Unlabelled: There is increasing evidence that mindfulness can reduce stress, and thereby affect other psychological and physiological outcomes as well. Earlier, we reported the direct 3-month results of an online modified mindfulness-based stress reduction training in patients with heart disease, and now we evaluate the effect at 12-month follow-up. 324 patients (mean age 43.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence is accumulating that mindfulness training has favorable effects on psychological outcomes, but studies on physiological outcomes are limited. Patients with heart disease have a high incidence of physiological and psychological problems and may benefit from mindfulness training. Our aim was to determine the beneficial physiological and psychological effects of online mindfulness training in patients with heart disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnhealthy lifestyle behaviours are considered modifiable risk factors for many diseases. Lifestyle interventions that target these behaviours need rigorous evaluation to assess their effectiveness. The randomized controlled trial is the study design of choice when it comes to the evaluation of interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The increased popularity of mind-body practices highlights the need to explore their potential effects. We determined the cross-sectional association between mind-body practices and cardiometabolic risk factors.
Methods: We used data from 2579 participants free of cardiovascular disease from the Rotterdam Study (2009-2013).
Background: Due to new treatment modalities in the last decades, a decline in cardiovascular deaths has been observed. There is an emerging field of secondary prevention and behavioural programmes with increased interest in the use of mind-body practices. Until now, these have not been established in cardiovascular disease treatment programmes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of antihypertensive medication, hypertension remains poorly controlled in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Lifestyle intervention studies reporting effects on blood pressure published from January 1977 to September 2012 were searched on various databases. From the 6211 references identified, 52 were included in the systematic review (12, 024 participants) and 43 were included in the meta-analysis (in total 6779 participants).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Advances in medical treatment have resulted in increased life expectancy in congenital heart disease. Consequently, the focus of management has shifted from reducing mortality to reducing long-term morbidity with the goal of improving quality of life. A predictor of quality of life might be N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, a well-established marker for heart failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Obesity is a growing health problem and is associated with adverse outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD). However, recent studies have shown better survival in cardiovascular patients with overweight or obesity, which has been referred to as the "obesity paradox". As there is no clear understanding of the phenomenon, we examined the association between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at 7-year follow-up, and the potential role of health status in explaining the obesity paradox.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnemia is common in hospitalized cardiac patients and is associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify the association of anemia with early and long-term outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). Included were 5,304 consecutive patients (73% men, 61 ± 12 years of age) admitted to a coronary care unit from 1985 through 2008 for ACS.
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