News and views

A new study has highlighted a changing pattern of cardiovascular mortality within Europe, and shows that while cardiovascular mortality rates are decreasing in general, Eastern and Middle European countries have the highest mortality....

There is a need  to meet the demand, led by primary care, for the appropriate assessment and management of patients with heart failure. Standard 11 (heart failure) of the National Service Framework (NSF) for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)1 has been paid much less attention within primary care than other NSF standards with a much greater emphasis on and investment in services for secondary prevention of CHD. The current changes in primary care, particularly those relating to practice-based commissioning, will inevitably lead to a review of all services, including those for heart failure, with cost-effectiveness being one important consideration. The evaluation of an urban heart failure service by Patel et al. (see pages 35–9)2 in this issue supports the use of open access echocardiography/heart failure services for patients with suspected heart failure. One might argue that, from a number of different perspectives, such services may be better delivered from a primary care base. Given the less than favourable financial circumstances of many primary care organisations at the present time, however, ongoing and additional investment in primary care-based heart failure services may be under threat unless we can provide more robust3 data in areas such as quality of service and cost-effectiveness....

As part of a larger focus on prevention of disease in the NHS, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that new screening programmes for early signs of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease will be introduced in the UK....

The first clinical trials with the new cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, anacetrapib, have raised hopes that this agent may not be affected by the toxicity seen with the first drug in this class – torcetrapib....

As well as causing musculoskeletal problems, vitamin D deficiency may also increase the risk of heart disease, a new study suggests....

Anatomy software developer, Primal Pictures, has been awarded government grants to develop two new computer simulations which should improve training procedures for cardiologists and keyhole surgeons....

Another study has suggested increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events with the diabetes drug, rosiglitazone. In the retrospective case-control study (JAMA 2007;298:2634–43), rosiglitazone was associated with an increased risk of congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality, when compared with other oral hypoglycaemic agent treatments in older patients with diabetes....

The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has granted permission for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) to be performed for the first time. The licence has been awarded to Dr Paul Serhal (University College London), who will screen embryos for the homozygous form of FH....

Being unfit is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality, even after adjustment for body fat, according to a new study (JAMA 2007; 298:2507–16)....

Genzyme has launched its new non-absorbed cholesterol-lowering agent, colesevelam hydrochloride (CholestagelTM) in Europe for the treatment of adult patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia who cannot meet their target low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels with statin therapies plus diet alone....