European journal of preventive cardiology
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Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are often elderly and their primary chronic symptom is severe exercise intolerance that results in a reduced quality of life (QOL).Thus, improvement of exercise capacity and QOL presents an important clinical outcome in HFpEF patients. Although the effects of interventions such as cardiovascular drugs and exercise training on exercise capacity and QOL in HFpEF patients have been examined in a number of clinical trials, the results are inconsistent due in part to limited power with small sample sizes. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trial (RCT)s on the effect of drug or exercise intervention on exercise capacity and QOL in HFpEF patients. ⋯ Our meta-analysis indicates that exercise training may be a therapeutic option to improve functional capacity and QOL in HFpEF patients.
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Cardiovascular risk factors are known to be associated between parents and offspring. However, whether these associations are reflected in increased offspring mortality has not been extensively studied. ⋯ Fathers' and mothers' reporting of cardiovascular disease (HRs: 1.18; 95% CI 1.04-1.32 and 1.20; 1.07-1.35, respectively), diabetes (HRs: 1.22; 95% CI 1.00-1.49 and 1.21; 1.05-1.40, respectively), and current smoking (HRs: 1.21; 95% CI 1.08-1.36 and 1.30; 1.15-1.47, respectively) was associated with total mortality in offspring. An inverse association was found with maternal height (HR: 0.95; 95% CI 0.91-0.99), and a suggestive inverse association with paternal height (HR: 0.98; 95% CI 0.93-1.03). Relations with offspring cardiovascular mortality were less clear and consistent. Offspring whose parents both had a risk factor did not seem to have higher mortality than would be expected from the independent effects of each parent.