Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0151744 (myocardial ischemia)
 31,282 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The large multicenter trials of treatment in mild to moderate hypertension have shown unequivocally that the risk of stroke is reversed. The impact of treatment on ischemic heart disease is more debatable. Since there is no discontinuity in the risk of different levels of blood pressure, any advice about the level of pressure to treat must be arbitrary. The British Hypertension Society Guidelines recommend a sustained diastolic pressure of 100 mmHg or more over a 3- to 4-month period. This empirical advice is based upon subgroup analysis of the MRC and Australian Therapeutic Trials that suggests most of the benefit in treating the mildest degrees of hypertension occur in this group of patients. The role of newer classes of agent, such as ACE inhibitors or calcium-channel blockers, cannot be fully assessed in the absence of proper end-point trials. Whilst reasons for using these agents as first-line therapy have been put forward, these remain speculative in the absence of such trials. The much greater cost of newer agents in the context of universally cost-constrained health services also has to be borne in mind before recommending their widespread use as first-line therapy.
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PMID:The level at which blood pressure should be treated. 180 96

Platelet activity was assessed in a sub-sample of 56 participants in the MRC Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART). Men whose diets contained a high ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (a P:S ratio of greater than 0.5) showed reduced secondary platelet aggregation to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and diminished platelet aggregation to ADP in whole blood. A trend of reduced secondary platelet aggregation to ADP with increasing dietary eicosapentaenoic acid was noted, but this was not statistically significant. The results of this study and the MRC Diet and Reinfarction Trial suggest a mediatory role for platelet activity in the relationship between diet and ischaemic heart disease.
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PMID:Long-term diet modification and platelet activity. 204 58

In man a close interrelationship exists between hyperadrenergic states, myocardial ischemia, necrosis, infarction and sudden cardiac death. Persistent high catecholamine levels may also be associated with increased vascular endothelial turnover and permeability to calcium and lipoproteins, increased blood velocity, abnormal blood flow patterns and atheroma formation. There are thus good reasons to predict a cardiovascular protective effect of beta-blockers. Animal data indicate that in spite of apparently adverse plasma lipoprotein changes beta-blockers retard atheromatous plaque formation under conditions of high cholesterol diet with or without stress. A slow heart rate, as well as a reduction in calcium influx and inhibition of both esterification of arterial wall cholesterol (by ACAT) and endothelial permeability to lipoproteins, may be central to this process. Beta-blockers benefit a spectrum of conditions related to the atheromatous process and myocardial necrosis. These are silent ischemia; stable (including mixed), unstable and preinfarction angina; periinfarction events (including myocardial rupture and dissection of the ascending aorta); and myocardial necrosis associated with stress conditions such as head injuries and subarachnoid hemorrhage. In one study coronary deaths in hypertensive men, particularly in smokers, were significantly reduced by metoprolol (a beta 1-selective blocker) compared to a diuretic. In contrast in the MRC study of mild hypertension only nonsmoking men with mild to moderate hypertension who received a nonselective beta-blocker appeared to experience fewer myocardial infarctions. Recent clinical data showed that moderate-severe hypertensives who were optimally controlled by atenolol-based treatment over a 10-year period were less likely to die from myocardial infarction than those suboptimally controlled, irrespective of a rise in serum triglyceride levels. Thus the net effect of acute beta-blockade in hyperadrenergic states, including myocardial infarction, is to limit cardiovascular damage. Chronic beta-blockade inhibits atheroma formation (in animals) and beneficially modifies the incidence of stroke and myocardial infarction, which in man are the long-term consequences of hypertension.
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PMID:The beta-receptor, atheroma and cardiovascular damage. 257 Apr 26

