Dec 26, 2017
Despite decades long prevention and treatment efforts, cardiovascular (CV) disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Early detection of CV disease can allow for interventions to prevent heart attack and stroke, including smoking cessation, medications such as a statins, blood pressure control, weight management, exercise, and improved diet. A new study published online first today in the journal Vascular Medicine, focuses on a novel risk factor for cardiovascular disease that rarely receives attention — erectile dysfunction. (more…)
Dec 26, 2017
Varenicline, one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for helping people quit smoking, may put them at higher risk for a cardiovascular event, according to new research published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
In “Cardiovascular and Neuropsychiatric Events Following Varenicline Use for Smoking Cessation,” researchers in Canada report that in an observational, self-controlled trial, patients prescribed varenicline (Chantix in the U.S.; Champix in Canada and Europe) were 34 percent more likely to have an emergency department visit or hospitalization for a cardiovascular event while taking the drug. Among those patients who had not previously experienced a cardiovascular event, the increased incidence was only 12 percent. (more…)
Dec 26, 2017
Compared to married heart disease patients, being unmarried was associated with a higher risk of dying, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Scientists have known that divorced individuals are at increased risk for death in general. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between adverse cardiovascular outcomes and marital status in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. (more…)
Dec 24, 2017
SAFE wishes you a very happy Christmas and a healthy and successful New Year!
Dec 21, 2017
In women with heart disease, constriction of peripheral vessels during mental stress affects the heart circulation more than men’s, potentially raising women’s risk of heart-related events and death, according to new research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal. (more…)
Dec 20, 2017
SAFE is joining the Angels Initiative
Brussels, 20th December 2017: The mission of Boehringer Ingelheim’s (BI’s) Angels Initiative is to increase the number of patients who can be treated in stroke-ready hospitals and to optimise the quality of treatment in all existing stroke centres. The Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) has partnered with BI to support this ambitious project and will add an important dimension by bringing the patient perspective. SAFE’s involvement will mean patient-focused information will be available to patients and their carers as soon as they arrive in all stroke units.
-Information on the stroke care pathway is crucial for stroke survivors and their carers both while they are in hospital and in the following months, says Jon Barrick, the President of SAFE. With SAFE joining Angels Initiative we will be making information available to them in the hospitals. The patient-focused materials will include a list of national, regional and local stroke support organisations with their contact details in order that patients and carers can access further support in the months and years following their stroke. (more…)
