JACC Releases

Contact: Amanda Jekowsky, 202-375-6645, ajekowsk@acc.org

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• November 21, 2011 Higher blood pressure in younger years leads to increased risk of death later in life Elevated blood pressure in early adulthood is associated with a greater risk of death decades later, including overall mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a new study published this week in the November 29, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). The findings represent the first analysis of high blood pressure in young adults that takes into consideration the impact of hypertension during middle age. Read More
• October 10, 2011 Chocolate Lovers May Have Added Reason to Indulge – in Moderation Chocolate lovers may have one more reason to give in to their cravings without the accompanying guilt. New research adds to the mounting evidence that consuming chocolate seems to lower the risk of stroke and – what’s new – it appears to be more protective against certain types of stroke. Moreover, women who ate the most chocolate – 66.5 grams each week, which amounts to roughly two chocolate bars – had a 20 percent lower risk of having a stroke, according to a research correspondence report in the October 18, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Read More
• September 19, 2011 Women From Low-Income Households at Greater Risk for Heart Failure Heart failure (HF) – a chronic condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the body – carries serious health consequences and financial burdens for many women 65 and older. But new data show that post-menopausal women who live in low income households and have less than a high-school education are at even greater risk for developing HF, regardless of race or ethnicity and even after adjusting for known risk factors, according to a study published in the September 27, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Read More
• September 19, 2011 Health Coverage – or Lack of it – Has Measureable Influence on Quality of Care and Outcomes for People With Heart Failure For people hospitalized with new or worsening heart failure (HF), the type of health coverage one has – if any – can make a big difference when it comes to the quality of care received, as well as clinical outcomes. In fact, compared to patients with private/HMO insurance, those with Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance have longer hospital stays and are less likely to receive some of the evidence-based therapies recommended for HF, according to a new study published in the September 27, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Read More
• September 12, 2011 Erectile Dysfunction Significantly Increases Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Erectile dysfunction (ED) significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and all-cause mortality, according to a meta-analysis conducted by a Chinese research team and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the association is independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors, a finding that may help to answer a pivotal question regarding the relationship of these two conditions. Read More
• September 12, 2011 Isolated, Small Muscle Training Increases Exercise Capacity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure Focusing on isolated, small muscle exercise effectively combats exercise intolerance in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), according to a study conducted by an Italian and American research team and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This type of exercise promotes better oxygen transport, overcoming the central limitation of the impaired cardiac function, which may have significant implications for improving the quality of life for people with CHF. Read More
• September 12, 2011 Metabolic Syndrome Found to be Greater Risk Factor for Heart Failure Than Obesity Alone Adding further data to the ongoing discussion about how to best prevent heart failure (HF), a Greek research team found that normal-weight people with metabolic syndrome (MetS) had higher rates of HF than obese study subjects without MetS, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The findings readdress the significance of MetS and insulin resistance as markers of future HF risk and highlight the importance of evaluating metabolic status in all cardiovascular risk stratification, regardless of weight. Read More
• September 5, 2011 Observed Hostility Better Predictor of Heart Disease than Patient Report Hostility identified by an interviewer, called “observed hostility,” appears to be a better predictor of ischemic heart disease than patient-reported hostility, and the presence of any hostility is more important than the severity, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). The study, appearing in the September 13, 2011 issue, found any level of observed hostility was associated with a two-fold increased risk in heart disease, independent of other psychosocial and cardiovascular risk factors. Read More
• August 8, 2011 Some Hospitals Better than Others in Selecting Patients to Undergo Cardiac Catheterization Hospitals vary markedly when it comes to the rate at which diagnostic coronary angiography or catheterization – an invasive procedure that allows doctors to see the vessels and arteries leading to the heart – actually finds obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in people without known heart disease. In fact, while some U.S. hospitals report that 100 percent of patients undergoing this procedure were found to have CAD, others had rates as low as 23 percent, meaning the majority of patients selected for elective catheterization did not have blockages, according to a new study published in the August 16, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers say these findings warrant further efforts to improve the patient selection and decision-making processes used by institutions to limit exposure to costly, invasive procedures when not needed. Read More
