American Heart Association, Nov. 3-7, 2012

The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012

The annual meeting of the American Heart Association was held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles and attracted approximately 19,000 participants from around the world, including cardiovascular specialists, surgeons, and nurses as well as other health care professionals. The conference featured presentations focusing on the latest advances in cardiovascular medicine and surgery and providing insight into the prevention, diagnosis, and management of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, and stroke.

Total and heart-related deaths have been known to occur with seasonal variation, with higher rates in the winter. In one study, Bryan G. Schwartz, M.D., of the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, and colleagues found that the increase in death rates in wintertime was very similar between locations with different climates, including hot climates, cold climates, and more moderate climates.

"Our findings suggest that temperature is not the only factor or is not the primary factor influencing higher death rates in the wintertime," Schwartz said. "Other factors that may contribute to increased death rates in the wintertime might include: respiratory infection or influenza; the decreased hours of daylight often associated with depressive symptoms and seasonal affective disorder; less healthy lifestyles, including worse diet, less exercise, and weight gain."

Abstract No. 11723

In another study, David E. Durrant, of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and colleagues not only found that the combination of sildenafil and rapamycin was effective in protecting isolated cardiomyocytes from the toxic effects of doxorubicin but also helped to reduce the percentage of viable breast cancer cells.

"This is due to the ability of sildenafil and rapamycin to inhibit the cancer cells' ability to pump the doxorubicin out of the cell, thereby increasing the intracellular concentration of doxorubicin, which would ultimately lead to more DNA damage. This increase in concentration due to combination treatment was absent in heart cells allowing the known protective mechanisms of these drugs to take hold," Durrant said. "This is an attractive strategy to increase the anti-cancer effects of doxorubicin while protecting against one of the major toxic side effects, which is cardiotoxicity. This combination may also help in the same way with other chemotherapeutic drugs that also have associated cardiotoxicity."

Abstract No. 16494

Heather M. Johnson, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and colleagues found that multiple factors, including patient characteristics, provider characteristics, and health care system factors, contribute to the low diagnosis rates for hypertension in young adults.

"Greater than 50 percent of young adults (18 to 39 years old) with multiple elevated blood pressures for at least two years remained undiagnosed for hypertension," Johnson said. "Young adults were much less likely to have received a high blood pressure diagnosis compared to older adults. Young adults whose primary spoken language was not English were less likely to receive a high blood pressure diagnosis."

The investigators also found that young adults of an ethnic minority were more likely to be diagnosed and that female providers were more likely to diagnose high blood pressure in young adults than male providers.

"This research can help guide the development of interventions tailored to young adults to address poor hypertension diagnosis rates," Johnson added. "Improving rates of hypertension diagnosis among young adults will help improve the control of hypertension in this population."

Abstract No. 16557

AHA: Increased Cancer Risk for Patients With Heart Failure

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- People with newly diagnosed heart failure are significantly more likely to develop cancer than community controls, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: AMG145 Lowers LDL Levels in Statin-Intolerant

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Subcutaneously administered AMG145, a monoclonal antibody to plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), correlates with significant reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in patients who are intolerant to statins due to muscle-related side effects, according to research published online Nov. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Peri-Op Omega-3s Don't Reduce Atrial Fibrillation

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Perioperative supplementation with long chain n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3-PUFAs) does not reduce postoperative atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF), compared with placebo, according to a study published online Nov. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Reprogramming Defibrillators Improves Therapy

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Reprogramming the firing settings for an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in patients with heart disease reduces inappropriate firings and reduces death, according to a study published online Nov. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Visible Aging Signs Predict Heart Disease, MI Risk

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- People with three or four visible signs of aging, such as frontoparietal or crown top baldness, earlobe crease, or xanthelasmata, have a significantly increased risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and myocardial infarction (MI), according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Multivitamins Don't Reduce Cardiovascular Events

TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Multivitamins do not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, according to a study published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Allogeneic Stem Cells OK in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are safe; and delivery of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMC) to patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has no effect on the recovery of left ventricular function, according to two studies published online Nov. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Social Cocaine Use Tied to Environment for Heart Attack

TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Regular social cocaine users have increased systolic blood pressure (SBP), stiffer arteries, and thicker heart muscle walls than non-users, according to a small study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Infusion of apoA Induces Reverse Cholesterol Transport

TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Infusion of CSL112 (apolipoprotein A-1 [apoA-1]), the active protein of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), induces key biomarkers in the initial steps of reverse cholesterol transport in healthy individuals, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: CABG Tops PCI in Diabetes, Advanced CAD

MONDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with diabetes and multivessel coronary artery disease, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is associated with better outcomes than percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents, according to a study published online Nov. 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Aspirin Doesn't Reduce Recurrence After First VTE

MONDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with a first episode of unprovoked venous thromboembolism who complete initial anticoagulant therapy, aspirin does not reduce the recurrence of venous thromboembolism, but does correlate with a reduction in the rate of major vascular events, according to a study published online Nov. 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Engineered Tomatoes Can Deliver Oral apoA-I Mimetic

MONDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A genetically-engineered tomato containing apoA-I mimetic peptide, and bile salt hydrolase (BSH)-active Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) NCIMB 30242 capsules may be promising for favorably affecting cholesterol levels, according to two studies presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Insomnia Linked to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

MONDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Insomnia is associated with a greater risk of heart attack and stroke independent of established cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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AHA: Device Uses Heartbeats to Power Pacemaker

MONDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental device about half the size of the batteries currently used in implantable devices can harness enough energy from a beating heart to generate adequate power to run a pacemaker, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.

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