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Results from this small, 8-week crossover study suggest that the antioxidant Pycnogenol, which also possesses anti-inflammatory actions, could help improve endothelial function in people with stable coronary artery disease.
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Aspirin can reduce the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction, but not mortality, in people without coronary vascular disease, at the expense of increased risk of bleeding. It should not be routinely recommended.
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Among patients with coronary heart disease and LDL-cholesterol levels less than 70 mg/dL, there is no incremental clinical benefit from the addition of niacin to statin therapy during a 36-month follow-up, despite improvements in HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
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This brief but important intervention trial was detailed recently in the pages of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The conclusion was that eating canned soup on a regular basis could rapidly increase the body load of BPA, high levels of which have been associated with a variety of illnesses.
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The first results of a 5-year study of the effects a mindfulness-based stress reduction program on medical complications and psychosocial outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes show prolonged reduction in psychological distress and depression compared to usual care.
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Both vitamin D deficiency and supplementation with vitamin D are significantly associated with several cardiovascular outcomes, including mortality.
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Aspirin can reduce the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction, but not mortality, in people without coronary vascular disease, at the expense of increased risk of bleeding. It should not be routinely recommended.
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Zinc deficiency is defined as a serum zinc level < 60 mg/dL. Unfortunately, there is some question about the reliability of zinc levels to accurately reflect zinc status, since some persons with prototypic symptoms of zinc deficiency (loss of appetite, diarrhea, hair loss, delayed wound healing, and smell and taste disturbances) have normal zinc levels.
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The FDA has approved a once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes. The new product is a subcutaneously administered extended-release form of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, exenatide. Exenatide extended-release is marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Alkermes PLC as Bydureon.
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There do not appear to be any safety issues with the long-term use of statins.
