Vaping nicotine and cannabis on the same occasion is linked to increased vaping consumption among young adults: A smartphone-based daily diary study.

Significance: Vaping both nicotine and cannabis in the past 30 days (co-vaping) is common among young adults. It is unclear which co-vaping patterns may increase substance use and dependence. We examined day-level associations between vaping patterns with vaping quantity.

Assessment of Inflammatory Biomarkers and Incident Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults.

Background: Available evidence supports the importance of inflammation in atrial fibrillation (AF) pathogenesis, yet general anti-inflammatory therapies have failed to show benefit for prevention of the arrhythmia. Better understanding of the specific inflammatory pathways involved is necessary to advance therapeutics.

Methods And Results: We evaluated 9 circulating markers of inflammation measured by immunoassays and incidence of AF in a population-based older cohort.

Cardiac Arrhythmias and Autonomic Dysfunction Associated With COVID-19: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Cardiac arrhythmias are commonly noted in patients during infections with and recovery from COVID-19. Arrhythmic manifestations span the spectrum of innocuous and benign to life-threatening and deadly. Various pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed.

Diet and risk of atrial fibrillation: a systematic review.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Comprehensive modification of established AF risk factors combined with dietary interventions and breaking deleterious habits has been shown to reduce AF burden and recurrence. Numerous AF risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity or hypertension can be partially related to dietary and lifestyle choices.

Smoking Cessation and Incident Atrial Fibrillation in a Longitudinal Cohort.

Background: Although smoking heightens the risk of AF, it remains unknown if that risk is amenable to modification after smoking cessation.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the association between smoking cessation and atrial fibrillation (AF) risk in a large longitudinal cohort.

Methods: After excluding those with prevalent AF and no history of smoking at baseline, we evaluated 146,772 UK Biobank participants with serial smoking assessments.

Minimum National Prevalence of Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation Inferred From California Acute Care Facilities.

Background: Prevalence estimates of atrial fibrillation (AF) from large populations have not been updated for >2 decades. Using data from 1996 to 1997, a previous study projected that there would be 3.3 million adults with AF in the United States in 2020.

Atrial cardiomyopathy revisited-evolution of a concept: a clinical consensus statement of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the ESC, the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), the Asian Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS), and the Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS).

Aims: The concept of "atrial cardiomyopathy" (AtCM) had been percolating through the literature since its first mention in 1972. Since then, publications using the term were sporadic until the decision was made to convene an expert working group with representation from four multinational arrhythmia organizations to prepare a consensus document on atrial cardiomyopathy in 2016 (EHRA/HRS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus on atrial cardiomyopathies: definition, characterization, and clinical implication). Subsequently, publications on AtCM have increased progressively.

Health Service Use and Costs During Pregnancy Among Privately Insured Individuals With Congenital Heart Disease.

Importance: Individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD) are increasingly reaching childbearing age, are more prone to adverse pregnancy events, and uncommonly undergo recommended cardiac evaluations. Data to better understand resource allocation and financial planning are lacking.

Objective: To examine health care use and costs for patients with CHD during pregnancy.

Contemporary trends in incident ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, and mortality in individuals with atrial fibrillation.

Background: The prognosis for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients is based on data that is decades old. Given evolving standards of clinical practice, we sought to evaluate temporal trends in clinically important outcomes among patients with AF.

Methods: California's Department of Health Care Access and Information databases were used to identify adults aged ≥ 18 years with AF receiving hospital-based care in California.

Systemic infarcts among patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: The epidemiology of atrial fibrillation (AF)-associated thromboembolic complications outside of ischemic strokes has not been thoroughly elucidated.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of AF-associated systemic infarcts and relevant interactions by sex and race/ethnicity.

Methods: Using the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, we performed a longitudinal analysis of patients aged ≥18 years who received ambulatory surgery, emergency, or inpatient medical care in California between 2005 and 2015.

Changes in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal cohort study using smart-breathalyzer data.

Previous studies relying on alcohol sales, alcohol-related injuries, and surveys have suggested that alcohol consumption increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to leverage over 1 million Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC) measurements from Bluetooth-enabled breathalyzers to conduct an objective and longitudinal assessment of alcohol use during the pandemic. Serial BrAC measurements revealed a decrease in drinking between January 1, 2020 and March 30, 2020, an increase between March 30, 2020 and May 25, 2020, a statistically insignificant decrease between May 25, 2020 and January 1, 2021, and an increase again between January 1, 2021 and June 4, 2021.

Factors associated with anxiety during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: An analysis of the COVID-19 Citizen Science study.

COVID-19 increased the prevalence of clinically significant anxiety in the United States. To investigate contributing factors we analyzed anxiety, reported online via monthly Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7 (GAD-7) surveys between April 2020 and May 2022, in association with self-reported worry about the health effects of COVID-19, economic difficulty, personal COVID-19 experience, and subjective social status. 333,292 anxiety surveys from 50,172 participants (82% non-Hispanic white; 73% female; median age 55, IQR 42-66) showed high levels of anxiety, especially early in the pandemic.

Acute alcohol exposure and electrocardiographic changes: Finding from the HOLIDAY trial.

Background: Alcohol consumption is associated with a higher increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), but the acute effects on cardiac electrophysiology in humans remain poorly understood. The HOw ALcohol InDuces Atrial TachYarrhythmias (HOLIDAY) Trial revealed that alcohol shortened pulmonary vein atrial effective refractory periods, but more global electrophysiologic changes gleaned from the surface ECG have not yet been reported.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the HOLIDAY Trial.

Association of nirmatrelvir for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection with subsequent Long COVID symptoms in an observational cohort study.

Oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is approved as treatment for acute COVID-19, but the effect of treatment during acute infection on risk of Long COVID is unknown. We hypothesized that nirmatrelvir treatment during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection reduces risk of developing Long COVID and rebound after treatment is associated with Long COVID. We conducted an observational cohort study within the Covid Citizen Science (CCS) study, an online cohort study with over 100 000 participants.

Cannabis use and incident atrial fibrillation in a longitudinal cohort.

Background: Cannabis use is increasing worldwide. While prior studies have reported an association between cannabis use and a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), most were cross-sectional and generally relied on diagnostic coding to identify cannabis users, which may not be representative of the typical recreational cannabis user.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between recreational cannabis use and lifetime AF risk.