The annual meeting of the American Heart Association was held virtually this year from Nov. 13 to 17 and attracted participants from around the world, including cardiovascular specialists, surgeons, and nurses as well as other health care professionals. The conference featured presentations focusing on the latest advances in cardiovascular medicine and surgery.

In a cross-sectional study, William Aitken, M.D., of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, and colleagues found that increased greenness and better air quality are associated with decreased cardiovascular disease mortality.

The authors evaluated whether environmental greenness or vegetative presence such as trees is related to cardiovascular disease mortality and weighed the effect greenness may have on the relationship between air quality and cardiovascular disease mortality. The authors used linear regression modeling to estimate the relationship between air pollution (measured in particulate matter 2.5), greenness (measured in normalized vegetation index), and cardiovascular disease mortality (at the county level), while controlling for sociodemographic variables (such as race, education, and income). The researchers found that increased greenness and air quality reduced cardiovascular disease mortality.

“We also found that environmental greenness mediates, or serves as an important intervening variable, in explaining the air quality-to-cardiovascular disease mortality relationship,” Aitken said. “Environmental interventions to increase greenness and reduce air pollution may reduce excess cardiovascular disease mortality.”

Press Release

In another study, Neil Kelly, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and colleagues found that healthy lifestyle behaviors, including a Mediterranean diet, physical activity, smoking abstinence, and sedentary avoidance, are each individually and cumulatively associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality regardless of medication burden.

Using data from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study, the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, the authors examined approximately 20,000 U.S. adults (average age, 65 years) to understand the link between lifestyle behaviors and mortality. The researchers evaluated patterns of the Mediterranean diet, physical activity, smoking, and time spent watching television (sedentary time) among three specific groups based on medication burden: no polypharmacy (take fewer than five medications), polypharmacy (take five to nine medications), and hyper-polypharmacy (take at least 10 medications). The researchers found that increased adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors was associated with lower all-cause mortality, regardless of medication burden.

“Indeed, the benefits were observed even among individuals taking at least 10 medications,” Kelly said. “Our findings suggest that healthy lifestyle behaviors are important even after developing multiple chronic conditions and requiring the use of multiple medications. We are hopeful that our results will encourage the development of strategies to increase patient adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors.”

One author disclosed a financial relationship with Amgen.

Press Release

In a randomized controlled study, Nisa M. Maruthur, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues found that time-restricted feeding (eating earlier in the day) does not decrease weight more than a usual feeding pattern (eating later in the day) in the setting of a constant calorie level.

In this controlled-feeding study, the authors prepared all study food in a metabolic kitchen for the entire 12-week intervention period. Participants in both arms received the same healthy diet. The authors determined each participant’s calorie level at the beginning of the study and held it constant during 12 weeks. The only difference between the intervention arms was the time of day that they consumed their calories. The researchers found that eating earlier in the day did not reduce weight more than eating later in the day if calories were held constant.

“It is important to remember that this is a single clinical trial,” Maruthur said. “However, we are contributing to a growing evidence base that the timing of your calorie intake does not seem to matter for body weight in the setting of caloric intake being held constant.”

Press Release

Garima Sharma, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues found that the prevalence of preeclampsia and other cardiovascular disease risk factors is lower in foreign-born Black women compared with U.S.-born Black women.

The authors performed an observational analysis of the Boston Birth Cohort between 2008 and 2016 and found that the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was higher in U.S.-born Black women compared with foreign-born Black women. The researchers also found that the prevalence of preeclampsia was higher in U.S.-born Black women compared with foreign-born Black women. The age-adjusted prevalence of preeclampsia was 12.4 and 9.1 percent among U.S.-born and foreign-born women, respectively.

