Posted on

Race disparities persist for stroke outcomes after pediatric cardiac transplant

Loading

Among pediatric cardiac transplant recipients who experience perioperative stroke, Black children are three times more likely to die beyond 6 months compared with white children, according to data from a registry analysis.

In a database analysis of pediatric transplants in the United States, researchers also found that Black children have a lower incidence of stroke after cardiac transplant compared with white children, and that mortality among survivors of perioperative stroke is initially similar by race and ethnicity. Read the full story in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Mortality Numbers Put the Humble Salt Shaker in the Hot Seat

Loading

— Cancer, cardiovascular deaths associated with salt used outside cooking

More generous use of salt outside cooking was associated with premature mortality — but not in people eating more potassium rich-foods such as vegetables and fruits — according to a study of over half a million people.

Participants from the U.K. Biobank reported their frequency of table salt use, with higher use linked to a rising risk of all-cause mortality over a median 9.0 years of follow-up (P<0.001 for trend):Never: adjusted HR 1.00 (reference)

-Sometimes: adjusted HR 1.02 (95% CI 0.99-1.06)
-Usually: adjusted HR 1.07 (95% CI 1.02-1.11)
-Always: adjusted HR 1.28 (95% CI 1.20-1.35)
Read the full article in MedPage Today.

Loading
Posted on

Health care professionals, patients agree on pathway for improving type 2 diabetes care

Loading

New results have suggested an alignment of the perceived needs and wishes for improved type 2 diabetes care among people with diabetes and health care professionals, although important health care gaps persist.

“Globally, type 2 diabetes care is often fragmented and still organized in a provider-centered way, resulting in suboptimal care for many individuals,” Anthony Russell, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, director of endocrinology at Princess Alexandra Hospital and honorary associate professor at the Centre for Health Services Research at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues wrote. Read more in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Liver transplant patients with prior drinking problems can do well after transplantation, USC study finds

Loading

Researchers at Keck Medicine of USC say the established waiting list inclusion/exclusion criteria warrant a closer look.

Anew USC study shows that liver transplant patients with established alcohol abuse issues prior to transplantation can do as well as, or better than, others who receive new livers — a finding that challenges longstanding selection criteria.

“The assumption has been that liver failure patients who continue to use alcohol are poor transplant candidates because they aren’t motivated to take care of the donor organ,” said senior author Brian Lee, a liver transplant hepatologist at Keck Medicine of USC. “However, that view is not supported by the data.” Read more from USC News.

Loading
Posted on

Genetically engineered pig hearts successfully transplanted into two brain-dead humans

Loading

A team at NYU Langone Health successfully transplanted two genetically engineered pig hearts into recently deceased humans in June and July, part of an effort to create a xenotransplantation protocol for people with heart disease.

The two xenotransplants were performed June 16 and July 6 with two recently deceased donors maintained on ventilator support at NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital. The team of surgeons then monitored heart function for 3 days for each donor.
Read the full article in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Keto Versus Mediterranean Diet: Which Is Better for Diabetes?

Loading

— Crossover study looked at cardiometabolic outcomes for each popular diet

Both the ketogenic and Mediterranean diets successfully cut blood sugar levels in patients with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, according to a small randomized crossover trial.

Among 33 adults, the well-formulated ketogenic diet (WFKD) resulted in a 9% drop in HbA1c values after 12 weeks, while the Mediterranean-plus diet (Med-Plus) resulted in a 7% drop, reported Christopher Gardner, PhD, of Stanford University in California, and colleagues. Read the article in MedPage Today.

Loading
Posted on

COVID-19 vaccines saved nearly 20M lives in first year, study finds

Loading

COVID-19 vaccination “fundamentally altered” the pandemic by saving nearly 20 million lives in the first year that vaccines were available, researchers found using a mathematical model.

“We wanted to conduct this study to understand how much worse the pandemic could have been without vaccination and, in doing so, demonstrate how many lives have been saved by generating and distributing vaccines as quickly as we did,” Oliver J. Watson, PhD, Schmidt Science Fellow at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis of the Imperial College London, told Healio. “From an investment angle, these types of estimates will also underpin how we will evaluate the global vaccination campaign.” Read the full story in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Bereavement may increase HF mortality risk

Loading

The death of a close family member was associated with increased risk for death among people with HF, with risk highest during the first week after the loss, according to findings from a Swedish register-based study.

“The findings of the study may call for increased attention from family members, friends and involved professionals for bereaved HF patients, particularly in the period shortly after the loss,” Krisztina László, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, told Healio. “Since this is one of the first studies in this field, we believe further studies are needed to better understand the role of stress in the prognosis of HF in order to inform clinical decision-making.” Read more in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Physical activity correlates with lower risk of cardiovascular events in patients with CKD

Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash
Loading

Higher self-reported physical activity correlated with lower risk for cardiovascular events among patients with chronic kidney disease, according to data published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

“Although CKD guidelines include recommendations for minimal levels of physical activity, the recommendations are largely based on studies in the general population.
Read more in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Black patients with serious illness receive worse pain management, poor communication

Loading

Black patients with serious illness receive inferior pain management and poor communication from providers compared with their white counterparts, according to data released by Center to Advance Palliative Care.

Findings from the CAPC’s “Health Care for Black Patients with Serious Illness: A Literature Review” also showed a disproportionate burden on family caregivers of Black patients vs. white patients. Read more in Healio.

Loading