Cardiovascular Diseases

Updates from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

A Cleveland Clinic scientist stopped short of saying doctors should take patients off Vascepa, but he said he has questions due to the lack of a "neutral comparator."

Overall, the Polycap polypill (simvastatin, atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide, ramipril) falls well short of the high expectations for the polypill approach to cardiovascular disease risk reduction.

The findings are the first in a series of six studies involving a registry supported by drug makers in the diabetes, cardiovascular, and heart failure space.

The first in a new class of drugs that targets the cardiac muscle is especially effective in patients with the most serious heart failure.

Biogen's controversial therapy hits headwinds with panel; stroke indication for Brilinta.

FDA approves new uses for companion diagnostics, while Janssen seeks a new indication for Xarelto.

The legislation follows an investigation that highlighted how minorities experience much higher rates of lower limb amputation than whites.

Flu increases the risk of heart attack, especially among people with diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). COVID-19 and the possibility of co-infection makes getting vaccinated against the flu particularly important this year.

Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have already remade the diabetes drug market. Now competition for new cardiac and renal indications is heating up among three of the main drugs in the class: Janssen’s Invokana (canagliflozin), AstraZeneca’s Farxiga (dapagliflozin), and Eli Lilly/Boehringer-Ingelheim’s Jardiance (empagliflozin).

An immunotherapy combination gets a third thoracic indication; another potential indication for an SGLT2 inhibitor.

Patient navigators, following an algorithm and using telephone calls to contact patients, improved ACE inhibitor and beta blocker usage among heart failure patients.

The 2020 meeting, presented in a virtual format from its original host city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, had lots of important science and a record number of viewers.

A study from the European Society of Cardiology answers a question about COVID-19: should patients keep taking well-known heart medications?

Findings presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting could open the door to the use of the gout drug as a treatment targeting the underlying inflammation of cardiovascular disease.

SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists also tackle cardiovascular disease, renal failure.

COVID-19 spotlights the threat that cardiovascular disease poses to Americans; new technology may help address risk factors at the population health level.

Study allays some concern that high-deductible health plans cause people to put off care, although authors urge caution in interpreting the results.

Dr. Deepak Bhatt presents results that show Vascepa cuts the risk for surgeries to restore blood flow to the heart by a third.

Results from REDUCE-IT trial presented at the ADA meeting show that the fish-oil pill is associated with cardiovascular disease protection among patients with diabetes.

The recalls of a widely used hypertension blood drug due to carcinogenic impurities are expanding.

A pharma maker is voluntarily recalling several lots of a major heart medication. Here’s why.

FDA declined to approve Merck’s claim that its cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia and Vytorin reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients with coronary heart disease.

An FDA review of safety studies suggests a slightly increased risk of problems involving the heart and blood vessels supplying the brain among patients being treated with the asthma drug omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech) than in those who were not treated with omalizumab. As a result, FDA has added information about these potential risks to the drug label.