Webmaster
04-01-2008, 08:12 AM
NEW YORK — You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life.
In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR — rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives — works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.
"You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency-medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation.
Hands-only CPR calls for uninterrupted chest presses — 100 a minute — until paramedics take over or an automated external defibrillator can restore a normal heart rhythm.
This action should be taken only for adults who unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing and are unresponsive.
A child who collapses is more likely to primarily have breathing problems — and in that case, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be used. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from a near-drowning, drug overdose or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hypertension studies boost cheaper drugs
CHICAGO — Two big studies offer good news to people with high blood pressure, finding that novel ways to use cheap drugs already on the market can lower their risk of heart attacks, stroke and death — even if they are very old.
Doctors presented results Monday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.
More than 70 million Americans have high blood pressure. Guidelines advise starting on one medication, usually a "water pill," and adding others as needed.
Dr. Kenneth Jamerson of the University of Michigan led a study of 11,462 people that tested a single daily pill combining a diuretic and the ACE inhibitor benazepril versus a daily pill containing benazepril and a calcium channel blocker, amlodipine.
ACE-calcium blocker combo patients had about 15 percent fewer heart-related problems or strokes, Jamerson said.
The study was paid for by Novartis, which sells Lotrel, the combo that proved better; Jamerson consults for the firm.
The second study, led by British researchers, found dramatic benefits for treating people in their 80s, an age when blood-pressure drugs were not known to be safe or effective.
Treatment with one or two inexpensive, well-tolerated drugs sharply reduced the number of heart attacks and strokes and produced a 21 percent drop in overall mortality.
Diabetes drug shows coronary benefits
CLEVELAND — Doctors say they have shown for the first time that a diabetes drug can prevent the progression of coronary heart disease.
The Cleveland Clinic-led study involved 543 patients with Type 2 diabetes and compared two drugs, Actos and Amaryl: Actos is part of a newer class of drugs that reduce insulin resistance, while Amaryl is an older drug that increases insulin production.
Using intravascular ultrasound, researchers found that after 18 months, Actos was significantly better at reducing progression of plaque buildup in arteries of the heart.
"Seventy-five percent of diabetics will die of a cardiovascular-related cause," study leader Dr. Steven Nissen, clinic chief of cardiovascular medicine, said Monday. "If you can find a therapy that reduces progression of heart disease and atherosclerosis, that will potentially have a very big impact."
The study is published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004318808_mdig01.html
In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR — rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives — works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.
"You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency-medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation.
Hands-only CPR calls for uninterrupted chest presses — 100 a minute — until paramedics take over or an automated external defibrillator can restore a normal heart rhythm.
This action should be taken only for adults who unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing and are unresponsive.
A child who collapses is more likely to primarily have breathing problems — and in that case, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be used. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from a near-drowning, drug overdose or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hypertension studies boost cheaper drugs
CHICAGO — Two big studies offer good news to people with high blood pressure, finding that novel ways to use cheap drugs already on the market can lower their risk of heart attacks, stroke and death — even if they are very old.
Doctors presented results Monday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.
More than 70 million Americans have high blood pressure. Guidelines advise starting on one medication, usually a "water pill," and adding others as needed.
Dr. Kenneth Jamerson of the University of Michigan led a study of 11,462 people that tested a single daily pill combining a diuretic and the ACE inhibitor benazepril versus a daily pill containing benazepril and a calcium channel blocker, amlodipine.
ACE-calcium blocker combo patients had about 15 percent fewer heart-related problems or strokes, Jamerson said.
The study was paid for by Novartis, which sells Lotrel, the combo that proved better; Jamerson consults for the firm.
The second study, led by British researchers, found dramatic benefits for treating people in their 80s, an age when blood-pressure drugs were not known to be safe or effective.
Treatment with one or two inexpensive, well-tolerated drugs sharply reduced the number of heart attacks and strokes and produced a 21 percent drop in overall mortality.
Diabetes drug shows coronary benefits
CLEVELAND — Doctors say they have shown for the first time that a diabetes drug can prevent the progression of coronary heart disease.
The Cleveland Clinic-led study involved 543 patients with Type 2 diabetes and compared two drugs, Actos and Amaryl: Actos is part of a newer class of drugs that reduce insulin resistance, while Amaryl is an older drug that increases insulin production.
Using intravascular ultrasound, researchers found that after 18 months, Actos was significantly better at reducing progression of plaque buildup in arteries of the heart.
"Seventy-five percent of diabetics will die of a cardiovascular-related cause," study leader Dr. Steven Nissen, clinic chief of cardiovascular medicine, said Monday. "If you can find a therapy that reduces progression of heart disease and atherosclerosis, that will potentially have a very big impact."
The study is published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004318808_mdig01.html