Tea Good For Women's Hearts?
25 March 2008
Women who drink three cups of tea a day "are less likely to have heart attacks and strokes," the Daily Express reports. The newspaper adds, however, that "strangely, no added benefit of tea drinking was found among women who only had one or two cups a day or for men".
The APRICOT-3 will be the first randomized trial in the current era of improved angioplasty techniques to study the question of whether a routine invasive strategy after successful thrombolysis can reduce the incidence of reocclusion and subsequently improve clinical outcome and LV-function. After successful thrombolysis, patients will be randomized to either a routine invasive strategy or an ischemia-guided strategy. The investigators expect to demonstrate a lower reocclusion rate at the 6-month follow-up angiography (primary endpoint) and fewer associated events (death, reinfarction, revascularization, admissions for heart failure) in the routine invasive arm. In search of non-invasive parameters predictive of reocclusion, laboratory analysis of several coagulation and inflammatory markers will be performed. Finally, pooled analysis of all 3 APRICOT trials will focus on the identification of clinical predictors of reocclusion that can easily be obtained by history and physical examination.
The purpose of the trial is to determine if extended-release dipyridamole + aspirin [Aggrenox, Asasantin] is superior to clopidogrel [Plavix], and if telmisartan [Micardis, Gliosartan, Kinzal, Kinzalmono, Predxal, Pritor, Samertan, Telmisartan] is superior to placebo, in the presence of background antihypertensive therapy, in prevention of a second stroke in patients who have recently suffered a stroke and therefore are at high risk of suffering another one.
Current management of patients with TIA (transient ischemic attack) or minor stroke includes the prompt investigation and treatment in the days and weeks after the event. However, new evidence shows patients are at the highest risk of stroke in the first few days after the TIA, with 50% of strokes which happen in the three months following TIA occurring within 48-72 hours. To date, there is no evidence to guide physicians on how to safely reduce this risk. The FASTER trial is focusing on the initial period of high risk, starting patients on stroke prevention treatments in the hours following a TIA or minor stroke. The drugs to be tested have been shown to be effective in the similar setting of cardiology, reducing recurrent cardiac events in patients with unstable angina when commenced with the same speed after an event.
Selected headlines from the top Cardiology journals
Practicing paramedics cannot generate or estimate safe endotracheal tube cuff pressure using standard techniques
In a study to determine the ability of paramedics to generate or estimate safe endotracheal tube cuff pressure every paramedic inflated the cuff above the safe limit, and 87% could not detect an overinflated cuff by palpation of the pilot balloon. Prehosp Emerg Care 2007; Jul-Sep;11(3):307-11
Lower BMI cut points in people of non-European descent
Different ethnic groups develop clinically significant increases in lipid, glucose, or blood-pressure levels at much lower body-mass indexes (BMIs) than those predicted in established BMI cut points, new research shows. Circulation 2007 April 9 Epub ahead of print
Nonvalidation of genetic variants as risk factors for ACS in large-scale replication study
The nonvalidation of 85 carefully selected genetic risk factors for ACS highlights the need for robust replication of putative genetic risk factors before their introduction into clinical care. JAMA 2007; 297:1551-1561
Guidelines Watch
A round up of the latest Clinical Guidelines from the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)
