CVD News Watch, May 29

Can you believe that May is almost over and June is just around the corner? Here’s your heart(y) news update, by the way.

CVD tobacco watch

Showing the truth, saving lives: the case for pictorial health warnings
Sunday, May 31, 2009 is World No Tobacco Day,  and “Tobacco Health Warnings” is this year’s theme for this one-day observance. It focuses on using pictures as health warnings so that people should pay more attention and be aware of the health risks of tobacco use and encourage them to quit. Current warnings in most cigarette packaging are in the form of words and are deemed to be not that effective. 9 out of 10 people live in countries where picture warnings on packaging are not required. This campaign hopes to change that.

CVD nutrition watch

Health Canada contemplates providing food industry with “discretionary” authority to fortify junk foods
The Canadian regulatory body Health Canada may just give the go signal to fortify junk food. The addition of vitamin and mineral (iron, calcium, etc.) will hopefully give nutritional value to otherwise unhealthy foods. The fortification would be left at the discretion of the food manufacturers. However, many health experts and nutritionists do not agree that this is such a good idea. Many fear that fortifying junk food will promote further the consumption of these foods.

CVD events watch

Anti Aging Effects of Diet and Exercise
The Buck Institute for Age Research in California is organizing this presentation on Thursday next week, June 4, 2009 at 6:00 pm at Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, California.
Check out also for heart-related webchats at Cleveland Clinic this coming June!

CVD clinical trial watch

SADHART: Increased mortality in severely depressed ACS patients
The clinical trial SADHART which stands for Sertraline Antidepressant Heart Attack Randomized Trial reports that patients who do not recover depression after an acute heart attack or unstable angina have double the mortality rate of those recover. There are guidelines which recommend routine screening of cardiac patients for clinical depression.

CVD drug safety watch

Naproxen best NSAID for heart-disease patients
A large scale study compared the cardiovascular safety of different nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and found that naproxen has the best safety profile compared to diclofenac, ibuprofen, and higher doses of rofecoxib and celecoxib. NSAIDs have rather controversial safety issues in patients with heart problems, which led to the withdrawal of rofecoxib (Vioxx) from the market several years ago.

CVD drug approval watch

FDA Approves Samsca to treat Hyponatremia
Samsca (tolvaptan) has just been approved to treat hyponatremia, an abnormally low concentration of sodium in the blood (e.g. serum sodium concentration of <135 mmol/L). Hyponatremia is associated with congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis, and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion. Samsca is an oral selective vasopressin-receptor antagonist.