The Contributions of ‘Diet’, ‘Genes’, and Physical Activity to the Etiology of Obesity: Contrary Evidence and Consilience
The debate on the relative contributions of presumptive etiologic factors in the development of obesity is becoming increasingly speculative, insular, and partisan. As the global prevalence of obesity continues to rise, the sheer volume of unfounded conjecture threatens to obscure well-established evidence. We posit that the failure to distinguish between causal factors and mere statistical associations engendered the proliferation of misleading and demonstrably false research programs and failed public health initiatives. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - June 12, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Edward Archer, Carl J. Lavie, James O. Hill Source Type: research

Weight Loss Strategies for Treatment of Obesity: Lifestyle Management and Pharmacotherapy
Obesity is one of the most serious and prevalent non-communicable diseases of the twenty-first century. It is also a patient-centered condition in which affected individuals seek treatment through a variety of commercial, medical and surgical approaches. Considering obesity as a chronic medical disease state helps to frame the concept of using a three-stepped intensification of care approach to weight management. As a foundation, all patients should be counseled on evidence-based lifestyle approaches that include diet, physical activity and behavior change therapies. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - June 8, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Robert F. Kushner Source Type: research

Improvement of the diagnosis of left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy after analyzing both advantages and disadvantages of echocardiography and CMRI
Left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy,also known as left ventricular hypertrabeculation(LVHT),is a rare congenital heart disease with indistinct aetiology.According to its pathoanatomical characteristics,LVHT is diagnosed when three or more trabeculations are found in the left ventricle, regardless of whether other cardiac abnormalities existed or not.This seems to be the gold standard for LVHT diagnosis currently.However, when it comes to clinical presentation,criteria for diagnosing left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy are under debate.In most cases, we use echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance...
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 31, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Yifeng Xu, Xiaoxiao Liu, Hongli Li Source Type: research

Obesity and the Obesity Paradox in Heart Failure
Obesity continues to be a public health problem in the general population, and also significantly increases the risk for the development of new-onset heart failure (HF). However, in patients with already-established, chronic HF, overweight and mild to moderate obesity is associated with substantially improved survival compared to normal weight patients; this has been termed the “obesity paradox”. The majority of studies measure obesity by body mass index, but studies utilizing less-frequently used measures of body fat and body composition, including waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, skinfold estimates, and bioelect...
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 28, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Tamara B. Horwich, Gregg C. Fonarow, Adrienne L. Clark Source Type: research

Portfolio Dietary Pattern and Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials
The evidence for the Portfolio dietary pattern, a plant-based dietary pattern that combines recognized cholesterol-lowering foods (nuts, plant protein, viscous fibre, plant sterols), has not been summarized. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 25, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Laura Chiavaroli, Stephanie K. Nishi, Tauseef A. Khan, Catherine R. Braunstein, Andrea J. Glenn, Sonia Blanco Mejia, Dario Raheli ć, Hana Kahleová, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, David J.A. Jenkins, Cyril W.C. Kendall, John L. Sievenpiper Source Type: research

Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of mortality, being responsible for 46% of non-communicable disease deaths. It has been estimated that about 85.6 million Americans are living with some form of CVD, which continues to rise. Healthy lifestyle choices may reduce the risk of myocardial infarction by more than 80%, with nutrition playing a key role. Vegetarian dietary patterns reduce CVD mortality and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by 40%. Plant-based diets are the only dietary pattern to have shown reversal of CHD. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 22, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Hana Kahleova, Susan Levin, Neal D. Barnard Source Type: research

Nuts and Cardiovascular Disease
There is compelling evidence showing that nut intake confers protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted a review of the literature with respect to observational studies and randomized trials completed in the past ≈25 years that examined nut intake and CVD endpoints. We included findings from major cohort studies, a large intervention trial, and numerous smaller nut trials. Collectively, data from observational and intervention studies indicate strong and significant association between nut intake and decre ased risk of fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease , myocardial infarction, and sudden death...
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 22, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Edward Bitok, Joan Sabat é Source Type: research

Dietary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada, the United States and most of the Westernized World. In addition, the costs of medications and medical procedures for the prevention and treatment of CVD continue to increase at rapid pace, placing a major burden on the healthcare system and on society. Therefore, simple, inexpensive treatments with vigorous non-pharmacologic therapy are needed to promote better prevention and treatment of CVD. Certainly, articles in this journal, Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases (PCVD), have emphasized non-pharmacologic strategies in r...
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 4, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: John L. Sievenpiper, Carl J. Lavie Source Type: research

Conflicting Evidence on Health Effects Associated with Salt Reduction Calls for a Redesign of the Salt Dietary Guidelines
Ninety-five percent of the World ’s populations have a mean salt intake between 6-12 g, which is much lower than the tolerated daily level of up to 55 g/d. In spite of this, the recommended upper level by many health institutions is as low as 5.8 g/day. When reviewing the evidence for an upper level of 5.8g/day, it becomes appare nt that neither the supporting studies selected by the health institutions, nor randomized controlled trials and prospective observational studies disregarded by the health institutions, document that a salt intake below this 5.8 g, has beneficial health effects. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 1, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Niels Graudal, Gesche J ürgens Source Type: research

In Defense of Sugar: A Critique of Diet-Centrism
Sugars are foundational to biological life and played essential roles in human evolution and dietary patterns for most of recorded history. The simple sugar glucose is so central to human health that it is one of the World Health Organization ’s Essential Medicines. Given these facts, it defies both logic and a large body of scientific evidence to claim that sugars and other nutrients that played fundamental roles in the substantial improvements in life- and health-spans over the past century are now suddenly responsible for increments in the prevalence of obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases. (Source: Progress ...
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - May 1, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Edward Archer Source Type: research

Medical Management of Functional Impairment in Peripheral Artery Disease: A Review
Lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) now affects 200 million people worldwide and is a major cause of disability. Cilostazol is the only Federal Drug Administration approved medication for PAD-related ischemic symptoms that is recommended by clinical practice guidelines. Supervised treadmill exercise significantly improves treadmill walking performance in PAD. Recent evidence shows that home-based exercise interventions that include occasional medical center visits and incorporate behavioral change techniques also significantly improve walking endurance in PAD. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - April 30, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Mary M. McDermott Source Type: research

Obesity and Ventricular Repolarization: a Comprehensive Review
Obesity is known to be a strong predictor of sudden cardiac death. For this reason, concern exists that this association may be related to delayed ventricular repolarization (VR), which has been extensively studied in overweight and obese patients. The corrected QT interval (QTc) and QT or QTc dispersion have been the most commonly-used electrocardiographic methods for assessing VR. Multiple controlled studies demonstrated that QTc and QT or QTc dispersion were significantly longer/greater in overweight and obese subjects than in normal weight controls. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - April 23, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Jad Omran, Brian P. Bostick, Albert K. Chan, Martin A. Alpert Source Type: research

Mediterranean Diet and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: What do We Know?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality is increasing, representing an important public health issue worldwide. It is well-known that risk of CVD is substantially influenced by lifestyle, including poor diet, tobacco smoking and physical inactivity. In the last years, the so-called Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) has been associated with broad healthy benefits on human health, including protection against CVD. The present narrative review aimed to summarize and discuss the evidence from meta-analyses of epidemiological and clinical trials analyzing MedDiet and CVD risk. (Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases)
Source: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases - April 17, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Jordi Salas-Salvad ó, Nerea Becerra-Tomás, Jesús Francisco García-Gavilán, Mònica Bulló, Laura Barrubés Source Type: research