1,721,257 research outputs found
Is it Still True that Women Live Longer than Men, But with a Worse Quality of Life?
No full textIn 1998 the WHO published a "gender challenge" for
national and international organizations, an invitation to
better assess risk factors involving women's health, to
develop preventive strategies to reduce the impact of
more afflicting diseases for women, and a major effort in
understanding why men die before women [1]. Among
such afflicting diseases, cardiovascular, depression and
comorbidities are the most important
New unusual markers in coronary syndromes
No full textVI International Learning Meeting on New Perspectives in Ischemic Heart Disease, Heart Failure Atherosclerosis and Hypertension in the Third Millenium – Course on Noninvasive Coronary Doppler: from Normal to Acute Myocardial Infarctio
Hypertension, menopause and natural antioxidants in foods and diet
No full textBook contents
Chapter contents
Worldwide, hypertension (HTN) is the most important cardiovascular risk factor for stroke, myocardial infarction and heart failure. The issue of HTN, menopause and antioxidants in foods and diet is going to open a new scenario in the treatment of the most prevalent risk factor in postmenopausal women. HTN, in fact, in this particular phase of life, is due to an increase in body mass index and a deficiency of estrogen, which induces endothelial dysfunction and an increase in oxidative stress. The term ‘antioxidant’ refers to enzymatic and non-enzymatic complexes that prevent or inhibit oxidation of biomolecules. The main non-enzymatic antioxidants are biologic compounds found mainly in vegetables and fruits. Pharmacologic therapy is very important, but it should be the second or the alternative choice after modification of lifestyle. In this context, antioxidants and diet my help in weight control as well as in the natural substitution of estrogen’s properties
Hypertension in postmenopausal women: How to approach hypertension in menopause
No full textDuring fertile life women are usually normo or hypotensive. Hypertension may appear during pregnancy and this represents a peculiar phenomenon increasing nowadays for delay time of pregnancy. Gestational hypertension appears partially similar to hypertension in the context of metabolic syndrome for a similar condition of increased waste circumference. Parity, for the same pathogenesis, has been reported to be associated to peri and postmenopausal hypertension, not confirmed by our study of parous women with transitional non persistent perimenopausal hypertension. Estrogen's deficiency inducing endothelial dysfunction and increased body mass index are the main cause for hypertension in this phase of life. For these reasons lifestyle modification, diet and endothelial active drugs represent the ideal treatment. Antioxidant agents may have a role in prevention and treatment of hypertension. In conclusion, hypertension in women represents a peculiar constellation of different biological and pathogenic factors, which need a specific gender related approach, independent from the male model. © 2014 Springer International Publishing
Left ventricular remodelling
No full textAn acute myocardial infarction, particularly one that is large and transmural, can produce expansion and alterations in the topography of both the infarcted and non-infarcted regions or the ventricle. This remodelling can importantly affect the function of the ventricle and the prognosis. Side-to-side slippage of myocytes in the myocardium occurring in association with ventricular dilatation is responsible for wall thinning. The increased internal load that is sustained through the cardiac cycle is thought to promote further stress, dilatation and hypertrophy of the non-infarcted area. The collagen network has been showed to be high responsible for the remodelling of the interstitium and therefore for the scar formation involved in the expansion. The process for ventricular enlargement can be influenced by infarct size, healing end ventricular wall stresses. The process of scarification can be interfered with during the acute infarct period by the administration of glucorticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, which results in thinner infarct and further expansion. A most effective way to prevent or minimize the increase in ventricular size is to limit the initial insult. Acute thrombolytic reperfusion therapy may work in this way. Finally early and long-term therapy with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor can favorably alter the loading conditions of the left ventricle, reducing progressive enlargement with a prolongation in surviva
Metabolic Correlates of Coronary Atherosclerosis, cardiovascular Risk, Both or Neither. Results of the 2x2 Phenotypic CAPIRE Study
Full text linkBackground
Traditional cardiovascular risk factors (RFs) and coronary artery disease (CAD) do not always run parallel. We investigated functional-metabolic correlations of CAD, RFs, or neither in the CAPIRE (Coronary Atherosclerosis in Outlier Subjects: Protective and Novel Individual Risk Factors Evaluation) 2 × 2 phenotypic observational study.
Methods
Two hundred and fortyone subjects were included based on RF burden, presence/absence of CAD (assessed by computed tomography angiography), age and sex. Participants displayed one of four phenotypes: CAD with ≥3 RFs, no-CAD with ≥3 RFs, CAD with ≤1 RF and no-CAD with ≤1 RF. Metabolites were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and pathways by metabolite set enrichment analysis.
Results
Characteristic patterns and specific pathways emerged for each phenotypic group: amino sugars for CAD/high-RF; urea cycle for no-CAD/high-RF; glutathione for CAD/low-RF; glycine and serine for no-CAD/low-RF. Presence of CAD correlated with ammonia recycling; absence of CAD with the transfer of acetyl groups into mitochondria; high-risk profile with alanine metabolism (all p < 0.05).
The comparative case-control analyses showed a statistically significant difference for the two pathways of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis and phenylalanine metabolism in the CAD/Low-RF vs NoCAD/Low-RF comparison.
Conclusions
The present 2 × 2 observational study identified specific metabolic pathways for each of the four phenotypes, providing novel functional insights, particularly on CAD with low RF profiles and on the absence of CAD despite high-risk factor profiles
Acute myocardial infarction - are women different?
No full textShould we still debate whether women are biologically different or simply at a treatment disadvantage, compared with men? An analysis of the most recent scientific papers reveals some valid peculiarities and interesting considerations. Cardiologists, in general, know little about female peculiarities and clinical expressions of CAD and consequent therapeutic options in women. Regarding AMI, there is a well-known male model, and women have always been treated like men. Therefore, I thinkthat the Yentl syndrome is real and that it consists in the particular pathophysiology of atherosclerotic disease inwomen. Women are protected from atherosclerotic disease in their fertile phase, probably to assure species perpetuation.Menopause confers a new vulnerability in women, potentially a high risk of future cardiac events. Specific studies dedicated to a better understanding of female CAD, and particularprimary preventive interventions for aggressive treatment of risk factors in women are needed, in order to render post-menopause a phase of well being rather than a period of morbidity
Il cuore nelle Donne
No full textCiò che ci ha spinto a realizzare questo lavoro è stata la osservazione di una significativa carenza di riferimenti aggiornati nel settore, dal momento che lo studente e il medico devono orientarsi tra la disponibilità di trattati troppo estesi per rispondere ad un’esigenza specifica, o di opere di Medicina Interna, che, per loro natura, finiscono con il penalizzare alcuni settori fondamentali dello studio della Cardiologi
- …
