News and views

A new meta-analysis has confirmed that statins improve survival and reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in patients who have risk factors but who do not have established cardiovascular disease....

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has issued a warning about a possible interaction between clopidogrel and proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as omeprazole, which are taken for gastric problems. The EMEA has recommended that the product information for all clopidogrel-containing medicines be amended to discourage concomitant use of PPIs unless absolutely necessary. ...

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has given a positive recommendation to six generic versions of clopidogrel. Such recommendations are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a few weeks, so generic clopidogrel should be available in most European countries in the very near future....

A new diet and lifestyle support programme has been launched online for patients once they have completed an NHS Health Check. It is hoped that ‘activheart’ will not only help save healthcare professionals time in providing lifestyle advice to patients but also complement this information....

Further support for the idea of giving antihypertensive drugs to everyone over a certain age, regardless of their blood pressure, has come from the largest meta-analysis of randomised trials of blood pressure reduction to date. ...

The first once-daily human glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogue, liraglutide (Victoza) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been launched in the UK. Described by the manufacturer, Novo Nordisk as “a revolutionary product”, liraglutide works in a unique way - only when glucose levels become too high - to stimulate insulin release and suppress glucagon secretion. A member of the ‘incretin’ drug family, the drug is administered subcutaneously once-daily in adults with T2DM who do not achieve glycaemic control, in combination with metformin or a sulphonylurea (SA), or a combination of metformin and a sulphonylurea, or metformin and a thiazolidinedione (glitazone)....

News in brief from the world of cardiology...

A busy three-day programme comprised this year’s meeting at the ExCel Centre, London, from 1st–3rd June 2009. We report on a few of the meeting’s highlights....

We continue our series in which Consultant Interventionist Dr Michael Norell takes a sideways look at life in the cath lab…and beyond. In this column, he considers fond farewells....

This book largely reflects writers from Italian and German practise on sudden death. It begins with a definition and introduction to sudden death and its causes, which are mainly ischaemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy and the newly-observed channelopathies predominating in the younger age group. The size of this problem is discussed, showing that cardiovascular death is the main killer in developed countries with sudden death as a common mode of death which has been increasing in recent years. This is explained very well. ...