US: Smoking cessation vs. statin therapy
Even though helping a patient to quit smoking might not be as easy and accepted as prescribing a statin, the benefits are much larger than with the prescription...
UK: Aspirin reduces risk of cancer death
Taking aspirin over a prolonged period of time, such as five to ten years, may reduce not only total mortality but also the risk of dying from several cancers...
Europe: CVD mortality in the East vs. the West
Currently, all cause and cardiovascular disease mortality is twice as high in Eastern and Central European countries compared to Western Europe...
Global: Challenges and opportunities in CVD prevention
Many challenges and opportunities exist for CVD prevention, and there is a need for high-quality local surveillance systems that provide the appropriate data needed to develop sound national CVD preventive policies...
Global: Cholesterol levels changed little over 30 years
Total cholesterol levels have changed little over the past thirty years and national policies need to be enacted to encourage people to consume heart healthy diets...
Global: BMI trends over the last 30 years
The average population BMI has increased over time in a large number of low-, middle-, and high-income countries in both men and women over the past 30 years...
Global: Slight decline in systolic blood pressure over 30 years
Systolic blood pressure has declined slightly across the globe since 1980; however these trends varied considerably between the different regions and countries...
Global: Exposure to secondhand smoke
Exposure to secondhand smoke continues to be a threat worldwide; to date most of the world's population does not have the right to a clean air environment...
Global: Simple heart attack risk score
A simple risk score can be developed for predicting the risk of heart attacks among an international population of middle-aged and elderly men and women...
Global: Wikipedia as a source for health information
Wikipedia has become a dominant online reference work and discussion of its strengths, weaknesses, and intricacies as a source for health information is needed...
UK: The combined effect of smoking and alcohol on heart disease
Since many people smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol on a regular basis, it is important to determine the combined effects of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking on overall and cause-specific mortality...
China: Tobacco industry's research agenda
The tobacco industry has a long-standing history of funding research and researchers in order to generate data that will favor a more "balanced" discussion on tobacco control...
Spain: Obesity and the risk for heart failure
Obesity is an important risk factor for heart failure, even in populations considered to be at low risk for various chronic diseases, including heart failure...
India: The cardio-protective diet
While we still have much to learn with regards to dietary practices that reduce one's risk of heart disease, considerable information is presently available for individuals and governments to act on with regards to the primary prevention of heart disease...
Guatemala: Secondhand smoke exposure in bars/restaurants after smoking ban
These data from Guatemala prove that a smoking ban can be effective in decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke...
India: Improving heart failure
In a large country like India, successful heart failure prevention efforts should focus on measuring its impact on urban, rural, poor, and at-risk populations, treatment and management of heart failure, and long-term patient outcomes...
Germany: Successful diabetes management programs
The German disease management program is a successful strategy for improving chronic illness care, and shows that the reorganization and integration of chronic care into the patient care setting with physicians' participation improves outcomes in diabetes care...
Iran: Impact of community trial on hypertension
Programs like Isfahan Healthy Heart Program may serve as a model to design intervention programs against hypertension and other chronic conditions in developing countries...India: The growing obesity epidemic
Obesity is a major, and unfortunately growing, global public health problem that is estimated to contribute to more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide on an annual basis. Tried and proven methods of weight loss and weight control at the individual and population level need to be continually encouraged to combat this growing epidemic...
US: Does vitamin E help to prevent strokes?
While antioxidants have been shown to have some benefit with regards to the primary prevention of CVD, their role in the prevention of all strokes, as well as the major stroke subtypes, is less clearly delineated...
