| Journalists:
please note that all presentations are embargoed until the
time of their actual presentation at the Late-Breaking Clinical
Trial (LBCT) sessions or ACC press conference, whichever comes
first. The date and time of each official presentation at
an LBCT session is provided at the end of each trial topic
description.
Highlights
from: Precursors and Warning Signs of CVD
MONDAY,
MARCH 7, 2005
1:00
p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Diabetes,
kidney disease, poverty hike heart disease risk
(ORLANDO, Fla.)—Diabetes, kidney disease,
and poverty markedly increase the risk of heart disease, according
to studies being presented at the American College of Cardiology
54th Annual Scientific Session in Orlando, Fla., March 6-9,
2005.
Poorly controlled diabetes not only increases
arterial inflammation in patients with heart disease, it significantly
hikes the risk of heart attack or death, according to a new
study (Kausik K. Ray, #832-4). Researchers evaluated patients
with acute coronary syndrome, a condition that encompasses
both unstable chest pain and one form of heart attack. They
found that blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker
of arterial inflammation, were significantly higher in diabetic
patients, and that diabetic patients with an elevated CRP
level had a markedly increased risk of death or heart attack.
Furthermore, diabetic patients with both an
abnormal CRP level and a blood glucose level in the highest
one-third were more than twice as likely to die or have a
heart attack when compared to diabetic patients with a normal
CRP level and a blood glucose level in the lowest one-third.
(Original presentation on Tuesday, March 8, at 8:45 a.m.)
The detection and treatment of high blood pressure—often
called a “silent killer”—appears to be improving,
according to a large health survey spanning two decades (Russell
V. Luepker, #842-6). Every five years, researchers randomly
selected adults in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., for blood
pressure checks, medication inventories, and other health
assessments. They found that the rate of blood pressure treatment
and control nearly doubled during the 20-year survey, despite
a period without progress in the 1990s.
Nonetheless, only 44 percent of men and 55
percent achieved adequate blood pressure control, using a
cut-off of 140/90 mmHg. (Original presentation on Tuesday,
March 8, at 11:15 a.m.)
Patients who are at risk for kidney disease
often have cardiovascular disease as well, according to results
from the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (Peter A. McCullough,
#842-4). The screening program involved more than 24,000 people
at risk for kidney disease. Depending on its severity, reduced
kidney function was associated with a 30 percent to 80 percent
increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, a finding
of protein in the urine was associated with a 60 percent increase
in risk, and anemia was associated with a 45 percent increase
in risk. The rate of cardiovascular disease more than doubled
in people with all three characteristics. (Original presentation
on Tuesday, March 8, at 10:45 a.m.)
There is a significant link between high blood
pressure and arterial inflammation, according to a study of
more than 600 Alaskan Natives (Jianhui Zhu, #842-7). Study
participants with high blood pressure had significantly higher
levels of C-reactive protein, and homocysteine, another marker
of increased cardiovascular risk, when compared to those with
normal blood pressure. In addition, high levels of homocysteine
were associated with evidence of bacterial infection, suggesting
a possible link between infection, inflammation, and cardiovascular
risk. (Original presentation on Tuesday, March 8, at 11:30
a.m.)
People who live in poverty are more than twice
as likely to have poor cardiac function as people with high
incomes, and half again as likely to die, according to a large
study (Mehdi Shishehbor, #1116-154). Using census data, researchers
scored the socioeconomic status (SES) of nearly 38,000 people
with symptoms of cardiovascular disease who were referred
for stress testing. They found that people with an SES score
in the lowest one-fourth were 2.45 times as likely as those
with a high SES score to demonstrate poor cardiac function,
defined as a stress testing score in the lowest one-fourth.
Similarly, over five years of follow-up, those with the lowest
SES scores were 1.43 times as likely to die. (Original presentation
on Tuesday, March 8, at a 12:30-1:30 p.m. poster session.)
Moderator: TBD
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