Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Jul 2017
Healthful and Unhealthful Plant-Based Diets and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in U.S. Adults.
Plant-based diets are recommended for coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention. However, not all plant foods are necessarily beneficial for health. ⋯ Higher intake of a plant-based diet index rich in healthier plant foods is associated with substantially lower CHD risk, whereas a plant-based diet index that emphasizes less-healthy plant foods is associated with higher CHD risk.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Jul 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialPalliative Care in Heart Failure: The PAL-HF Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.
Advanced heart failure (HF) is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Conventional therapy may not sufficiently reduce patient suffering and maximize quality of life. ⋯ An interdisciplinary palliative care intervention in advanced HF patients showed consistently greater benefits in quality of life, anxiety, depression, and spiritual well-being compared with UC alone. (Palliative Care in Heart Failure [PAL-HF]; NCT01589601).
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Jul 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialArterial Stiffening With Exercise in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction.
Aortic stiffening and reduced nitric oxide (NO) availability may contribute to the pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). ⋯ Abnormal pulsatile aortic loading during exercise occurs in HFpEF independent of hypertension and is correlated with classical hemodynamic derangements that develop with stress. Inorganic nitrite mitigates arterial stiffening with exercise and improves hemodynamics, indicating that arterial stiffening with exercise is at least partially reversible. Further study is required to test effects of agents that target the NO pathway in reducing arterial stiffness in HFpEF. (Study of Exercise and Heart Function in Patients With Heart Failure and Pulmonary Vascular Disease [EXEC]; NCT01418248. Acute Effects of Inorganic Nitrite on Cardiovascular Hemodynamics in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction; NCT01932606. Inhaled Sodium Nitrite on Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction; NCT02262078).