Where is Cardiology in 2014? An AHA Review

Last week, I attended the American Heart Association (AHA) 2014 Scientific Sessions in Chicago. I was there as both a learner and physician-writer for theHeart.org. Here are a few paragraphs on the meeting. The main purpose of this post is to introduce the five editorials I wrote. The links to the posts are at the end. A warning: I worked in the word asymptote. Grin. I’m sorry to say the most-covered news of the meeting was hardly notable. The IMPROVE-IT trial tested the combination of the statin drug simvastatin and ezetimibe (Vytorin) against simvastatin (Zocor) alone in patients who just suffered a heart-attack-like event. The results were headlined as moderate, but the number to needed to treat to prevent one cardiovascular event over 7 years was 50. That means 49 of 50 patients who took the drug got no benefit. The curves barely separated. From Twitter stream at #aha14 My colleague Melissa Walton-Shirley wrote the best summary on the trial. She aptly named the post: What I’m Telling Patients About Ezetimibe on Monday Morning. It’s really good. Perhaps the most important result from IMPROVE-IT was that it kept the LDL-lowering strategy alive. Big pharma appreciated that, as the next line of health-thru-chemicals–injections of monoclonal antibodies called PCSK9 inhibitors–are being developed by multiple companies. Gosh. Speaking of drugs and heart health, check out this Tweet. A lecture on drugs at #aha14. Overflowing. People taking...
Source: Dr John M - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs