Behavioral activation for smoking cessation and mood management following a cardiac event: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Smoking cessation following hospitalization for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) significantly reduces subsequent mortality. Depressed mood is a major barrier to cessation post-ACS. Although existing counseling treatments address smoking and depression independently in ACS patients, no integrated treatment addresses both.

Valued Life Activities, Smoking Cessation, and Mood in Post-Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients.

Background: Continued engagement in valued life activities is a protective factor for depression and has been linked to readiness to quit smoking in medical populations but has never been examined among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate relationships among valued life activities, mood, and smoking post-ACS.

Methods: Participants were 54 post-ACS patients who were smoking before ACS hospitalization.

Triple therapy in hospitalized patients: facts and controversies.

The use of triple therapy (warfarin plus dual antiplatelet therapy) has increased in recent years due to an aging population with a higher risk for atrial fibrillation, as well as the increased use of coronary stents for acute coronary syndromes. Triple therapy confers a higher bleeding risk than either warfarin or dual antiplatelet therapy alone. However, warfarin alone is inadequate for patients with indications for triple therapy because of an unacceptable risk of stent thrombosis, and dual antiplatelet therapy is inferior to warfarin for the prevention of ischemic strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation, mechanical valves, or intraventricular thrombosis.