PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Preoperative statins reduce mortality in coronary artery bypass graft surgery

2015-06-01
(Press-News.org) Research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia exploring the protective effect of various heart medications that patients are taking before undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery concludes that statins reduce the risk of death by two thirds, or 67 percent, while no consistent effects were seen for other medications. The study is reported by Assistant Professor Dr. Robert Sanders, Anesthesiology & Critical care Trials & Interdisciplinary Outcomes Network (ACTION), Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WN, USA, and Drs. Puja Myles and Sudhir Venkatesan, University of Nottingham, UK with collaborators at the University of Southampton, Royal Brompton Hospital, London and University Hospital South Manchester NHS Trust, all in the UK.

In CABG surgery, blood is diverted around narrowed or clogged parts of the major arteries to improve blood flow and oxygen supply to the heart. Giving preoperative cardiovascular medications can influence the risks from CABG surgery. Previous research has shown statins can reduce risk of postoperative death. However the effects of other drugs -- including angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel antagonists, alpha2 adrenergic agonists and beta blockers -- is less clear. The researchers evaluated the influence of each of these medications on perioperative risk and the long term and class protective effect of statins.

The team used for their analysis data from 16,192 patients aged 40 years and over who underwent CABG surgery from the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Statistical models that took into account a number of other factors (including history of other chronic illnesses, medications and comorbidities) influencing perioperative mortality were used to establish the effects of each medication.

Exposure to statins was most prevalent (85 percent of patients), followed by beta-blockers (73 percent), ACE inhibitors (60 percent), calcium channel blockers (43 percent) and alpha-2 agonists (1 percent). Statins as a group were associated with a statistically significant protective effect against perioperative mortality in each of the five statistical models used, with the likelihood of death reduced from between 65 and 74 percent. The authors were able to show that simvastatin, the mostly commonly prescribed statin, exerted protective effects, reducing likelihood of death by 77 percent. Consistent effects on perioperative mortality for the other medications (beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers and alpha-2 agonists) were not observed.

The authors conclude: "Statins were associated with a significant protective effect on perioperative mortality from CABG surgery that was not shared by the other cardiovascular medications. Further data are needed on whether all statins exert similar effects."

They explain further: "In combination with previous studies, these data suggest that patients not taking statins should be considered for statin therapy based on their perioperative and chronic health risks. Consistent evidence of benefit or harm of the other drugs was not observed. Further data on the relative benefits of individual statin drugs are required -- however this study suggests that at least simvastatin offers protection."

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Immunotherapy drug improves survival for common form of lung cancer

2015-06-01
In a head-to-head clinical trial comparing standard chemotherapy with the immunotherapy drug nivolumab, researchers found that people with squamous-non-small cell lung cancer who received nivolumab lived, on average, 3.2 months longer than those receiving chemotherapy. Squamous non-small cell lung cancer accounts for 25 to 30 percent of all lung malignancies. Results of the trial, reported in the May 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology 2015 annual meeting, also showed that after a year, the nivolumab ...

Contact lens wearers note: Your eyes may get more infections because their microbiomes changed

2015-05-31
Using high-precision genetic tests to differentiate the thousands of bacteria that make up the human microbiome, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center suggest that they have found a possible -- and potentially surprising -- root cause of the increased frequency of certain eye infections among contact lens wearers. In a study report on their work to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology on May 31 in New Orleans, NYU Langone researchers say they have identified a diverse set of microorganisms in the eyes of daily contact lens wearers ...

Immunotherapy combo increases progression-free survival in advanced melanoma patients

2015-05-31
CHICAGO, IL, MAY 31, 2015 -- Treating advanced melanoma patients with either a combination of the immunotherapy drugs nivolumab (Opdivo™) and ipilimumab (Yervoy™) or nivolumab alone significantly increases progression-free survival (PFS) over using ipilimumab alone, according to new findings from researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) simultaneously presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Examining specific characteristics of each ...

Removing more breast tissue reduces by half the need for second cancer surgery

2015-05-30
New Haven, Conn. -- Removing more tissue during a partial mastectomy could spare thousands of breast cancer patients a second surgery, according to a Yale Cancer Center study. The findings were published online May 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. Nearly 300,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer each year; more than half undergo breast-conserving surgery with a partial mastectomy to remove the disease. However, between 20% and 40% of patients ...

Targeted drug can 'diminish the suffering' of myelofibrosis say Mayo Clinic researchers

2015-05-30
CHICAGO -- Use of the targeted agent pacritinib significantly reduced the symptoms and burden of advanced myelofibrosis in patients, says a Mayo Clinic researcher who co-led PERSIST-1, the worldwide phase III clinical trial that tested the therapy. Specifically, pacritinib substantially reduced severe enlargement of the spleen, a typical feature of advanced myelofibrosis, in more than 20 percent of patients and alleviated debilitating side effects in more than 46 percent. Investigators further found that pacritinib could be used safely in patients with myelofibrosis who ...