“This prevalence increased based on the duration of residence in the United States. Foreign-born Black women who had greater than 10 years of residence in the United States had higher prevalence of preeclampsia than those who had less than 10 years. There was also an increase in the cardiovascular disease risk factors with duration of residence,” Sharma said. “The ‘healthy immigrant effect,’ which typically results in health advantages for foreign-born women, appears to wane with longer duration of U.S. residence (greater than or equal to 10 years). Further research is needed to better understand these associations.”

Press Release

AHA: Ablation Better Than Meds for Initial A-Fib Treatment

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cryoballoon ablation is superior to drug therapy as an initial treatment for the prevention of atrial arrhythmia recurrence in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, according to a study published online Nov. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Sotagliflozin Beneficial for T2DM With Heart Failure

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Sotagliflozin is beneficial for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in patients with recent worsening heart failure as well as in patients with chronic kidney disease, according to two studies published online Nov. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Obese Patients More Likely to Be Hospitalized for COVID-19

TUESDAY, Nov. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Obese patients are more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and have worse outcomes, even if they are 50 years of age or younger, according to a study published online Nov. 17 in Circulation to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes Worse During COVID-19

TUESDAY, Nov. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were worse during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States than in a similar time period in 2019, according to a study published online Nov. 14 in JAMA Cardiology to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA Meeting Addresses Latest Research, COVID-19, Health Care Disparities

MONDAY, Nov. 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Fresh takes on the efficacy of fish oil and vitamin D, new treatments for heart failure patients, the cardiovascular effects of COVID-19, and structural racism as a driver of health disparity were just a few of the major developments that emerged from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17. Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., American Heart Association president-elect, sat down with HD Live! to discuss the highlights of this year’s meeting.

Read Full Text

AHA: Blacks, Hispanics Make Up 53 Percent of COVID-19 Deaths

MONDAY, Nov. 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Due to disproportionate representation, Black and Hispanic patients bear much of the burden of mortality and morbidity related to COVID-19, according to a study published online Nov. 17 in Circulation to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Care for Type 2 Myocardial Infarction Patients Varies

MONDAY, Nov. 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Care for patients with type 2 myocardial infarction varies substantially, according to a research letter published online Nov. 9 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Adding Omega-3 Fatty Acids Does Not Cut High CV Risk

THURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A carboxylic acid formulation of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid does not improve outcomes among statin-treated patients at high cardiovascular risk, according to a study published online Nov. 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Polypill, With or Without Aspirin, Reduces Cardiovascular Events

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A polypill comprising statins and blood pressure-lowering drugs, with or without aspirin, is associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events, according to a study published online Nov. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Black Patients Less Likely to Receive Indicated BP Treatment Intensification

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Black patients are less likely to receive treatment intensification for blood pressure control than patients of other races, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Patient CPR Outcomes Similar With COVID-19 Precautions

THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, outcomes during COVID-19 were similar to those in 2019, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium 2020, to be held virtually from Nov. 14 to 16 as part of the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.

Read Full Text

AHA: 2007 to 2018 Saw Increase in Prepregnancy Hypertension

THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The rates of prepregnancy hypertension per 1,000 live births increased considerably between 2007 and 2018, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Mavacamten May Treat Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Compared with placebo, mavacamten, a novel inhibitor of cardiac myosin, for 30 weeks leads to improvement in left ventricular hypertrophy and markers of left-sided filling pressures in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: PTSD Tied to Ischemic Heart Disease in Female Veterans

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Posttraumatic stress disorder is an independent predictor of incident ischemic heart disease in female veterans, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Young Adults With CVD Have Low Flu Vaccination Rates

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many young adults with cardiovascular disease do not receive influenza vaccination, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: Remote Cardiac Rehab Is Effective Alternative to On-Site Programs

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Remote or virtual cardiac rehabilitation programs are effective alternatives to on-site programs, according to two studies presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

AHA: CVD Risk Often Unaddressed for Transgender Population

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many transgender people receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy have cardiovascular disease risk factors, and a considerable proportion are not receiving appropriate therapies, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from Nov. 13 to 17.

Read Full Text

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
healthday

Author