Vascular health and risk management
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyHealth and economic outcomes for exenatide once weekly, insulin, and pioglitazone therapies in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a simulation analysis.
Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are at risk of long-term vascular complications. In trials, exenatide once weekly (ExQW), a GLP-1R agonist, improved glycemia, weight, blood pressure (BP), and lipids in patients with T2DM. We simulated potential effects of ExQW on vascular complications, survival, and medical costs over 20 years versus standard therapies. ⋯ This long-term simulation demonstrated that ExQW treatment may decrease rates of cardiovascular and some microvascular complications of T2DM. Increased QALYs, and decreased costs were also projected.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyTreatment patterns and risk factor control in patients with and without metabolic syndrome in cardiac rehabilitation.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of factors that are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We aimed to investigate the proportion of patients with MetS in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR), and to describe differences between patients with MetS compared to those without MetS with regard to (1) patient characteristics including demographics, risk factors, and comorbidities, (2) risk factor management including drug treatment, and (3) control status of risk factors at entry to CR and discharge from CR. ⋯ Patients with and without MetS benefited substantially from the participation in CR, as their lipid profile, blood pressure, and physical fitness improved. Treatment effects were similar in the two groups.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2012
Patterns of warfarin use and subsequent outcomes in atrial fibrillation in primary care practices.
Warfarin is recommended for stroke prevention in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation. However, it is often underutilized and inadequately managed in actual clinical practice. ⋯ Warfarin was underutilized in a substantial portion of eligible atrial fibrillation patients in these community-based practices. In addition, prolonged interruptions in anticoagulation were common in this population, and multiple interruptions were associated with over twice the risk of stroke when compared to those treated continuously.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2012
ReviewNew oral antithrombotics: focus on dabigatran, an oral, reversible direct thrombin inhibitor for the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disorders.
Venous thromboembolism, presenting as deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, is a major challenge for health care systems. It is the third most common vascular disease after coronary heart disease and stroke, and many hospitalized patients have at least one risk factor. In particular, patients undergoing hip or knee replacement are at risk, with an incidence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis of 40%-60% without thromboprophylaxis. ⋯ Dabigatran is a reversible, direct thrombin inhibitor, which is administered as dabigatran etexilate, the oral prodrug. Because it is the first new oral anticoagulant that has been licensed in many countries worldwide for thromboprophylaxis following orthopedic surgery and for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, this compound will be the main focus of this review. Dabigatran has been investigated for the treatment of established venous thromboembolism and prevention of recurrence in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, as well as for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation patients with a moderate and high risk of stroke.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2012
ReviewCholesteryl ester transfer-protein modulator and inhibitors and their potential for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and lowered high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Accordingly, raising HDL cholesterol induced by cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibition is an attractive approach for reducing the residual risk of cardiovascular events that persist in many patients receiving low-density LDL cholesterol-lowering therapy with statins. The development of torcetrapib, a CETP inhibitor, was terminated due to its adverse cardiovascular effects. ⋯ The potential of dalcetrapib and anacetrapib in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases will be revealed by two large-scale clinical trials, the dal-OUTCOMES (efficacy and safety of dalcetrapib in patients with recent acute coronary syndrome) study and the REVEAL (randomized evaluation of the effects of anacetrapib through lipid modification, a large-scale, randomized placebo-controlled trial of the clinical effects of anacetrapib among people with established vascular disease) study. The dal-OUTCOMES study is testing whether dalcetrapib can reduce cardiovascular events and the REVEAL study is testing whether anacetrapib can reduce cardiovascular events. These reports are expected to be released by 2013 and 2017, respectively.