New Review Supports Aggressive BP Targets

–Meta-analysis supports a systolic blood pressure target of 120 mm Hg A new systematic review and network meta-analysis lends support to more aggressive blood pressure targets. In recent years US guidelines have recommended more relaxed systolic blood pressure targets, ranging from 140 mm Hg to 150 mm Hg, for people with hypertension. But the results…

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Flu Vaccine May Help Prevent Cardiovascular Events

A new meta-analysis published in JAMA offers the best evidence yet that the flu vaccine may help prevent cardiovascular events. Jacob  Udell and colleagues analyzed data from 5 published clinical trials in which 6,469 patients were randomized. People who received the flu vaccine had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events. The protective effect was largely restricted to…

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Emerging Biomarkers: How Reliable Is The Evidence?

Novel biomarkers are the subject of intense controversy, with a bewildering variety of factions and perspectives seeking to elevate or dismiss any of a large number of proposed new measures. Now a new examination of the literature published online in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the evidence base used to evaluate novel biomarkers may be seriously compromised by…

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“Dramatic” Increase In Bleeding Accompanies Addition Of Oral Anticoagulant Therapy In ACS

The newer oral anticoagulants may help reduce ischemic events after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but only at the cost of a “dramatic” increase in bleeding complications, according to a new meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Hungarian researchers performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of seven trials in which 31,286 ACS patients were randomized to…

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