Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Massachusetts Dietetic Association implemented a statewide retrospective quality assurance audit to determine the effectiveness and cost of medical nutrition therapy in patients with hypercholesterolemia (> 5.20 mmol/L). Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Data were collected at 23 sites from 285 outpatients seen by a registered dietitian for a minimum of two visits. Patients taking lipid-lowering medications were excluded. Of the 285 patients, 108 (38%) were men and 177 (62%) were women. The mean age was 51.4 years (range = 22 to 79 years). Results showed that the mean reduction in serum cholesterol level was 8.6%, which translates to a decrease of approximately 17.2% in risk of CAD. Forty-five percent of the total population showed an 11% or greater reduction in serum cholesterol levels. Reduction in serum cholesterol levels correlated with increased time spent with a dietitian (r = .188, P < .001). The mean cost for nutrition intervention with a dietitian was $163 (a mean of four visits). In contrast, the estimated annual cost of treatment for patients with hypercholesterolemia using drug therapy is $1,450. A 1993 report calculated the annual cost of treating heart disease in the United States to be $80 billion. Medical nutrition therapy should be considered the initial, effective, and low-cost approach in the management of patients with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia.
 ...
PMID:Benefits and costs of medical nutrition therapy by registered dietitians for patients with hypercholesterolemia. Massachusetts Dietetic Association. 765 8

Social support is inversely associated with heart disease risk. Support may influence heart disease by encouraging health behavior change in high-risk individuals. This study examined the association between spouse support and maintenance of low-fat diets in men with hypercholesterolemia. Participants were 254 men enrolled in a 24-month randomized trial of lipid-lowering diets initiated in 1985 in Seattle, Washington. The Evaluation of Spouse Support, which assesses the extent to which spouses supported maintenance of lipid-lowering diets, was administered after the last of eight dietary classes and at 3, 12, and 24 months postinstruction. Attainment of dietary goals was determined from food records completed at the end of the class and at 3, 12, and 24 months. Compared with those in the lowest quartile, those in the highest quartile of support were more likely to attain dietary goals at 3 months (odds ratio (OR) = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-10.4), 12 months (OR = 5.5, 95% CI 2.4-12.5), and 24 months (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.7-9.3). Support was not associated with end-of-class dietary goal achievement. Social support may be an important factor in the maintenance of low-fat diets.
 ...
PMID:Spouse support and long-term adherence to lipid-lowering diets. 787 89

High blood cholesterol is a prime target for preventive intervention in the primary care setting; however, the current effectiveness of clinicians at educating their patients about appropriate dietary modification is questionable. This report examines the association between dietary knowledge and physician counseling among primary care patients with hypercholesterolemia. Subjects were 325 patients continuously enrolled in one of two group model HMO offices for two years following a screening cholesterol level above 200 mg/dL. One office had American Heart Association educational materials and training in its use; one offered usual care. A chart audit and telephone survey (response 59%) 18 months following the screening cholesterol assessed clinician counseling and cholesterol monitoring as well as patient knowledge (from 14-item survey), attitudes, and behavior. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed no association between patient knowledge and physician dietary counseling (P = .53). Only patient educational background (P = .03) and baseline dietary knowledge (P = .005) independently predicted subsequent dietary knowledge. When added to the model, self-reported dietary change was also independently associated with patient knowledge (P = .0003). Though public awareness of cholesterol as a risk factor for heart disease has dramatically increased in recent years, specific dietary knowledge is often lacking. This article questions the adequacy of current primary care dietary treatment efforts in this regard.
 ...
PMID:Association between physician counseling for hypercholesterolemia and patient dietary knowledge. 791 38

