September 1, 2013

European Society of Cardiology - 2013 ESC Congress – Amsterdam


Quitting smoking drops heart attack risk to levels of never smokers


 Smoking is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Studies have identified that quitting smoking can reduce heart attacks and death
but have not examined the relationship of this salutary effect on the presence and
severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).
Our study aimed to find out what impact
stopping smoking had on the risk of cardiovascular events,
death and the severity of CAD.


Listening to favourite music improves endothelial function in CAD


The study evaluated the effects of listening to favourite music
on endothelial function
through changes of circulating blood markers of endothelial function:
the stable end products of nitric oxide (NOx),
asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA),
symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) and
 xanthine oxidase (XO) in 74 patients with stable CAD.

  
Cold weather produces more heart attacks


The study evaluated the independent environmental triggers of AMI
in a multifactorial nationwide environmental model.
Weekly counts of AMI patients that
underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI)
during 2006-2009 in 32 Belgian PCI centres
were extracted from the national PCI database.