Top news of September: Five risk factors tied to majority of CVD, yoga impact in HF, more

Healio and Cardiology Today have compiled a list of the top news in cardiology of September 2023.

Reader were most interested in how five modifiable risk factors contributed to the majority of CVD cases; the cessation of a trial evaluating abelacimab for AF due to early success; the impact of yoga on HF outcomes; and more.

More than half of CVD cases attributable to five modifiable risk factors

After pooling individual-level data from 112 cohort studies, researchers determined that more than 50% of cases of CVD can be attributed to five modifiable risk factors — BMI, systolic BP, non-HDL, current smoking and diabetes. Read more

Psychosocial stressors at work may double heart disease risk for men

Data suggest psychosocial stressors at work, including job strain and effort-reward imbalance, independently raise CVD risk for men and could pose a risk for heart health in women, though that evidence remains inconclusive. Read more

Abelacimab trial for AF stopped early due to ‘overwhelming’ reduction in bleeding

Anthos Therapeutics announced that the phase 2 AZALEA-TIMI 71 study was stopped early due to an “overwhelming reduction” in bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation at high risk for stroke taking abelacimab vs. rivaroxaban. Read more

Yoga improves prognosis, functional outcome in heart failure

Adults with HF on optimized guideline-directed medical therapy had improvements in quality of life measures and functional status after participating in a yoga therapy program for 1 year, researchers reported. Read more

Winter weather ups risk for poor blood pressure control

People with hypertension are more likely to have higher systolic BP and slightly worse BP control during winter vs. summer months, researchers reported at the American Heart Association Hypertension Scientific Sessions. Read more

Climbing more than five flights of stairs daily may lower heart disease risk by 20%

Adults who reported climbing more than five flights of stairs daily were 20% less likely to develop atherosclerotic CVD over 12 years compared with those who reported never climbing stairs, according to data from a UK Biobank analysis. Read more

Cardiology ‘has evolved’: Heart societies unite to push for independent medical board

Four professional cardiovascular societies announced a push to create an independent board for cardiovascular medicine, part of an effort to simplify a competency process for cardiologists that has recently been a source of controversy. Read more

Care, outcomes remain uneven amid growing atrial fibrillation burden in US

Atrial fibrillation affects 2.7 million to 6.1 million people in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association, and that burden is expected to rise substantially in the coming years. Read more

Statin initiation despite already low LDL tied to improved mortality after first stroke

Researchers in South Korea showed that statin therapy for treatment-naive patients with already low LDL hospitalized for first-time stroke may reduce risk for all-cause death in the following months. Read more

Global lead exposure greater CVD risk factor than smoking, cholesterol

World Bank data suggest lead exposure in 2019 alone was attributable to more than 5.5 million CVD deaths and the loss of 765 million IQ points for young children globally, with the greatest impact in low- and middle-income countries. Read more