Coronary Artery Calcium Rises With Intense Exercise

–But the lesions observed are more likely to appear stable. Exercise is good for you, but is there a point at which more exercise is either no longer beneficial or perhaps even harmful? Two new studies now help clarify — albeit not resolve — the issue. The studies offer evidence that people who exercise for…

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Calcium Supplements Linked To Increased Cardiovascular Risk

–But the observational study suggested an overall benefit for dietary calcium. A new observational study finds that calcium supplements may increase cardiovascular risk. By contrast, dietary calcium was linked to a protective effect. Many people– in particular, older women– take calcium supplements to prevent or treat osteoporosis, though the supporting evidence for this use is…

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Trump’s Risk For A Cardiac Event Is Seven Times Hilary Clinton’s Risk

Editor’s note: The following guest post is reprinted with permission from Dr. Anthony Pearson, a cardiologist who is the medical director of the Echocardiography Laboratory and Anticoagulation Clinic at St. Lukes Hospital, Chesterfield, Missouri. Dr. Pearson writes The Skeptical Cardiologist blog, where this post originally appeared. Donald Trump recently appeared on the Dr. Oz show and handed a letter to the…

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Zero Calcium Score May Help Many Patients Skip Unwanted Treatment

The precise role of coronary artery calcium )CAC) scans in clinical practice has been the subject of considerable discussion and debate. Passionate advocates have been unable to persuade most physicians that obtaining routine calcium scores can help improve risk prediction and prognosis. No general consensus has yet emerged. Now a new study published in the Journal of the…

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Cardiovascular Risk Prediction: Two More Studies, Little Progress

Two studies published in JAMA provide new data — and, perhaps, some additional clarity — about using additional markers to help improve risk prediction for coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). In one study, Joseph Yeboah and colleagues used data from 1330 intermediate-risk participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)  to analyze the prognostic value of…

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CT Angiography Found Less Helpful in Patients With High Calcium Scores

Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been proposed as a less invasive method to exclude obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), but no consensus has been achieved about its clinical role in different patient subsets. Now a new report published in JACC from the CORE-64 (Coronary Artery Evaluation Using 64-Row Multidetector Computed Tomography Angiography) study shows that CTA may not…

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