The prevalent wisdom that a low-fat diet and cholesterol reduction are essential to good cardiovascular health is coming under increased scrutiny. An examination of the foundations of this view suggests that in many respects it was ill-conceived from the outset and, with the accumulation of new evidence, it is becoming progressively less tenable. Cross-sectional, longitudinal and cross-cultural investigations have variously suggested that the relationship between dietary fat intake and death from heart disease is positive, negative and random. These data are incompatible with the view that dietary fat intake has any causal role in cardiovascular health. Although hypercholesterolemia is associated with increased liability to death from heart disease, it is as frequently associated with increased overall life expectancy as with decreased life expectancy. These findings are incompatible with labelling hypercholesterolemia an overall health hazard. Moreover, it is questionable if the cardiovascular liability associated with hypercholesterolemia is either causal or reversible. The complex relationships between diet, serum cholesterol, atherosclerosis and mortality and their interactions with genetic and environmental factors suggest that the effects of simple dietary prescriptions are unlikely to be predictable, let alone beneficial. These cautions are borne out by numerous studies which have shown that multifactorial primary intervention to lower cholesterol levels is as likely to increase death from cardiovascular causes as to decrease it. Importantly, the only significant overall effect of cholesterol-lowering intervention that has ever been shown is increased mortality. The stress and helplessness associated with misapprehensions as to the dangers of dietary fat and the asceticism inherent in the war on cholesterol have considerable implications for health practices. Recent research in behavioral immunology suggests that stress and helplessness are likely to compromise immunity and promote ill-health.
 ...
PMID:The questionable wisdom of a low-fat diet and cholesterol reduction. 873 93

Hyperlipidemia is an important risk factor of arteriosclerotic diseases. In Japan, as heart disease and cerebrovascular disorders rank second and third as the causes of death, demand has intensified for measures to prevent these diseases. In the U.S., the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) was initiated as a means to prevent CHD by reducing th prevalence of hypercholesterolemia. Since 1988, this program has demonstrated effectiveness in this regard. In Japan, there are no consistent guidelines for the management of hyperlipidemia such as are espoused by the NCEP. In this study, in an endeavor to resolve this problem, a worksite population (1343 adult males) was classified according to the NCEP guidelines and the role and effectiveness of NCEP in this population were studied. A questionnaire concerning life-style and some biochemical findings were also used to classify the subjects according to the NCEP guidelines. Of the subjects, 22.8% were classified as hypercholesterolemic (> or = 240 mg/dl) and another 34.9% as being borderline high risk (> or = 200 < 240 mg/dl). Twenty-five percent of subjects required diet or drug therapy. The percentage of subjects requiring therapeutic intervention increased with age. The therapy group subjects tended to have a larger number of risk factors compared to the normal group. They also featured a significantly high age-adjusted odds ratios for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and elevated serum triglyceride. This study suggests that in the health management of those in the therapy group, educational instruction on coronary risk factors is required.
 ...
PMID:[Classification of hyperlipidemia in a worksite population in Japan using criteria of the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program]. 804 15

A cardiovascular disease screening and education campaign was conducted throughout the North Coast Region of New South Wales from 1987 to 1991. Objectives were: to screen 20 per cent of the adult population for blood cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors; to raise awareness of the risks associated with a high-fat diet; to provide nutrition counselling and referral advice for those with elevated cholesterol; and to monitor these participants' cholesterol levels with a follow-up test at three months. During the five years, 42,869 individuals or 18 per cent of North Coast adults participated, with some overrepresentation of women aged 40 to 60 years. Initially, 65 per cent of participants had elevated cholesterol levels (> or = 5.5 mmol/L) and 46 per cent were overweight (body mass index over 25). A three-month retest was offered to all participants with elevated cholesterol, of whom 53 per cent attended. Participants who received nutrition counselling generally reported dietary changes which were reflected in significant cholesterol and weight reductions. Of participants who attended retest, 63 to 87 per cent had reduced cholesterol levels and 57 to 71 per cent reduced weight. A stratified random sample of participants was retested at one and three years. Reductions in cholesterol were well maintained for one year but showed signs of relapse after three years. There was a tendency for initially lower cholesterol levels to increase over a three-year period. Contributing factors included aging, regression to the mean and complacency. Maintenance may be enhanced by regular reinforcement of nutrition changes and development of more supportive environments.
 ...
PMID:Community-based cholesterol screening and education to prevent heart disease: five-year results of the North Coast Cholesterol Check Campaign. 839 2

