Walking, cycling to work could significantly lower risk of heart disease and stroke

Leaving the car at home to walk or cycle to work could help cut the risk of risk of developing or dying from ischemic heart disease or stroke, according to a new United Kingdom research.

Carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Imperial College London, the study set out to assess whether using alternatives to the car could help integrate more physical activity into daily life, reducing sedentary time and the risk of illness and mortality.

For the study the researchers looked at data on 358,799 participants aged 37 to 73 years taken from the U.K. Biobank, a national study designed to measure and track the health of adults living in primarily urban areas in the U.K.

The participants were asked to provide details on their commute and non-commute travel and whether they relied exclusively on the car or used alternative modes of transport that were more active, even if just some of the time.

After taking into account other influencing factors, such as other physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and measures of socioeconomic status, the results showed that regular commuters who used more active means of travel for commuting to work, such as walking or cycling, had an 11 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 30 percent lower risk of fatal CVD.

Regular commuters who also used more active means of travel for both commute and non-commute travel had an even lower risk of fatal CVD, 43 percent less risk.

Among those who were not regular commuters, using more active means of travel was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality.

As an observational study the researchers point out that no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. However, as the study used a large sample size and focused on feasible travel choices for commuting and non-commuting travel the team concluded that the results could provide an important message and will hopefully encourage people to make more use of public transport, walking and cycling.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. April Mohanty of the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System in the United States also commented, “This study provides further evidence to support efforts, including policies and guideline recommendations, that encourage active travel even if that is only possible for part of the journey.”

The results can be found published online in the journal Heart. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Peanuts may reduce risk of death, heart disease

WASHINGTON, United States – Eating peanuts, in small amounts, may reduce the risk of mortality, especially death from cardiovascular disease, a new study Monday showed.

The report compiles research from people of varying races, including Caucasians, African Americans and Asians, all from low income backgrounds.

Researchers found that consuming peanuts regularly reduced mortality among men and women from all groups, and suggests that eating the nuts — which are relatively affordable — can be an inexpensive and nutritious way to reduce mortality and cardiovascular disease around the world.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Internal Medicine includes more than 70,000 Caucasians and blacks in the United States and some 130,000 Chinese people in Shanghai.

Reduced total mortality

“We found that peanut consumption was associated with reduced total mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in a predominantly low-income black and white population in the US, and among Chinese men and women living in Shanghai,” said senior author Xiao-Ou Shu, associate director for Global Health at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC).

There was a reduced risk of total mortality of in 17 to 21 percent of participants, the study showed.

The risk of death from cardiovascular disease was slashed by between 23 and 38 percent.

But co-author William Blot warned that because the data was from observational epidemiological studies and not randomized clinical trials, “we cannot be sure that peanuts per se were responsible for the reduced mortality observed.”

“The findings from this new study, however, reinforce earlier research suggesting health benefits from eating nuts, and thus are quite encouraging,” added Blot, who is also associate director for cancer prevention control and population-based research at VICC.

Less expensive nut

Peanuts are less expensive and more widely available than many other nuts, and are eaten by many cultures around the world.

The nutritious nuts — which are actually legumes — are high in and unsaturated fat, fiber, vitamins, and anti-oxidants and can boost cardiovascular health with as little as 30 grams eaten weekly.

“The results suggest that including a modest amount of nuts as part of a well-balanced diet may be of benefit,” said Peter Weissberg, director of the British Heart Foundation, who did not participate in the study.

“The data do not show that the more peanuts you eat the lower the risk of a fatal heart attack, so people should not start eating large quantities of nuts, particularly salted nuts, in the hope that it will protect them from heart disease,” he added.

Previous research has focused on white upper class research subjects.

The participants in this latest study were observed for between five and 12 years.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Studies find new drugs greatly lower cholesterol

WASHINGTON — A new class of experimental medicines can dramatically lower cholesterol, raising hopes of a fresh option for people who can’t tolerate or don’t get enough help from Lipitor and other statin drugs that have been used for this for decades.

The first large studies of these drugs were presented Saturday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Washington, and more will follow on Sunday.

Several companies are developing these drugs, which are aimed at 70 million Americans and millions more worldwide who have high LDL or “bad” cholesterol, a major risk for heart disease.

Three studies of Amgen Inc.’s version of these drugs, called evolocumab, found it lowered LDL by 55 to 66 percent from baseline levels compared to others who took a fake drug, and by nearly that much when compared to Merck’s Zetia, another cholesterol medication.

As impressive as that is, it’s still just part of the picture. Doctors want evidence that the way these drugs lower cholesterol also will lead to fewer heart attacks and deaths, because that proof already exists for statins. New studies are underway to test this, but Amgen said it will seek U.S. government approval for its drug this year based on cholesterol-lowering alone.

That was enough to win approval for statins and Zetia, but use of Zetia has declined since 2008, when research showed it failed to help prevent heart attacks even though it cut cholesterol. Hopes are high that the new Amgen drug and others like it will do better.





“I would be happy to see it approved” on the cholesterol results alone, said Dr. Hadley Wilson, a cardiologist at Carolinas HealthCare System. “We need additional agents other than statins” to help patients, he said.

Nearly all current cholesterol medicines — fibrates, niacin and top-selling statins — are decades old. Statins such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor curb cholesterol production. Zetia, which came out about a decade ago, helps block the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine.

The new drugs block PCSK9, a substance that interferes with the liver’s ability to remove cholesterol from the blood.

They have big drawbacks, though. Statins are pills sold as generics for as little as a dime a day. The new drugs are proteins rather than chemicals, and those tend to be very expensive to make. They also must be given as shots every two weeks or once a month. People can give the shots to themselves with a pen-like device. The companies developing the new medicines have not said what they might cost.

“We were very, very pleased” about how well patients accepted the shots, and if they offer better results, especially for those with inherited conditions, “people will accept it,” said Dr. Michael Koren of Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research in Florida, who helped lead two of the studies.

The three Amgen studies involved about 2,000 patients in all. Doctors tested the drug in people with high cholesterol not taking other medicines, as a long-term (one-year) treatment in people already taking various medications and in combination with statins and other drugs in people with an inherited cholesterol disorder.

In general, side-effect rates were about the same for evolocumab vs. placebo or Zetia. In some studies, muscle aches, nausea and a few other problems were a little higher with the experimental drug.

Overall safety “is very, very encouraging,” said Dr. Scott Wasserman, Amgen’s executive medical director.

Researchers also said:

—Alirocumab, a similar drug being developed by Sanofi SA and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., lowered LDL cholesterol by 47 percent vs. 16 percent for Zetia in a study of about 100 people not taking any other drugs for high cholesterol.

—Bococizumab, from Pfizer Inc., lowered LDL 45 percent to 67 percent, depending on dose, compared to placebo in 354 people with high cholesterol also taking a statin.

“There’s great interest” in all of these drugs, but doctors will wait for evidence that they lower heart risks, said Dr. Neil Stone, a Northwestern University cardiologist and spokesman for the American Heart Association.

It may be easier to justify their use in patients with genes that cause high cholesterol at an early age, he said.

A spokeswoman for the federal Food and Drug Administration, Sandy Walsh, suggested that might be the case.

“Although we cannot comment on the likelihood of approval based solely on specific indications or populations,” two drugs recently were approved based on cholesterol-lowering for people with inherited conditions, she noted.

A decision on approval also will be influenced by how much the drug lowers cholesterol, its effects on other fats in the blood and other heart signs such as inflammation and blood pressure, and its safety, she said.

source: business.inquirer.net