Combining targeted drug with chemotherapy offers longer life to b-cell cancer patients

2015-05-30
CHICAGO -- Because of the significant benefit found in combining the targeted drug ibrutinib with standard chemotherapy for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), an interim analysis has closed the international HELIOS phase III clinical trial. Led by Mayo Clinic, researchers found that ibrutinib and chemotherapy (bendamustine and rituximab, known as BR) reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by almost 80 percent in patients with previously treated CLL or SLL, compared to use of BR alone. The announcement was made at ...

EARTH: Rock stars -- Geologists on the silver screen

2015-05-29
Alexandria, VA - As this summer's blockbuster movie season gets underway, EARTH Magazine asks an important question: In movies, "are geologists portrayed as heroes or villains?" The topic of how geologists are portrayed in film has been oft-debated around a campfire, or over a frosty beverage at the end of a day of fieldwork, but now four scientists bring some serious analysis to the subject in the June issue feature, "Rock Stars - Geologists on the Silver Screen." The authors - all geologists in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden ...

Rapid and cost-effective chromosomal phasing is possible with Droplet Digital PCR Technology

2015-05-29
Hercules, CA -- May 29, 2015 -- Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Digital Biology Center at Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. have developed a rapid, scalable, and cost-effective method for chromosomal phasing that provides researchers with a new method to determine if genetic variants are linked on the same chromosome. Using Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCRTM) technology, the Drop-Phase method can rapidly determine the chromosomal phase of allelic markers hundreds of kilobases apart. This ability may provide new insights into the cause, penetrance, and severity ...

Genetic biomarker may predict cancer patients' response to immunotherapy drug

2015-05-29
In a report of a proof-of-principle study of patients with colon and other cancers for whom standard therapies failed, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say that mistakes in so-called mismatch repair genes, first identified by Johns Hopkins and other scientists two decades ago, may accurately predict who will respond to certain immunotherapy drugs known as PD-1 inhibitors. Such drugs aim to disarm systems developed by cancer cells to evade detection and destruction by immune system cells. Results of the trial with pembrolizumab, marketed as Keytruda, ...

Modeling storm surge to better protect Texas

2015-05-29
The recent floods in Texas have caused some of the worst flooding since Hurricane Ike in 2008, causing the rainiest month in the state's history. What lessons have been learned from Ike's devastation of the Galveston and Houston area, and how have they helped in the prediction of future such storms? Researchers at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin have been studying computational models and simulations of hurricanes like Ike in order to predict the consequences of such natural disasters and better prepare ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Smart is sexy: evolution of intelligence partly driven by love

Have we been wrong about why Mars is red?

Screening & treating maternal psychological health key to improving cardiovascular health

Childhood trauma increases incidence of heart disease in Black women, Emory study finds

Why is Mars red? Scientists may finally have the answer

Research challenges our understanding of cancer predisposition

What makes cancer cells weak

Robots learn how to move by watching themselves

MD Anderson researchers develop novel antibody-toxin conjugate

One in ten older South Asian immigrants in Canada have hypothyroidism

Substantial portion of cancer patients in early trials access drugs that are later approved

New study calls for ethical framework to protect Indigenous genetic privacy in wastewater monitoring

Common medications may affect brain development through unexpected cholesterol disruption

Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars

Non-destructive image sensor goes beyond bulkiness

1st Japanese version of US psychological scale for esophageal symptoms

HikingTTE: a deep learning approach for hiking travel time estimation based on personal walking ability

Environment nudges birds to fast, or slow, life lane

The U-shaped relationship between admission peripheral oxygen saturation and all-cause hospital mortality in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective analysis using

New research highlights wide variation in prostate cancer testing between GP practices

Antidepressants linked to faster cognitive decline in dementia

DNA origami suggests route to reusable, multifunctional biosensors

Virginia Tech study reveals that honeybee dance ‘styles’ sway food foraging success

Beehive sensors offer hope in saving honeybee colonies

Award-winning research may unlock universe’s origins

BRCA1 gene mutations may not be key to prostate cancer initiation, as previously thought

Melatonin supplementation may help offset DNA damage linked to night shift work

Common gynaecological disorders linked to raised heart and cerebrovascular disease risk

Nerve fibers in the inner ear adjust sound levels and help compensate for hearing loss in mice, study finds

ECMWF – Europe’s leading centre for weather prediction makes forecast data from AI model available to all

[Press-News.org] Preoperative statins reduce mortality in coronary artery bypass graft surgery