Cardiovascular

The recommendations for improving quality care in Medicaid track recent trends in psychiatric and diabetes care, which recognize the connection between physical and mental health.

A stepped care algorithm developed by scientists has the potential to manage blood pressure in patients who develop intolerance to guideline-based regimens.

An overview of mechanism of action, dosing, interactions, and precautions for evolocumab, which faces an FDA deadline for review August 27, 2015.

A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that grip strength of young, healthy adults could prove useful in the diagnosis of diabetes and hypertension.

Earnings calls over the past 2 days for Express Scripts and Sanofi offered starkly different views of pricing for the first PCSK9 inhibitor to reach the US market.

Health plans and pharmacy benefits managers are expected to scrutinize the FDA approval to ensure that only those patients who truly need the drug get it.Drugmakers say discounts will cause the price to fall below the $14,600 annual wholesale price listed.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association's release of recommendations for statin treatment in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 2013 have now proven both cost-effective and accurate in identifying CVD risk.

CDC report estimates that the Affordable Care Act could lead to 111,000 fewer new coronary heart disease events and 95,000 fewer CVD-related deaths by 2050.

Cardiovascular disease may be the leading cause of death in the United States, but half of those deaths can be prevented, according to researchers from Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

Results are the first from a cardiovascular safety trial in the GLP-1 agonist class. A commentator at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association asked whether the FDA-mandated studies are giving physicians the right information.

The long-awaited results, presented Monday at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, are expected to strengthen sitagliptin's position against its competitors in the DPP-4 inhibitor class.

Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD, and other researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center showed that patients with obesity and diabetes who lost at least 7% of their weight the first year stood a better chance of keeping it off.

Researchers traced a patient's nonadherence to cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related medications to the number of medications an individual is prescribed as well as at what times these medications need to be taken. While prescribed CVD medications control associated risk factors such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia, more than half of the patients on a prescribed medication plan fail to take their prescriptions as needed.

Authors of an accompanying editorial said the real issue is lowering LDL cholesterol, not necessarily which medication is used.

Until this study, no one had reported on how the discrepancies between adult and pediatric guidelines might affect treatment for young adults.

A review of 24 trials covering more than 10,000 patients confirmed earlier findings that PCSK9 inhibitors dramatically reduce cholesterol and risk of heart attacks. But an editorial that appeared alongside the meta-analysis in Annals of Internal Medicine said long-term studies are needed on this new drug class.

The incidence rate for heart failure dropped steeply over a decade in a population-based study, and while hospitalization rates remained steady over time, causes shifted from cardiovascular to noncardiovascular.

Links between cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular events are well-established. More recently, researchers are turning their attention to the connections between fitness and certain cancers.

Targeting glucose control and managing cardiovascular (CV) risk factors may prevent future CV events, and have positive downstream impact by reducing costs to healthcare stakeholders.

Amgen's cholesterol-fighting PCSK9 inhibitor was shown to reduce the likelihood that patients would suffer cardiovascular events. The question now is whether FDA will grant approval soon and how widely the drug will be used, given speculation about its cost.

An editorial accompanying the meta-analysis discussed the challenges physicians face when evaluating individual patient needs against guidelines. In the United States, the movement toward reimbursement based on population health measures has raised questions about whether it makes sense for patients to be given multiple medications to achieve small improvements toward targets. Results must be weighed against increased side affects or large out-of-pocket expenditures.

The meta-analysis published today and an accompanying editorial should serve as a wake-up call for healthcare organizations about the costs of caring for aging populations that have spent much of their lives behind desks and watching TV.

The ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, an initiative of The American Journal of Managed Care, held its most recent WebEx session this week. Participants discussed new strategies and technologies that both employers and healthcare organizations can use to get patients to take ownership over their own care.

Patients with serious mental illness die 15 to 20 years earlier than those with similar cardiovascular conditions. According to Joseph P. McEvoy, MD, of the Medical College of Georgia, "There's no mystery here." Cognitive deficits, issues, and lack of access can make it hard for these patients to get primary care, and to stick with the instructions they do receive. To help this group, Dr McEvoy believes psychiatrists can gain competency to treat hypertension, diabetes, obesity and to help these patients quit smoking.

This article provides an assessment of the downstream impact of coronary artery calcium scanning on the subsequent treatment patterns of non—high-risk patients.