(Press-News.org) Dr Laukkanen said: "Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for approximately 50% of deaths from coronary heart disease. SCD typically occurs shortly after the onset of symptoms, leaving little time for effective medical interventions, and most cases occur outside hospital with few or no early warning signs. Finding ways to identify individuals at elevated risk of SCD would allow early interventions on risk factors to be implemented."
The current study investigated the impact of high leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) combined with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on risk of SCD. It included 2,656 randomly selected men aged 42 to 60 years from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, a Finnish study of risk predictors for cardiovascular outcomes and SCD in the general population. Baseline cycle exercise test and risk factor assessment were performed in 1984-89. SCD was defined as death with cardiac origin within 24 hours after onset of symptoms.
LTPA was assessed using a 12-month physical activity questionnaire. One third of subjects had low LTPA (energy consumption END
Physical activity decreases sudden cardiac death risk in unfit men
2013-09-01
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Cold weather produces more heart attacks
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Professor Claeys said: "Air pollution and temperature changes are the most frequently reported environmental triggers for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Epidemiologic studies have focused mainly on one environmental condition, but most environmental triggers are related to each other and may attenuate or reinforce the triggering effect of a single environmental factor."
He added: "Better knowledge of the impact of environment on AMI will help medical care providers and policy makers to optimise prevention strategies for a target risk population."
The present study ...
Cardiovascular risk factors highest in winter and lowest in summer
2013-09-01
Dr Marques-Vidal said: "Deaths from cardiovascular disease are higher in winter and lower in summer. We decided to conduct a large scale study to see whether cardiovascular risk factors have a seasonal pattern which could explain the seasonality in deaths."
The study used cross-sectional data from 10 population based studies in 7 countries. Information was obtained on cardiovascular risk factors in 107,090 subjects aged 35 to 80 years. The country breakdown was as follows: 21,128 subjects in Belgium, 15,664 in Denmark, 1,626 in France, 18,370 in Italy, 25,532 in Norway, ...
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival just 7 percent
2013-09-01
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Sunday 1 September 2013: Survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is just 7%, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2013 by Professor Xavier Jouven and Dr Wulfran Bougouin from France.
Professor Jouven said: "Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important public health problem, accounting for more than 400,000 deaths every year. The main cause is ventricular tachyarrhythmias which are often triggered by acute ischaemic events that can occur in persons with or without known heart disease. The survival rate from cardiac arrest has remained ...
Quitting smoking drops heart attack risk to levels of never smokers
2013-09-01
Dr Min said: "Smoking is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Studies have identified that quitting smoking can reduce heart attacks and death but have not examined the relationship of this salutary effect on the presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Our study aimed to find out what impact stopping smoking had on the risk of cardiovascular events, death and the severity of CAD."
The prospective CONFIRM (Coronary CT Evaluation for Clinical Outcomes: An International Multicenter Study) registry of 13,372 patients from 9 countries in Europe, ...
Family history doubles aortic stenosis risk
2013-09-01
Aortic stenosis is the most common heart valve disease in the elderly. It is associated with congenital bicuspid aortic valve and previous rheumatic heart disease, but is also often caused by calcification of a normal valve. Calcification of a normal valve may be associated with atherosclerotic changes in the portion of the aorta closest to the valve.
Dr Ranthe said: "Genetic factors may play a role in the development of aortic stenosis. A single nucleotide polymorphism in the lipoprotein(a) locus has been associated with aortic valve calcification and aortic stenosis.1 ...
Pre-treatment with prasugrel -- more risk, no benefit: ACCOAST
2013-09-01
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – In patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE- ACS), pre-treatment with the P2Y12 antagonist prasugrel prior to catheterization, significantly increases the risk of life-threatening bleeding without reducing the risk of major ischemic events, according to the results of the ACCOAST (A Comparison of Prasugrel at PCI or Time of Diagnosis of Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) trial.
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Preventive PCI results in better outcomes than culprit artery PCI alone in ST elevation MI
2013-09-01
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Heart attack patients with ST elevation who undergo a preventive procedure to unblock additional coronary arteries have significantly better outcomes than those whose treatment is confined to the culprit blockage only, according to the results of the Preventive Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction (PRAMI) Trial.
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A shorter interruption of anti-thrombotics does not influence peri-operative complications
2013-09-01
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – A shortened pre-surgical interruption of anti-thrombotic therapy, compared to the more traditional one-week interruption, has no influence on perioperative complications in cardiac patients, according to the results of the PRAGUE 14 trial.
"Thus, there is no evidence to support changing the traditional approach of interrupting antithrombotic therapy one week before surgery," said lead investigator Petr Widimsky, MD., DrSc., from the Cardiocenter of Charles University, in Prague, Czech Republic.
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Study finds mechanical chest compressions are equally as effective as manual CPR
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Magnetic resonance imaging before ablation for atrial fibrosis helps predict success of treatment
2013-09-01
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – In patients with atrial fibrillation, delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) performed before ablative treatment can stage the degree of damaged heart tissue (atrial fibrosis) and help predict whether treatment will be successful or not, according to results of Delayed Enhancement - MRI determinant of successful Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation (DECAAF) trial.
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