Prevention of cardiovascular diseases: Role of exercise, dietary interventions, obesity and smoking cessation.

Hypertension, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, arrhythmias and valvular heart disease, coagulopathies and stroke, collectively known as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), contribute greatly to the mortality, morbidity and economic burden of illness in Canada and in other countries. It has been estimated that over four million Canadians have high blood pressure, a comorbid condition that doubles or triples the risk of CVD. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, CVDs caused 36% of deaths in 2001 and were responsible for 18% of the total hospital costs in Canada.

Interactions of grapefruit juice and cardiovascular medications: A potential risk of toxicity.

Recently, drug interactions with grapefruit juice (GFJ) have received considerable attention from basic scientists, physicians, industry and drug regulatory agencies. GFJ has been shown to inhibit cytochrome P-450 3A4 isoenzyme and P-glycoprotein transporters in the intestine and liver. The GFJ-induced inhibitory effects are considered to be responsible for alterations in drug bioavailability, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes when drugs are ingested concurrently with GFJ.

Early changes in myocardial antioxidant enzymes in rats treated with adriamycin.

Increased oxidative stress and antioxidant deficit have been suggested to play a major role in adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure due to multiple treatments with adriamycin (doxorubicin). In this study, we investigated the acute effects of a single dose of adriamycin on myocardial antioxidant enzymes in rats. Adriamycin (2.