All the antihypertensive trials that have compared active treatment with placebo have given similar and, at the same time, different results. In all trials the therapeutic quotient is above 1, indicating that in all trials mortality and morbidity may be lower (by at least 20%) in the actively treated group. However, the prevented event rate, an absolute measure of benefit, indicates a very large benefit (24 events prevented every 100 patient-years) in the trials involving severe hypertension, and a quite small rate (0.15 event prevented every 100 patient-years) in the MRC mild hypertension trial. Although, taken as a whole, the results of treatment of mild hypertension may appear only moderately encouraging, a considerably greater benefit is observed when a mildly elevated diastolic blood pressure is associated with other risk factors, such as the male sex, cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol level and elevated systolic blood pressure. Emphasis has been placed, in recent years, upon other limitations in the success of antihypertensive therapy, and it has been stressed that the very effective prevention of cerebrovascular events in the treated hypertensive has not been matched by an equally effective prevention of coronary events. It has also been shown that the risk in treated hypertensives remains higher than that of the general population. Understanding the limitations of current antihypertensive therapy may help in extending treatment successes in the future. A hypothesis that has been recently advanced is that some of the failures of antihypertensive therapy may result from excessive lowering of blood pressure especially in hypertensive patients with ischaemic heart disease (the problem of the 'J'-shaped curve).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:The risk of hypertension: successes and failures of antihypertensive treatment. 269 92

beta-blockers are one of the first-line therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of hypertension. Their role in this position appears stronger than earlier in view of the results of the three large intervention trials in elderly hypertensive patients (SHEP, STOP-Hypertension and MRC), which all used beta-blockers as one of their therapeutic alternatives. The secondary preventive effect of beta-blockers against coronary heart disease is well established, whereas convincing evidence from placebo-controlled trials regarding their primary preventive effect still is missing. In animal studies beta-blockers have been shown to prevent the development of coronary atherosclerosis and some of the newer agents have been shown to be markedly effective against experimentally induced myocardial ischemia. For reasons such as these, it appears safe to predict that beta-blockers will continue to play an important therapeutic role also in 1993 and beyond.
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PMID:The place of beta-blockers in the treatment of hypertension in 1993. 790 76

Lipids may adversely affect renal function. The recently published MRC/BHF Heart Protection Study (HPS) subgroup analysis showed that simvastatin significantly reduced the fall in glomerular filtration rate in high-risk patients with and without diabetes mellitus. These findings are in line with those of smaller earlier studies, including the GREek Atorvastatin and Coronary heart disease Evaluation (GREACE) Study. Lipid lowering trials need to consider that changes in renal function may occur. Renal and ischaemic heart disease may progress in parallel and statins may be beneficial to both organs.
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PMID:Statins and renal function in patients with diabetes mellitus. 1460 84

Beta-blockers have been considered for decades as effective agents in preventing coronary events in hypertensive patients. Actually, the scrutiny of the available data arises some doubts over the real value of this pharmacological class. In primary prevention, the clinical benefits of beta-blockers are poorly documented: the studies conducted against placebo (MRC, IPPPSH...) did not show any significant differences regarding the rate of coronary events (except within non smokers); moreover, the beneficial effect of propranolol in preventing sudden deaths and silent myocardial infarctions has been reported byjust one retrospective analysis. Likewise in HAPPHY study, the comparison with diuretics did not emphasize a clear superiority of one of both classes; the better effect of metoprolol regarding overall mortality and fatal coronary events was shown in the pecular subset MAPHY, only. Furthermore, in elderly people, HEP, MRC OA and STOP studies did not find any significant effect of beta-blockers in preventing coronary events, as compared with placebo. However, SHEP study, which involved patients older than 60 years with isolated systolic hypertension receiving first a diuretic, then a beta-blocker(atenolol) in 1/4 of the cases, demonstrated a significant reduction versus placebo both in strokes and in coronary events. Finally, in UKPDS, CAPP, LIFE and CONVINCE studies, atenolol turned out to have a similar efficacy as captopril, losartan and verapamil, in preventing ischemic heart disease. Among the numerous published meta-analyses, that of Psaty pointed out the absence of a primary cardioprotective effect by beta-blockers; more recently, that of Carlberg, emphasized atenolol given alone as the first-line drug to fail in significantly reducing coronary events and strokes. In secondary prevention, some more convincing data may be found in the literature, regarding post myocardial infarction patients (meta-analyses of Staessen, 1982, Yusuf, 1985 and Soriano, 1997), as well as those with stable angina (BIP study in diabetics) or silent ischemia (ASIST study: significant reduction in number and duration of ischemic events by atenolol). Moreover, INVEST study recently showed atenolol and verapamil to have an equivalent efficacy in the hypertensive patients with stable coronary artery disease. Last, hypertension should be reminded as resulting in many cases of heart failure, a pathology where beta-blockers have clearly demonstrated their beneficial effects.
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PMID:[Do beta-blockers prevent coronary events in hypertensive patients?]. 1623 74

