Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular events and mortality among older adults: meta-analysis of individual participant data from prospective cohort studies of the CHANCES consortium.

Current smokers have twice the risk of cardiovascular mortality compared with never smokers. Former smokers have about a 37% increased risk of cardiovascular mortality compared to never smokers. The excess risk in smokers was positively correlated with number of cigarettes smoked per day. The excess risk in former smokers decreased continuously with time since smoking cessation.  (BMJ. 2015 Apr 20;350:h1551.)
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Sunday, April 19, 2015

Prospective validation of a 1-hour algorithm to rule-out and rule-in acute myocardial infarction using a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T assay

A rapid strategy to evaluate patient with suspected acute myocardial infarction included a baseline high sensitivity cardiac troponin T level, a repeat level in 1 hour, and observation care for equivocal cases. Within 1 hour, 40% of patients were classified as ruled-in or ruled-out, and 60% went on to observation care. The sensitivity and negative predictive value in the ruled-out group was over 99%. 30-day mortality was 0% in the ruled out group.  (CMAJ 2015. DOI:10.1503 /cmaj.141349)
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No effects of a 12-week supervised exercise therapy program on gait in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis: a secondary analysis of a randomized trial.

Education was just as good as Education + Structured Exercise Program in improving stance gait in patients with hip osteoarthritis.  (J Negat Results Biomed. 2015 Mar 5;14(1):5.)
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