The American Heart Association 2018 Scientific Sessions
The annual meeting of the American Heart Association was held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago and attracted more than 20,000 participants from around the world, including cardiovascular specialists, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals. The conference featured presentations focusing on the latest advances in cardiovascular medicine and surgery.
In one study, Meredith Duncan, of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues found a benefit to quitting smoking, as former heavy smokers can reduce their cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk by 38 percent within five years after quitting compared with continuing smokers. However, the investigators also found that it may take up to 16 years after quitting for the patient’s CVD risk to normalize to that of a never smoker.
“We utilized data from nearly 8,700 participants in the Original and Offspring cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study to assess risk of CVD among former smokers compared to current and never smokers,” Duncan said. “Our models were limited to heavy ever smokers, since 70 percent of CVD events among ever smokers occurred within these heavy users. Thus, we are unable to comment on risk within lighter smokers, but would stress that no amount of smoking is safe.”
The investigators defined a heavy smoking history to be a cumulative exposure of at least 20 pack-years (i.e., one pack/day for 20 years or two packs/day for 10 years).
“We observed that former heavy smokers experienced a swift CVD risk reduction relative to continuing smokers; specifically, former heavy smokers reduced their CVD risk by 38 percent within five years since quitting compared to those who continued to smoke,” Duncan said. “However, we also observed that while there is immense benefit to quitting smoking, it may take up to 16 years since quitting for former heavy smokers’ CVD risk to normalize to that of a never smoker. Health care providers should continue to encourage their smoking patients to quit smoking and should speak to their patients who are former heavy smokers about ways to reduce their CVD risk for several years after quitting smoking.”
In another study, Nour Makarem, Ph.D., of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues found that consuming a greater proportion of daily caloric intake in the evening (significant levels of nighttime eating) was associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes in U.S. Hispanics/Latinos.
“One half of our study’s population reported consuming 30 percent or more of their daily caloric intake after 6 p.m.,” Makarem said. “Those who consumed 30 percent or more of their daily calories after 6 p.m. had higher fasting glucose, fasting insulin, insulin resistance, and blood pressure compared to those who consumed less than 30 percent of their daily caloric intake after 6 p.m.”
The investigators also found that each 1 percent increase in calories consumed after 6 p.m. was associated with higher fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and insulin resistance. Those who consumed 30 percent or more of their calories after 6 p.m. had greater odds of having prediabetes and hypertension.
“Additional long-term studies on meal timing in relation to cardiometabolic risk are needed to confirm these findings and determine how meal timing influences our risk for heart disease over time,” Makarem said. “Our findings indicate that intentional eating that is mindful of meal timing, particularly the timing of the evening meal, may be important for lowering our risk for heart disease. These results indicate that consuming a greater proportion of our daily calories earlier on in the day may be beneficial for lowering cardiometabolic risk.”
Elizabeth Tung, M.D., of the University of Chicago, and colleagues found a link between emotional health and cardiovascular health.
“We found that as violent crime increased in a patient’s immediate neighborhood, we also saw increases in blood pressure, in missed outpatient appointments, and also in cardiovascular hospital admissions,” Tung said. “But when we zoomed out to the entire city, and compared typically low- versus high-crime neighborhoods, we found that a neighborhood with lower crime in 2014 saw a slightly larger increase in blood pressure during the crime surge than a neighborhood with higher crime in 2014.”
Yaguang Zheng, Ph.D., M.S.N., R.N., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, and colleagues identified six distinct patterns of self-weighing behavior using Wi-Fi- or Bluetooth-enabled scales among adults.
“It is important to mention that participants in our study did not receive specific recommendations on how to use their scale. Approximately one-third of them sustained a habit of daily weighing. People who never weighed themselves or only weighed once a week did not lose weight in the following year. Those who weighed themselves six to seven times a week had a significant weight loss in 12 months,” Zheng said. “Many participants demonstrated persistent weighing behavior, even in the absence of incentive strategies. The temporal pattern of self-weighing behavior was associated with weight change.”
AHA: Lasting Benefit for CABG in Diabetes, Multivessel Disease
THURSDAY, Nov. 15, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with diabetes mellitus with multivessel coronary disease, coronary revascularization with coronary artery bypass grafting is associated with lower all-cause mortality than percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stents in the long term, according to a study published online Nov. 11 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The research was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Guidelines Stress Healthy Lifestyle for Lowering Cholesterol
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14, 2018 (HealthDay News) — A healthy lifestyle for lowering cholesterol should be emphasized for reducing cardiovascular risk across the life course, according to a guideline published online Nov. 14 in Circulation to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Icosapent Ethyl Cuts CV Risk From Elevated Triglycerides
TUESDAY, Nov. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Icosapent ethyl is associated with a reduced risk for ischemic events among patients with elevated triglyceride levels despite taking statins, according to a study published online Nov. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Cardiogenic Shock Ups Mortality in Takotsubo Syndrome
TUESDAY, Nov. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with takotsubo syndrome, those with cardiogenic shock have an increased risk for mortality, according to a research letter published online Nov. 10 in Circulation to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Updated
TUESDAY, Nov. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Key guidelines for recommended physical activity in Americans have been updated, according to a special report published online Nov. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Limited Benefit for n-3 Fatty Acids in CVD, Cancer Prevention
TUESDAY, Nov. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D do not significantly reduce major cardiovascular events or cancer incidence, according to two studies published online Nov. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Dapagliflozin Noninferior to Placebo for MACE in T2DM
TUESDAY, Nov. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Treatment with dapagliflozin is noninferior to placebo for major adverse cardiovascular events among patients with type 2 diabetes with or at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online Nov. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Public Automated External Defibrillators Are Cost-Effective
MONDAY, Nov. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Public automated external defibrillators are cost-effective for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and are associated with better outcomes, according to two studies scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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AHA: Opioid Use Appears to Up Risk for Atrial Fibrillation
MONDAY, Nov. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Opioid use is associated with the risk for developing atrial fibrillation, according to a study scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 10 to 12 in Chicago.
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