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“Weighing”
the Benefits
of Weight-loss
Surgery
The average weight loss (in pounds) by
severely obese teenage boys 1 year after
weight-loss surgery. They also reduced
their body mass index by 32% and their
levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL)
cholesterol increased 23%.
Just a Phone
Call Away
The reduction in time—from 256 seconds to 212
seconds—to first bystander chest compression in
patients experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest after the implementation of a Telephone
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (TCPR) program, in
which bystanders can call 9-1-1 to receive instruction
on administering CPR. Researchers also found that a
TCPR program, along with guideline-based protocol
and quality improvement, can also lead to an
increase survival to hospital discharge rates from
9% to 12% and favorable functional outcomes from
5.6% to 8.3%.
4co4nds
se
Source: University of Arizona Health Science. News release. May 4, 2016.
Source: American Heart Association. News release.
May 5, 2016.
The Perils of Hypertension
and Alcohol
52%
1
The amount of alcohol (in ounces) consumed per day that might
alter heart function if you have high blood pressure. In a study
presented at a meeting of the American Society of Hypertension,
researchers reported that study participants who drank the most
had thicker left ventricular walls, stiffening the chamber and making it function less efficiently. The more a person drank, the more
trouble the heart had properly filling with blood between each
heartbeat.
Source: HealthDay. News article. May 13, 2016.
More Reasons
Not to “Bypass”
Medications
The number of bypass patients taking
both aspirin and statin medications at least
3 years after the procedure. Researcher
found that 75% were taking only aspirin
and 67% were taking only a statin. If untreated, about half of bypass vein grafts become occluded within 10 years of surgery
and aspirin and statins have been shown to
keep grafts open over the long term.
Source: Thomas Jefferson University. News release.
May 2, 2016.
ACC.org/CSWN
Stroke News:
Good and
Bad
18.4%
50
40
30
20
10
0
18.4% 28% 22.1% 43.8% 4.7% 12.4% 21.7% 13.7%
The drop in the number of adults admitted to U.S. hospitals with ischemic stroke between
2000 and 2010. However, while the hospitalization rates fell 28% in people aged 65–84 and
22.1% in those 85 and older, there was an increase in younger adults—up 43.8% in people
aged 25–44 and up 4.7% in those aged 45–64. Age-adjusted hospitalizations for ischemic
stroke declined in both whites (down 12.4%) and Hispanics (down 21.7%) between 2000 and
2010, but they increased 13.7% in African Americans.
Source: American Heart Association. News release. May 11, 2016.
CardioSource WorldNews
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