The risk of dying from heart disease increases with the earliest sign that the body is having trouble metabolizing glucose, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab), participants with impaired fasting glucose, a condition considered pre-diabetes, “after five years were more than twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease,” said Elizabeth L.M. Barr, M.P.H., lead author of the study at the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
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Heart attack patients received lifesaving care up to an hour sooner after an Indiana hospital implemented a novel protocol to rapidly activate the cardiac catheterization lab, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Compared to the traditional protocol, patients arrived at the cardiac catheterization lab (“cath lab”) sooner for artery-opening procedures, had less heart damage and shorter hospital stays. The new protocol also reduced the cost of care.
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Environmental tobacco smoke has an adverse effect on children as young as 11 years, according to new evidence reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The findings add to the mounting evidence of the harmful health consequences of secondhand smoke exposure in children.
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People who eat diets containing fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils that contain omega-3 fatty acids tend to have lower blood pressure, according to a report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. “A large percentage of people between ages 20 and 60 have a rise in blood pressure, and by middle age many have high blood pressure. We’re looking at dietary factors that may help prevent that rise, and omega-3 fatty acids are a small, but important piece of the action,” said Jeremiah Stamler, M.D., co-author of the study and professor emeritus of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
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