• March 7, 2011 Mediterranean Diet: A Heart-Healthy Plan for Life The Mediterranean diet has proven beneficial effects not only regarding metabolic syndrome, but also on its individual components including waist circumference, HDL-cholesterol levels, triglycerides levels, blood pressure levels and glucose metabolism, according to a new study published in the March 15, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study is a meta-analysis, including results of 50 studies on the Mediterranean diet, with an overall studied population of about half a million subjects. Read More
• February 21, 2011 Coronary Stent Thrombosis Influenced by Circadian Rhythms Circadian rhythms affect the incidence of coronary stent thrombosis, with more events occurring during the early morning hours, according to new research published in the February 2011 issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. The analysis was only the second study conducted on circadian (24-hour) variation in coronary stent thrombosis and was the first to also examine seasonal patterns and weekly variation. Its findings associate coronary stent thrombosis with several other adverse cardiac events that also follow a circadian pattern, such as stroke, unstable angina pectoris, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and sudden cardiac death. Read More
• January 24, 2011 Inappropriate shocks from ICDs ‘common’ and lead to greater risk of death Despite the benefits of therapy with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), inappropriate shocks from the devices are “common” and place patients at a greater mortality risk. These were the conclusions drawn by a Dutch research team that examined the incidence, predictors, and patient outcomes of inappropriate ICD shocks in a large, real-world patient population. Published in the February 1, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the study showed that inappropriate ICD shocks were more than just painful and psychologically disturbing—they also impacted patient survival. Read More
• January 24, 2011 Heart Disease: A Serious Family Affair According to a study published in the February 1, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, parental history of heart disease nearly doubles a person’s risk in all regions of the world, even after considering all other known risk factors of heart disease. In other words, many unknown genetic and environmental factors running in families remain to be discovered and play an important part in determining one’s likelihood of developing heart disease. Read More
• January 17, 2011 Habitual heavy drinking linked to greater risk of atrial fibrillation Regularly consuming large amounts of alcohol place people at greater risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) than those who are non-heavy drinkers, data from a recently published study suggest. Providing clarity to a research subject that has yielded inconsistent results, the meta-analysis of 14 studies also showed there is a linear dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and AF, suggesting that the risk of AF increases alongside an increasing amount of consumed alcohol. Read More
• January 17, 2011 Worsening depressive symptoms associated with adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure Patients with heart failure are more likely to experience adverse clinical outcomes if their depressive symptoms worsen, new research shows. Compared with patients showing little change or an improvement in depressive symptoms, those whose depressive symptoms worsened were at more than twice the risk of adverse outcomes, the analysis found, suggesting that routine assessment of depressive symptoms may help determine the appropriate medical management of this patient population. Read More
• January 17, 2011 Radiotherapy for breast cancer before 1984 increased long-term risk of cardiovascular mortality In one of the few studies with long-term data of over 20 years, researchers found that women who received radiotherapy before 1984 as part of their breast cancer treatment had significantly higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease than those who did not receive radiation. The findings shed light on some of breast cancer’s treatment –related toxicities, which have been a greater concern as the disease becomes increasingly survivable, resulting in a growing population of long-term survivors. Read More
• January 10, 2011 Couch Potatoes Beware: Too Much Time Spent Watching TV or Other Screen-Based Entertainment is Harmful to Overall and Heart Health Spending too much leisure time in front of a TV or computer screen appears to dramatically increase the risk for heart disease and premature death from any cause, perhaps regardless of how much exercise one gets, according to a new study published in the January 18, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Data show that compared to people who spend less than two hours each day on screen-based entertainment like watching TV, using the computer or playing video games, those who devote more than four hours to these activities are more than twice as likely to have a major cardiac event that involves hospitalization, death or both. Read More
• January 3, 2011 Breathing in Polluted Air May Play Bigger Role in Smog-Induced Arrhythmias Exposure to air pollution has been linked to deaths, including sudden death (arrhythmic mortality). A new study from the January 11, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) suggests the effects of air pollution on the heart and the rhythm of the heartbeat may be under-recognized. That’s because research finds that even healthy people with no known heart disease have detectable changes in important electrical properties of the heart when breathing in air pollution like the smog commonly encountered in cities worldwide. Read More
• January 3, 2011 Analysis of Multinational Trial Finds Patients with STEMI Who Complete Less than 8 Years of Schooling Less Likely to Receive Certain Treatments, More Likely to Die Health care providers may want to gauge patients’ level of education during routine medical histories and spend more time teaching lesser educated patients about coronary disease and the importance of secondary prevention and compliance with evidence-based treatments, according to researchers. New data published in the January 11, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) suggest years of (completed) education is a powerful predictor of mortality in older patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Read More