Month: June 2013

Adding another “blood thinner” to aspirin may reduce the risk of a new stroke in people who have had a very minor or brief stroke, a study finds. The study included more than 5,000 people. All of them had either a “mini-stroke” (with only minor symptoms) or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). With a TIA, stroke symptoms last less than 24 hours. But people who had TIAs in this study also had extra factors that increased their stroke risk. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group took aspirin only. The other group took aspirin plus another drug to prevent clotting, clopidogrel (Plavix). In the next 90 days, 8.2% of the 2-drug group and 11.7% of the aspirin-only group had strokes. That’s a risk reduction of about one-third for those who took both drugs. They did not have any more side effects, such as excess bleeding, than the aspirin-only group.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may increase the risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. The study included 562 male twins. All were part of a health registry of veterans from the Vietnam era. The men were an average of 42 years old and did not have heart disease when the study began. In the next 13 years, about 23% of men with PTSD developed heart disease. The rate was 9% among those without PTSD. Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, other heart-related hospital stay or a procedure to open clogged arteries. Researchers also compared twin pairs in which one had PTSD and the other did not. The twins with PTSD were twice as likely to develop heart disease. Researchers adjusted their numbers for lifestyle factors that affect heart disease risk, such as smoking and exercise patterns. The differences for those with PTSD remained.

Losing a moderate amount of weight doesn’t reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke for obese diabetics, a new study suggests. The study included more than 5,000 adults with type 2 diabetes. Their average weight was 220 pounds when the study started. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group went through an intensive program that included a low-calorie diet and 175 minutes of moderate exercise each week. They were given counseling to help them stay with the program. The other group got education about diet and weight loss, but no program. After a year, the first group had lost 8.6% of body weight and the second group less than 1%. By the end of 9.6 years, weight loss was 6% in the first group and 3.5% in the second. Both groups had similar rates of heart attack, stroke and related death.