(Press-News.org) Dr Gitt said: "There are wide variations between European countries in the achievement of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. However the effect of different reimbursement systems on meeting the targets was unknown."
Between June 2008 and February 2009 DYSIS assessed the prevalence and types of persistent lipid abnormalities in patients receiving statins. Eligible patients were at high risk of a cardiovascular event, aged >45 years, and had been on chronic statin treatment for at least three months. A total of 22,063 patients were enrolled from 2,954 sites across 11 European countries and Canada.
The current subanalysis examined the possible impact of reimbursement systems on the achievement of LDL-C targets in 4,260 German patients and 540 UK patients. Germany operates a "restrictive" system in which chronic medical treatment is restricted by budget constraints. In the UK's incentive system, reimbursement of general practitioners (GPs) is linked to achieving cholesterol targets.
Dr Gitt said: "The bottom line is that German doctors fear a punitive system where they could be fined if they don't stay within budget while UK doctors get rewarded for achieving targets."
The study found that just 42% of German patients achieved the target of LDL-C END
Reimbursement systems influence achievement of cholesterol targets
2013-08-31
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Statins reduce CV events in CAD patients with very low LDL-C
2013-08-31
Dr Nakano said: "Many randomised clinical trials, such as Treating to New Targets (TNT) and PROVE IT-TIMI, have shown that aggressive cholesterol lowering with statins improves clinical outcomes in patients with CAD and high LDL-C levels.1,2 But until now it was not known whether aggressive lipid lowering with statins would also benefit CAD patients with very low LDL-C levels."
The current study used the Ibaraki Cardiovascular Assessment Study (ICAS), a registry of 2,238 patients from 12 hospitals in the Ibaraki region of Japan, who between 0 and 1 month underwent percutaneous ...
Impact of AF on stroke risk eliminated with multiple risk factors
2013-08-31
Dr Benn Christiansen said: "We know that atrial fibrillation increases the risk of ischemic stroke. And in patients with atrial fibrillation or previous ischemic stroke, the risk of stroke increases with the number of risk factors. But until now, little attention has been paid to the association between stroke risk and risk factors in patients without prior stroke or atrial fibrillation. We wanted to explore that association and to quantify if stroke risk was of comparable size in patients with numerous risk factors."
The study included 4,198,119 people aged 18 to 90 ...
Mass screening identifies untreated AF in 5% of 75-76 year olds
2013-08-31
Stroke is the second cause of death worldwide. Atrial fibrillation is the most common clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmia in Europe, affecting approximately 1.5-2% of the general population.1 Prevalence is estimated to double in the next 50 years as the population ages.
Patients with atrial fibrillation have a five-fold increased risk of ischaemic stroke even though around 30% have no symptoms. As blood is less adequately shifted from the heart during atrial fibrillation, blood clots can form and cause large ischaemic strokes. Strokes that occur in association with ...
CHADS2 risk score assigns over one-third of stroke patients to low or intermediate stroke risk
2013-08-31
In contrast, a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 identifies a subgroup of patients with very low stroke risk unlikely to benefit from anticoagulation treatment.
Professor Nabauer said: "AF is the most frequent cardiac arrhythmia requiring hospitalisation and has a 1-2% prevalence in the general population. AF is associated with a significant risk of stroke with frequently disabling consequences. While oral anticoagulation is very effective in preventing ischaemic strokes in AF, it increases bleeding risk. Identification of patients with low risk of stroke not requiring oral anticoagulation ...
Statins prevent cataracts
2013-08-31
Cataracts are the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide affecting more than 20 million people. Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications. In the USA they are prescribed to 1 in 3 people over 45 years of age at a cost of $35 billion annually.
Professor Kostis said: "There is persistent concern among physicians and other health care providers about the possible cataractogenicity of statins.1 We therefore investigated the relationship of statins and cataracts in a meta-analysis of 14 studies selected after detailed review of the medical literature. ...
Diabetic stroke risk after AMI drops in 10 year period
2013-08-31
The findings were presented at the ESC Congress today by Ms Stina Jakobsson from Sweden. They reveal that reperfusion therapy and secondary prevention drugs produced the decline and brought stroke risk after AMI closer to that of non-diabetics.
Ms Jakobsson said: "Ischemic stroke following an acute myocardial infarction is a fairly uncommon but devastating event with high mortality. It has long been recognized that patients with diabetes mellitus are at a particularly high risk of complications after an AMI but until now, the risk of ischemic stroke after an AMI in patients ...
Short-term smoking cessation reverses endothelial damage
2013-08-31
Dr Dohi said: "Smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack as people who have never smoked. Quitting smoking is the most important thing people can do to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease. But until now, studies have not examined whether the increased risk caused by smoking is completely reversed after smoking cessation."
The current study investigated how the vascular system is altered by smoking and whether the changes can be normalised by smoking cessation. The researchers focused on the effects of smoking and smoking cessation on arterial endothelial ...
Smokers who survive to 70 still lose 4 years of life
2013-08-31
Dr Emberson said: "Despite recent declines in the numbers of people smoking and tar yields of cigarettes, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in Europe."
He added: "Previous studies had demonstrated that prolonged cigarette smoking from early adult life was associated with about 10 years loss of life expectancy, with about one quarter of smokers killed by their habit before the age of 70. Stopping at ages 60, 50, 40 or 30 years gained back about 3, 6, 9 or the full 10 years. However, the hazards of continuing to smoke and the benefits of stopping in ...
STEMI incidence falls in southern Switzerland after smoking ban implemented
2013-08-31
Second-hand smoke increases the risk of coronary artery disease and acute myocardial infarction. For this reason, health policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption and public smoke exposure are strongly recommended.
Dr Porretta said: "Canton Ticino (CT), which is one of the 26 cantons of the Swiss Federation, was the first Swiss canton to introduce a smoking ban in April 2007. We had the opportunity to assess the long-term impact of the smoking ban on the incidence of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and to compare STEMI epidemiology with Canton ...
GPs undertreat women with AF
2013-08-31
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Saturday 31 August 2013: General practitioners (GPs) undertreat women with atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research presented at ESC Congress 2013 today by Dr Pierre Sabouret from France. The analysis of more than 15,000 patients showed that women were undertreated with antithrombotic medications compared to men regardless of their stroke risk and comorbidities.
Dr Sabouret said: "Gender-related differences among outpatients with stable coronary artery disease are well known.1-6 Heart diseases are one of the most important causes of ...