A five-year study found people treated in the summer were on average 8% more likely to see their blood pressure come down to healthy levels.

These same findings were reported from 15 VA hospitals across the US. Not only are blood pressure’s elevated in the winter months but the incidence of stroke and heart attacks are also higher. Is it the slowed activity, the colder weather and thus vasoconstriction or the salty “winter”type hot foods that we consume? Maybe it is all of the above.

via BBC 

Post from: Blisstree

The Winter Season Affects Blood Pressure

A large study has found that black Medicare patients are less likely than white patients to receive blood vessel opening procedures such as angioplasty following a heart attack, whether they are admitted to hospitals that provide or do not provide these procedures, but also experience higher mortality rates at 1 year, according to a study in the June 13 issue of JAMA.

Why the difference?  Do you really think it is solely race related or are there other factors that play in to the decisions for interventions?

“These differences could be due to unmeasured clinical or socioeconomic factors, patient preferences, and unmeasured aspects of medical decision making but are unlikely to be related to differences in access to hospitals performing revascularization procedures. Although differences in revascularization may reflect overuse of procedures in white patients, the receipt of revascularization could also explain some of the differences in longer-term mortality in black patients and may represent a broader marker of differences in post-AMI care between black and white patients”

I want to know what your opinion is on this topic.  Don’t hold back, don’t be scared, all opinions are welcomed and wanted.  I have not personally experienced nor observed this in my clinical practice.  And for a point of reference, I work at a hospital approximately 15 miles outside Baltimore City.

Don’t you think there should be standardized care for post MI patients across the board?  Doesn’t everyone deserve the same treatment, regardless of insurance, income, gender, race or status?

via Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Are Black And White Patients Treated Differently Post Acute MI’s?

— The death rate for patients admitted with a severe heart attack, where the arteries are completely blocked, went down from 8.4 to 4.5 per cent.
– The risk of heart failure for severe heart attack patients also went down from 20 to 11 per cent.
– The death rate for patients admitted with a milder heart attack, where the arteries are only partially blocked, also went down from 2.9 to 2.0 per cent.
– This equates to 30 fewer deaths and 90 fewer patients with new heart failure per 1,000 hospital admissions.
– Critical heart failure or “cardiogenic shock”, which kills 70 per cent of patients who suffer severe heart attacks, went down from 7.1 to 4.7 per cent among these patients.

Bottom line… Hospitals are staying current and using newer medications and treatment guidelines. This largely contributed to the results of the study.

“This is a great example of why long-term investment in heart research is vital. The study shows that fewer people are dying, and fewer are developing debilitating heart failure thanks to research evidence prompting these hospitals to improve the way they treat people with heart disease.”

via Medical News Today

Post from: Blisstree

Death Among Heart Failure Patients Has Halved Over Last 6 Years

A study of New Jersey hospitals between 1987 and 2002 has found that heart-attack patients on the weekends were more likely to die one day after admission. The effect continued at one month, six months, and a year later. One reason given for their higher mortality rate is that doctors are less likely to use angioplasty and other invasive procedures to treat patients on the weekends. But it’s been five years since the end of that study and cardiologists have changed their practice since then. They now clear clogged arteries as soon as possible when a person presents with heart attack.

Still, there may be other factors aside from the type and frequency of medical procedures. Maybe patients resist going to the hospital because they’d rather continue enjoying their leisure activity of choice. By the time they end up at the hospital, the time lapse between heart attack and medical care is longer than it would be on the weekday. Also, there may be fewer hospital staff on duty during weekends and they may be more hesitant to call cardiologists because it’s a holiday.

What is most important to remember if you think you’re having a heart attack regardless of when it might strike – CALL FOR AN AMBULANCE.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, NY Times, March 16, 2007

Like this post? Why not read another? Every page you read at A Hearty Life in March is helping to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

ETonline.com, March 15, 2007

Post from: Blisstree

Heart Attacks on the Weekend are Bad News