Heart Failure Archive

News briefs

Fried foods carry heart risks in part because they spur inflammation. But how many servings of crispy French fries does it take to raise your risk for cardiovascular disease? Not many, suggests a large analysis published online Jan. 18, 2021, by the journal Heart. Scientists pooled the findings of 17 studies on fried foods and problems like heart attacks, clogged coronary arteries, heart failure, and stroke. The studies included more than half a million people. Researchers also looked at the data from another six studies assessing the association of eating fried food and dying prematurely. Those studies involved more than 750,000 people. People who ate the most fried foods each week were 28% more likely to have heart problems, compared with people who ate the least. Each additional 114-gram (4-ounce) serving of fried foods per week bumped up overall risk by 3%. But the analysis failed to show that people who ate lots of fried foods were more likely to die prematurely. Besides provoking inflammation, fried foods are often also high in sodium as well as harmful saturated fats. If you choose to indulge in them, do it sparingly. And avoid foods fried in animal fats; instead, choose foods fried in vegetable oils.

Image: © Amarita/Getty Images

Research we're watching

People with atrial fibrillation (afib) who consume more than 14 alcoholic beverages a week may face a higher risk of stroke and other blood clot-related problems, according to a new study.

The study included 9,411 people with afib, who were divided into four groups based on how much they typically drank per week: abstainers or rare drinkers (less than one), light drinkers (less than seven), moderate (seven to 14), and heavy (14 or more). Researchers then tracked the participants for a median follow-up period of 17.4 months, noting the incidence of strokes, transient ischemic attacks (ministrokes), blood clots in a limb or organ (embolisms), or hospitalization for management of either atrial fibrillation or heart failure.

Research we're watching

A unique diabetes drug shows heart-related benefits in people with diabetes who also have recently worsening heart failure or kidney disease, according to two new studies.

The drug, sotagliflozin (Zynquista), belongs to a class of drugs called SGLT2 inhibitors, which cause the kidneys to release more sugar into the urine. The drug is also an SGLT1 inhibitor, meaning it decreases sugar absorption in the intestines. This dual action lowers high blood sugar, the hallmark of diabetes. In people with kidney disease, sotagliflozin lowered the total number of deaths from cardiovascular disease and hospitalizations and urgent visits for heart failure by about 26% compared with a placebo. In a second study, which included people with recently worsening heart failure, those taking the drug had a 33% decrease in those same heart-related measures compared with a placebo.

Over-the-counter and prescription drugs known as NSAIDs pose a risk to the cardiovascular system. They include over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and prescription drugs such as celecoxib (Celebrex). NSAIDs can cause the kidneys to hold on to salt and water, which tends to raise blood pressure. They also appear to affect the inner linings of blood vessels and alter other blood substances in a manner that promotes blood clots. People who need these pain-relieving medications should take the smallest dose for the shortest possible period of time.

Research we're watching

Serious heart complications are common in people hospitalized with influenza, according to a study published online Aug. 25, 2020, by Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the CDC looked at the rates of cardiovascular problems in more than 80,000 adults hospitalized with a confirmed case of influenza (commonly called the flu) from 2010 to 2018. Almost 12% had a serious cardiovascular problem, most commonly heart failure or a lack of adequate blood flow to the heart, known as acute coronary syndrome. The body's immune response against the infection can trigger inflammation and other changes that harm the cardiovascular system.

Ask the doctor

Q. A friend recently had what his doctor called a "3D echocardiogram." How is that different from a standard echocardiogram?

A. All echocardiograms use high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to create still and video images of your heart. But there are two different procedures for getting the images and several variations of this common test, which doctors often refer to simply as an echo.

Until recently, cardiac amyloidosis was considered rare and untreatable.

As America's population ages, heart failure diagnoses are on the rise — especially the type caused by a stiff, thickened heart muscle. The heart pumps adequately but can't relax, causing fluid to back up into the lungs, leading to symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue.

Doctors refer to this form of heart failure as "heart failure with preserved ejection fraction," or HFpEF. About half of all heart failure diagnoses fall into this category, yet the condition has proved challenging to treat. But cardiologists are now recognizing that about 10% to 15% of people with stiff, failing hearts may have cardiac amyloidosis.

In about half of all cases of heart failure, the heart’s muscles are thin and weak, so the heart can’t pump very well. In the other cases, the muscles are thick and stiff, which prevents the heart from relaxing normally to fill with blood.

Research we're watching

Women experiencing heart failure are less likely than men with the same condition to receive a mechanical heart pump designed to help blood circulate through the body, says a study published in the September issue of the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. The pump, called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, is typically used in people who have advanced heart failure. Looking at data from nearly 30,000 hospitalizations in which people received an LVAD device, the researchers found that women made up only 21.9% of those recipients. That number represented a decline from 2004, when 25.8% of LVAD recipients were women. The study's author said the difference might reflect a reliance on outdated statistics that showed women were more likely to die after receiving LVAD devices. This is no longer the case with new versions of the device.

Image: JFsPic/Getty Images

A substance called trimethylamine N-oxide, which is produced when your body digests red meat, may raise the risk of cardiovascular problems.

Experts used to think that red meat raised your risk of heart disease simply because it was high in saturated fat. But today that picture has gotten more complicated thanks to the discovery of a metabolite — a substance produced during digestion and metabolism — called trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO.

According to a news article published June 11 in JAMA, three recent analyses have linked high blood levels of TMAO with a higher risk for both cardiovascular disease and early death from any cause. In one of those studies, researchers found that people with higher levels of TMAO in their blood may have more than twice the risk of heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular problems, compared with people who have lower levels. Other studies have found links between high TMAO levels and heart failure and chronic kidney disease.