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The risk of heart failure increases with aspirin consumption

 

In people with an underlying risk factor for heart failure, aspirin should never be prescribed as it increases the risk of heart failure by as much as 26%. This finding was published in the ESC Heart Failure journal, which is affiliated with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The underlying risk factors include smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

This is a path-breaking study as it is the first to report how dangerous aspirin medication is to people having at least one risk factor of heart failure. Although the potentially dangerous link between aspirin consumption and heart failure has been unraveled, the finding needs to be backed up with substantial evidence that confirms the finding. The association of aspirin with heart failure can seem to be baffling to some medical researchers.

In the journal article, researchers explained how the incidence of heart failure was related to people with and without any heart ailment. Thereafter, they also assessed whether the use of a drug could lead to a new diagnosis of heart failure in people who have underlying risk factors. In this study, researchers investigated 30,827 patients with a risk factor for heart failure. These patients were from Western European countries and the US, that is, patients from the developed world.

The age of participants was at least 40 years and above, with the average age being 67 years. At the time of enrolment, they did not have any incidence of heart failure. Based on the usage of aspirin medication, the participants were divided into two groups: users and non-users. The patients who had the first incidence of heart failure were followed up, regardless of whether the attack was fatal or non-fatal as the incidence needed hospitalization.

About 34% of the participants were women. Nearly 25% of the participants were consuming aspirin, that is, 7698 patients in total. In the follow-up period of 5.3 years, heart failure occurred in about 1330 participants. The researchers investigated whether the use of aspirin was truly related to the incidence of heart failure in patients.

They also took into consideration several risk factors: gender, age, body mass index, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, creatinine levels, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Some of the other risk factors for heart failure included treatment of drugs inhibiting the levels of renin, angiotensin, and aldosterone, blockers of calcium channel, beta-blockers, diuretics, and drugs used to lower lipids. The researchers reported that the consumption of aspirin increased the risk of heart failure by about 26%.

 

 

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Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD), world’s #1 killer after cancer, will now be controlled by Novartis and Global Heart Hub

 

The Invisible Nation program has been launched recently by Novartis and Global Heart Hub. Under this program, a network of organizations will dedicate to improve the health of patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), helping them to manage the systemic changes that occur in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

Did you know that about 15 million die due to ASCVD each year? Well, the program will not prevent such deaths but also help in reducing the economic burden of $1 trillion that is accrued as the annual cost of CVD. Although it is possible to prevent the death of most patients with ASCVD, most countries have failed to meet the WHO guidelines for reducing the mortality of CVD by 25% until 2025.

The Invisible Nation program will estimate the costs of managing ASCVD to patients and the society as a whole. It will coerce government NGOs to have a high-level of commitment in tackling the disease. Thus, it would create an environment for building new partnerships and new models to access healthcare services. These efforts would reduce the mortality of ASCVD significantly on a worldwide scale.

According to the Global Heart Hub’s executive director, the number of deaths caused by ASCVD is approximately 60% lesser than the number of deaths caused by cancer. Millions of people die from ASCVD each year and it is a terrible shock to everyone related to patients.

This shocking news can be prevented completely in about 80% of the cases. Patient organizations should provide support by providing education and guidance for better prognosis. This would reduce the high number of premature deaths. A change can be brought about in the overall management of the disease by increasing awareness among patients.

The Invisible Nation program will promote policies that transform the way governments controls the existing healthcare systems. Thus, many patient organizations can work together to decrease the growing trajectory of ASCVD deaths. Global Heart Hub will be working with major patient organizations to come up with a final action plan.

They will highlight innovative strategies to governments and healthcare systems in order to reduce the mortality rate of CV by 25%, according to the WHO guideline. The goal has to be achieved by the end of the year 2025. Novartis will be assisting in community programs by helping in networking of members seeking information and evidence of ASCVD. Thus, it will bring about a cooperation between local healthcare system, government authorities, and policymakers.

 

 

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A correlation between obesity and gut bacteria

According to a latest research study conducted at Sweden’s Lund University, there exists a connection between obesity and the bacteria found in the gut. The researchers found that specific amino acids, which were present in the human blood, were associated with obesity and the composition of gut bacteria. However, researchers have not yet been able to completely decipher the functions of gut bacteria in the human body.

Many research studies have been conducted on animals, but the findings of these studies may not be applicable to human beings. Gut flora of a healthy person may not necessarily be compatible with another person.Several research studies have reported that gut microbiota plays a significant role in maintaining the overall health of humans.

Gut microbiota governs the metabolism of humans, and it is associated with obesity,  diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases. Several researchers have proved that the concentration of small molecules or similar metabolites is different in the bloodstream of people with metabolic diseases.

The main aim of this research study was to determine which metabolites of the human blood are associated with obesity, especially in people with high BMI. These studies had to determine whether the bacterial composition of stool samples would be affected by these metabolites.

Researchers collected samples of plasma and stool from 674 participants. They identified the 19 metabolites that were linked to the BMI of an obese person. There was a strong connection between obesity and the following chemical compounds: glutamate and BCAA (branched-chain and aromatic amino acids).

The metabolites that were strongly linked to obesity were also found to be associated with four species of intestinal bacteria: blautia, dorea and ruminococcus in Lachnospiraceae family, and SHA98. The differences between the BMI of obese participants was largely related to the differences in the concentration of glutamate and BCAA. There were interactions between the gut bacteria and metabolites, but these interactions were not dependent on each other.

Glutamate is the most risky factor that triggers obesity in humans. This finding was compliant with the findings of previous studies. Moreover, BCAA predicts the onset of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases in near future.

Future studies have focused on how to modify the gut bacteria’s composition as this would minimize the risk of developing obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and metabolic diseases.

We need to have a proper understanding of the healthy flora in the gut of normal humans. This will further help us in determining the factors that affect the composition of gut bacteria. Therefore, population studies and intervention studies must be conducted on a large scale.