The American journal of medicine
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The role of physical activity in the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and survival in coronary heart disease is unclear. Our aim was to examine the isolated and combined associations among BMI, physical activity, and mortality in subjects with coronary heart disease. ⋯ Overweight and obese subjects with coronary heart disease had reduced all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, but such an obesity paradox was seen only in participants who did not adhere to current recommendations of physical activity.
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The burden of medications near the end of life has recently come under scrutiny, because several studies suggested that people with life-limiting illness receive potentially futile treatments. ⋯ Polypharmacy increases throughout the last year of life of older adults, fueled not only by symptomatic medications but also by long-term preventive treatments of questionable benefit. Clinical guidelines are needed to support physicians in their decision to continue or discontinue medications near the end of life.
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We aimed to describe the initial treatment that was used in a common hospital-based practice in patients with giant-cell arteritis with and without large-vessel involvement at diagnosis as well as the outcomes in both groups. ⋯ In the setting of tertiary hospital recruitment, large-vessel involvement at giant-cell arteritis diagnosis using a PET/CT study had no influence on the choice of initial GC dose and had no impact on outcomes. Prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.
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We aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (QOL), dyspnea, and functional exercise capacity during the year following the diagnosis of a first episode of pulmonary embolism. ⋯ On average, QOL, dyspnea, and walking distance improve during the year after pulmonary embolism. However, a number of clinical and physiological predictors of reduced improvement over time were identified, most notably female sex, higher body mass index, and exercise limitation on 1-month cardiopulmonary exercise test. Our results provide new information on patient-relevant prognosis after pulmonary embolism.
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Upper body subcutaneous fat is a distinct fat depot that may confer increased cardiometabolic risk. We examined the cross-sectional associations between upper body subcutaneous fat volume and cardiometabolic risk factors. ⋯ Higher upper body subcutaneous fat is cross-sectionally associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk factors. Our findings underscore the importance of subcutaneous adiposity in the upper body region that may provide a better understanding of the pathogenic properties of obesity in the development of cardiometabolic sequelae.