in Pediatrics.
WEDNESDAY, May 23, 2018 -- For women with heart disease, cardiac complications occur in 16 percent of pregnancies and are mainly linked to arrhythmias and heart failure, according to a study published in the May 29 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
WEDNESDAY, May 23, 2018 -- For stable warfarin-treated patients, extended international normalized ratio (INR) testing can be successfully and safely implemented, according to a study published online May 15 in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
WEDNESDAY, May 23, 2018 -- More active alternatives to the car for travel are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, according to a study published online May 21 in Heart.
TUESDAY, May 22, 2018 -- Readmissions are higher in homeless veterans discharged to the community after surgery, compared to housed veterans, according to a study published in the June issue of Medical Care.
TUESDAY, May 22, 2018 -- A moderate level of egg consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online May 21 in Heart.
TUESDAY, May 22, 2018 -- Overall, 9.1 percent of individuals in the United States were uninsured in 2017, which was not significantly different from the level in 2016, according to a report published online May 22 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Centers for Health Statistics.
MONDAY, May 21, 2018 -- Increasing patients' physical activity is an effective strategy to lower future risk of heart failure, according to a study published in the May issue of Circulation.
MONDAY, May 21, 2018 -- There is a bidirectional association between depression and heart rate variability (HRV), according to a study published online May 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.
FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 -- Stigmatizing language used in medical records to describe patients can influence medical students and residents in terms of their attitudes towards the patient and their clinical decision-making, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 -- The drug abuse epidemic in the United States has been associated with an increase in the recovery of organs from brain-dead donors, according to a research letter published in the May 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 -- Risk-standardized mortality rates for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and chronic heart failure vary across Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs), according to a study published online May 16 in JAMA Cardiology.
FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 -- Obesity is linked to an increased risk of smoking and an increase in the number of cigarettes smoked daily, according to a study published online May 16 in The BMJ.
THURSDAY, May 17, 2018 -- Acute kidney injury (AKI) is independently associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events, especially heart failure, after hospital discharge, according to a study published online May 17 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
THURSDAY, May 17, 2018 -- One to two servings of seafood per week is recommended for cardiovascular benefits, according to an American Heart Association science advisory published online May 17 in Circulation.
THURSDAY, May 17, 2018 -- Patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) have more variants in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)-associated genes than those without ACM, according to a study published in the May 22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
WEDNESDAY, May 16, 2018 -- A nonprofit manufacturer could help keep generic drug prices down and maintain their supply, according to a perspective piece published in the May 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
WEDNESDAY, May 16, 2018 -- Current percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) public reporting programs could have negative effects, with physicians avoiding PCI in high-risk patients, according to a study published online May 9 in JAMA Cardiology.
WEDNESDAY, May 16, 2018 -- Best practices have been developed for using electronic health records (EHRs) to enhance patient-centered care, according to an article published online in Medical Economics.
TUESDAY, May 15, 2018 -- Hyoscyamine can prevent pacemaker placement in a patient with symptoms caused by a slow ventricular response during atrial fibrillation, according to a case study published online May 15 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
TUESDAY, May 15, 2018 -- High levels of occupational physical activity in men are associated with an increased risk of early mortality, according to a review published online May 14 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
TUESDAY, May 15, 2018 -- For pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery, early postoperative acetaminophen exposure may be associated with a reduced rate of acute kidney injury (AKI), according to a study published online May 14 in JAMA Pediatrics.
MONDAY, May 14, 2018 -- Exposure to ambient air pollution in the third trimester of pregnancy is associated with increased risk of elevated blood pressure (BP) among offspring, according to a study published online May 14 in Hypertension.
FRIDAY, May 11, 2018 -- Patients with heart failure frequently have malnutrition, which is associated with increased mortality, according to a study published online May 9 in JACC: Heart Failure.
THURSDAY, May 10, 2018 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched legal action to stop two stem cell clinics from providing unapproved treatments that have caused serious, long-term harm to some patients.
THURSDAY, May 10, 2018 -- Obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) can help promote risk identification and reduction of cardiovascular disease among women at well-women visits, according to an American Heart Association/American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology presidential advisory published online May 10 in Circulation.
TUESDAY, May 8, 2018 -- Regulatory requirements are likely to be an important aspect of physician dissatisfaction with electronic health records (EHRs) that is driving burnout, according to an Ideas and Opinions piece published online May 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
TUESDAY, May 8, 2018 -- Endometrial cancer survivors have an elevated risk of various adverse long-term cardiovascular outcomes, according to a study published online May 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
MONDAY, May 7, 2018 -- Hypertensive patients may lower their stroke risk with folic acid supplements, according to a study published in the May 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
FRIDAY, May 4, 2018 -- Many organizations are not meeting the trial registration and results reporting requirements clarified by "The Final Rule," which had a compliance date of April 18, 2017, according to a study published online May 1 in BMC Medicine.
FRIDAY, May 4, 2018 -- Among patients with coronary heart disease without severe systolic dysfunction, sudden and/or arrhythmic deaths (SAD) account for a considerable proportion of deaths, according to a study published online May 2 in JAMA Cardiology.
WEDNESDAY, May 2, 2018 -- For adults, frequent sauna bathing is associated with reduced risk of future stroke, according to a study published online May 2 in Neurology.
WEDNESDAY, May 2, 2018 -- Women are well-represented in some cardiovascular disease clinical trials, but representation of women is low for trials in certain conditions, according to a study published in the May 8 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
WEDNESDAY, May 2, 2018 -- Among heart failure patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), African-Americans are less likely than Caucasians to receive primary care by a cardiologist, according to a study published in the May 1 issue of JACC: Heart Failure.
WEDNESDAY, May 2, 2018 -- For hospitalized adults with serious illness, receiving a palliative care consultation (PCC) is associated with a reduction in hospital costs, according to a review published online April 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
TUESDAY, May 1, 2018 -- Physicians should be aware of the correct protocol for, as well as the laws involved in, firing employees, according to a report published in Medical Economics.
TUESDAY, May 1, 2018 -- Perioperative major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) are more common among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), according to a study published online April 4 in Diabetes Care.
TUESDAY, May 1, 2018 -- Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) is not a stable or reliable indicator of future cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, according to a study published in the May 1 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
TUESDAY, May 1, 2018 -- Adoption of policies allowing emergency medical services (EMS) to bypass non-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capable hospitals for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with increased receipt of timely PCI, according to a study published online May 1 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.