The object of this investigation was to examine general practitioners' attitudes to prophylaxis, assessment of the significance of a series of risk factors for the development of heart disease and how much emphasis they employed in attempting to alter the risk factors. In addition, the general practitioners' own health habits were investigated and it was assessed whether there was any connection between health habits and assessment of risk factors and the priorities given to these efforts. The general practitioners' advice and current behaviour as regards risk factors were investigated. The investigation was carried out as a questionnaire investigation in the County of Aarhus where all doctors received a questionnaire. A total of 313 general practitioners replied to the questionnaire which corresponds to a percentage participation of 84. The investigation revealed that general practitioners are interested in prophylaxis but find it difficult. By and large, general practitioners regarded the usual risk factors as being of great significance for the development of ischaemic heart disease and considered that it was important to alter these. A connection was present between their own health habits, assessment of risk factors and the priority awarded to these. Practitioners who had had their own serum cholesterol measured, considered that hypercholesterolaemia was important and awarded efforts to correct this greater priority than practitioners who had not had their serum cholesterol measured. The general practitioners abilities in taking case histories and giving dietary advice in cases of hypercholesterolaemia showed that they had only few deficiencies, but that there was a great scatter in their intervention limits for hypercholesterolaemia.
 ...
PMID:[General practitioners and prevention of ischemic heart disease]. 844 2

Ischaemic heart disease remains a major cause of mortality in developed countries. A number of important risk factors for the development of coronary atherosclerosis have been identified including hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, insulin resistance and smoking. However, these factors can only partly explain variations in the incidence of ischaemic heart disease either between populations or within populations over time. In addition, population interventions based upon these factors have had little impact in the primary prevention of heart disease. Recent evidence suggests that one of the important mechanisms predisposing to the development of atherosclerosis is oxidation of the cholesterol-rich low-density lipoprotein particle. This modification accelerates its uptake into macrophages, thereby leading to the formation of the cholesterol-laden 'foam cell'. In vitro, low-density lipoprotein oxidation can be prevented by naturally occurring anti-oxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene. This article explores the evidence that these dietary anti-oxidants may influence the rate of progression of coronary atherosclerosis in vivo and discusses the need for formal clinical trials of anti-oxidant therapy.
 ...
PMID:Can anti-oxidants prevent ischaemic heart disease? 845 85

The risks of cardiovascular disease associated with dyslipidemia differ in women and men, being more strongly associated with triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein in middle-aged women than in men. Although the incidence of heart disease is lower in women because they live longer, over a lifetime, cardiovascular disease in women is equal to that in men, with the greatest incidence after age 65 years. Major coronary events are rare among reproductive-age women who use oral contraceptives and are related to the concomitant effects of age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Low estrogen-progestin dose oral contraceptives appear not to promote cardiovascular disease and can be used in women with controlled cholesterol elevations. Alternative contraceptive measures should be considered for patients with severe uncontrolled hypercholesterolemia or a lipid disorder that carries a high risk of coronary heart disease. In these conditions, thrombotic propensity associated with supraphysiologic doses of estrogen in oral contraceptives might accelerate coronary thrombosis should an arteriosclerotic plaque rupture. Treatment of hypercholesterolemia should follow the guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program and emphasize hygienic measures. Contraceptive selection in hyperlipidemic patients should reflect a balance between the risks--and their management--of developing cardiovascular disease versus the risks of pregnancy.
 ...
PMID:Contraception and dyslipidemia. 851 44

Hypercholesterolemia is often the cause for the primary heart disease ultimately necessitating heart transplantation (HTx). After transplantation, persisting hypercholesterolemia results in an increased peroxidation of LDL retained by extracellular matrix of the intima. Oxidized LDL accumulates in monocyte derived macrophages, it leads to immobilization of tissue macrophages and provokes the expression of vascular adhesion molecules, growth factors and cytokines. In a prospective open controlled study, the impact of long-term cholesterol reduction by diet in combination with the HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitor Simvastatin on graft vessel disease (GVD) was evaluated. Patients of the control group received only a low fat diet. Simvastatin treatment decreased total and LDL-cholesterol significantly and was not associated with adverse effects. The one year angiographies revealed GVD in 24.1% of the control and 12.1% of the Simvastatin group (Study I). In high risk patients with LDL-cholesterol concentrations above 135 mg/dl, in spite of maximal Simvastatin treatment or plasma fibrinogen concentrations above 400 mg/dl, the heparin mediated extracorporeal low density lipoprotein precipitation (H.E.L.P.)-system was applied. H.E.L.P. was used either for prevention of GVD soon after HTx or for treatment of GVD after development of coronary lesions. Study II proved that the H.E.L.P.-system could significantly lower LDL-cholesterol, Lp(a) and fibrinogen in most high risk patients after HTx, resulting in successful prevention or even treatment of GVD.
 ...
PMID:What is the role of lipid lowering therapy in heart-allograft failure? 858 84


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>