NEWS
State of the Heart
People who have survived or are living with cancer are underusing cardioprotective therapies, such as statins and antiplatelet agents,
according to a study comparing medication use among 69 patients with a history of cancer and 333 patients without.
After being admitted to a cardiology
unit, study authors found that,
despite having similar
cardiovascular risk
factors, patients with
cancer were less likely
to take guidelinerecommended
cardioprotective
medications:
79.7% vs. 63.8% 61.4% vs. 55.1% 70.1% vs. 62.3% 75.3% vs. 58.0%
statins ACE inhibitor/ARB β-blockers antiplatelets
Patients without cancer
Patients with cancer
“This [study] highlights practice and policy
gaps and the need to develop strategies to
improve guideline-directed cardioprotective
therapies in cardio-oncology,” the authors
concluded.
Source: Untaru R, Chen D, Kelly C, et al. Suboptimal use of
cardioprotective medications in patients with a history of cancer. JACC
CardioOncol. 2020;2:312-315.
A Skeleton Crew
A Kaiser Health News investigation found that local and state public health departments across
the U.S. are struggling to maintain adequate workforces after enduring years of budget cuts.
Since the 2008 recession, state and local public health jobs are disappearing:
Get a Move on
Less sedentary behavior and more time spent being physically active could help
reduce one’s risk of cancer death, according to results from a study published in
JAMA Oncology.
Between 2009 and 2012, 8,002 U.S. adults ≥45 years wore hip-mounted
accelerometers for 7 consecutive days to measure physical activity levels. Over
an average 5-year follow-up, 268 participants (3.3%) had died of cancer.
LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH JOBS
STATE PUBLIC HEALTH JOBS
Participants who had
greater total sedentary
time had a 45-52%
greater relative risk
of cancer mortality.
162,000
in 2008
TO
136,000
in 2019
92,000
in 2008
TO
81,000
in 2019
Investigators also found that, since 2010, spending for state public health departments has
dropped by 16% per capita, and for local health departments by 18%.
Source: Kaiser Health News, July 1, 2020.
Replacing sedentary time with even 30 minutes of
low-intensity physical activity could lower one’s risk
of cancer mortality by 8%, the authors concluded,
supporting the American Cancer Society’s recently
updated guidelines recommending adults get more
physical activity to help prevent cancer. However,
the results might be confounded by other factors
that contribute to both decreased ability to exercise
and increased cancer risk.
Source: Gilchrist S, Howard VJ, Akinyemiju T, et al. Association of sedentary
behavior with cancer mortality in middle-aged and older US adults. JAMA Oncol.
2020 June 18. [Epub ahead of print]
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