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Heart rate may be an independent predictor of CV events, mortality, and hospitalization due to worsening heart failure1

*Retrospective analysis of pooled data from the CHARM heart study program of 7,599 subjects with symptomatic HF (defined as NYHA functional class II to IV) who were followed for a median of 38 months to determine the relationship between resting HR at baseline, all-cause mortality, and fatal and nonfatal CV outcomes. These percentages are based on unadjusted hazard ratios.BPM = beats per minute; CV = cardiovascular; HF = heart failure; HR = heart rate; LVEF = left ventricular ejection fraction; NYHA = New York Heart Association.1. Castagno D, Skali H, Takeuchi M, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;59:1785-1795. 2. Lindenfeld J, Albert NM, Boehmer JP, et al.J Card Fail. 2010;16:475-539. 3. Yancy CW, Jessup M, Bozkurt B, et al. Circulation. 2013;128:e240-e327.  Heart rate may be an independent predictor of CV events, mortality, and hospitalization due to worsening heart failure1 Other risk factors, such as diabetes and reduced LVEF, increase the risk of hospitalization and mortality in patients with heart failure.1 According to retrospective analyses, heart rates of ≥ 70 bpm were associated with: ≥19% INCREASE in the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with left ventricular dysfunction (LVEF ≤ 40%)1* ≥25% INCREASE in the risk of the composite outcome of CV death or hospital stay for worsening HF in patients with left ventricular dysfunction (LVEF ≤ 40%)1* Consider managing additional risk factors in patients with heart failure: •  Treat hypertension2,3 •  Monitor heart rate2 •  Prevent weight gain and obesity3 •  Diagnose coronary artery disease3 •  Manage dyslipidemia3 •  Control diabetes3 Help your patients with HF play a more active role in their heart health Download the Signs and Symptoms Tracker References:  © 2015 Amgen Inc. All Rights Reserved. USA-998-101785

Any exersice can trim abdominal fat but more effort needed for health benefits

HealthDay News) — For people who are obese and sedentary, any exercise can help trim abdominal fat, but it may take a bit more effort to get other health benefits, a new study suggests. 

The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Robert Ross, PhD, an exercise physiologist at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, and colleagues recruited 300 people in their 40s and 50s who were abdominally obese and got little to no regular exercise. The authors then randomly assigned everyone to either a control group that remained sedentary, or one of three exercise groups. 

All of the exercisers came to five supervised sessions a week, for 6 months. One group did a low amount of low-intensity activity (about a half-hour of slow walking); another group stuck with the low-intensity regimen, but for a longer period (averaging an hour per session); and a fourth got higher-intensity exercise — namely, faster-paced walking.

The researchers found that the fast walkers burned the same number of calories as their slower-paced peers who walked for an hour — but they did it in 40 minutes. 

After 6 months, the investigators found, all three exercise groups had lost a small amount of weight and 1 or 2 inches from their waistlines, on average. But only the high-intensity group showed an improvement in blood glucose levels.

"The people in this study were middle-aged, sedentary, and abdominally obese," Ross told HealthDay. "We didn't have them running. 'High-intensity' just meant walking briskly on a treadmill."

Reference

1. Ross R et al. Ann Intern Med. 2015;162(5):325-334.

What is Atrial Fibrillation?

What is atrial fibrillation?  

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/heart/disorders/arrhythmia/afib 

Atrial fibrillation (AF or AFib) is the most common irregular heart rhythm that starts in the atria. Instead of the SA node (sinus node) directing the electrical rhythm, many different impulses rapidly fire at once, causing a very fast, chaotic rhythm in the atria. Because the electrical impulses are so fast and chaotic, the atria cannot contract and/or squeeze blood effectively into the ventricle.

An ECG recording of atrial fibrillation

Instead of the impulse traveling in an orderly fashion through the heart, many impulses begin at the same time and spread through the atria, competing for a chance to travel through the AV node. The AV node limits the number of impulses that travel to the ventricles, but many impulses get through in a fast and disorganized manner. The ventricles contract irregularly, leading to a rapid and irregular heartbeat. The rate of impulses in the atria can range from 300 to 600 beats per minute.

What are the dangers of atrial fibrillation?

Some people live for years with atrial fibrillation without problems. However, atrial fibrillation can lead to future problems:

• Because the atria are beating rapidly and irregularly, blood does not flow through them as quickly. This makes the blood more likely to clot. If a clot is pumped out of the heart, it can travel to the brain, resulting in a stroke. People with atrial fibrillation are 5 to 7 times more likely to have a stroke than the general population. Clots can also travel to other parts of the body (kidneys, heart, intestines), and cause other damage. 
• Atrial fibrillation can decrease the heart’s pumping ability. The irregularity can make the heart work less efficiently. In addition, atrial fibrillation that occurs over a long period of time can significantly weaken the heart and lead to heart failure. 
• Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure and even death.