Comorbidities, are common in COPD, have been associated with poor outcomes and are thought to relate to systemic inflammation. To investigate comorbidities in relation to systemic inflammation and outcomes we recorded comorbidities in a well characterized cohort (ECLIPSE study) for 2164 clinically stable COPD subjects, 337 smokers and 245 non-smokers with normal lung function. COPD patients had a higher prevalence of osteoporosis, anxiety/panic attacks, heart trouble, heart attack, and heart failure, than smokers or nonsmokers. Heart failure (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.9, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.3-2.9), ischemic heart disease (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.0), heart disease (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-2.0), and diabetes (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2-2.4) had increased odds of mortality when coexistent with COPD. Multiple comorbidities had accumulative effect on mortality. COPD and cardiovascular disease was associated with poorer quality of life, higher MRC dyspnea scores, reduced 6MWD, higher BODE index scores. Osteoporosis, hypertension and diabetes were associated with higher MRC dyspnea scores and reduced 6MWD. Higher blood concentrations of fibrinogen, IL-6 and IL-8 levels occurred in those with heart disease. Comorbidity is associated with poor clinical outcomes in COPD. The comorbidities of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes are associated with increased systemic inflammation.
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PMID:Comorbidity, systemic inflammation and outcomes in the ECLIPSE cohort. 2379 63

Herpes zoster is a common presentation in both the community and emergency department; however segmental zoster paresis is a rare complication that can lead to misdiagnosis. We present a case of a 74-year-old Indian gentleman with a background of well controlled diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and ischaemic heart disease who presented with sudden right lower limb weakness. This was preceded by a 5-day history of paraesthesia starting in the right foot and ascending up the right lower limb. On examination, there was a characteristic vesicular rash in the L2/3 region with MRC grading 3/5 in the right hip flexors. The rest of the neurological examination was unremarkable. MRI of the spine did not show any evidence of spinal disease. The patient was initiated on IV acyclovir with improvement of the lower limb weakness to MRC grading 5/5 as the vesicles improved. This is an interesting case as it highlights a rare presentation of zoster: segmental motor paresis that recovered fully with resolution of the rash. It shows the importance of recognizing motor neuropathy as a complication of shingles as it has a very good prognosis with most patients regaining full motor function of the affected limb with treatment.
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PMID:A Rare Complication of Herpes Zoster: Segmental Zoster Paresis. 2731 22

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibitors and ARBs have shown real efficacy in reducing blood pressure, proteinuria, in slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease (MRC) and in clinical improvement. in patients with heart failure, diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease. However, their use is limited by some side effects such as the increase in serum potassium (K), which can be particularly severe in patients with renal insufficiency. In the 23,000 patients followed by the PIRP project of the Emilia-Romagna Region, hyperkalaemia at the first visit (K> 5.5 mEq / L) was present in about 7% of all patients. The prevalence of K values> 5.5 mEq / L increased in relation to the CKD stage, reaching 11% in patients in stage 4 and 5. Among patients with values of K> 5.5 at baseline, 44.8% were in therapy with ACE-I / ARB inhibitors, 3.8% with anti-mineralcortoid and a further 3.9% concurrently taking SRAA-blocking agents and K-sparing diuretics. Counter-measures to avoid the onset of hyperkalemia during treatment with drugs that block the RAAS range from the low-K diet, to diuretics and finally to drugs that promote fecal elimination of K. Among these, polystyrene sulfonates, which have more than 50 years of life, exchange K with sodium or calcium. These drugs, however, in chronic use, can lead to sodium or calcium overload and cause dangerous intestinal necrosis. Recently two new highly promising drugs have been introduced on the market for the treatment of hyperkalemia, the patiromer and sodium zirconium cyclosilicate. The patiromer, which is a potassium-calcium exchanger, acts at the level of the colon where there is a higher concentration of K and where the drug is most ionized. Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (ZS-9) is a resin with micropores of well-defined dimensions, placed in the crystalline structure of the zirconium silicate. The trapped K is exchanged with other protons and sodium. However, even these drugs will have to demonstrate their long-term efficacy and safety to be considered true partners of RAAS blockers in some categories of patients.
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PMID:[Hyperkalemia as a limiting factor in the use of drugs that block the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS)]. 2978 83


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