Background: The number of African American (AA) patients living with heart failure (HF) has been increasing, especially among the economically disadvantaged. Yoga therapy has been found to improve physical and psychological parameters among healthy individuals, but its effect in patients with HF remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of yoga therapy on cardiovascular endurance (VO2peak), flexibility, quality of life (QoL), and inflammatory markers on medically stable HF patients.
Methods: Forty patients (38 AA, 1 Asian, and 1 Caucasian) with systolic or diastolic HF were randomized to the yoga group (YG, n = 21) or the control group (CG, n = 19). All patients were asked to follow a home walk program. Premeasurement and postmeasurement included a treadmill stress test to peak exertion, flexibility, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD). QoL was assessed by the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLwHFQ).
Results: The statistical analyses (assessed by ANOVA and t-tests) were significant for favorable changes in the YG, compared with those in the CG, for flexibility (P = 0.012), treadmill time (P = 0.002), VO2peak (P = 0.003), and the biomarkers (IL-6, P = 0.004; CRP, P = 0.016; and EC-SOD, P = 0.012). Within the YG, pretest to posttest scores for the total (P = 0.02) and physical subscales (P < 0.001) of the MLwHFQ were improved.
Conclusions: Yoga therapy offered additional benefits to the standard medical care of predominantly AA HF patients by improving cardiovascular endurance, QoL, inflammatory markers, and flexibility.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181bf24c4 | DOI Listing |
Importance: Cardiovascular health outcomes associated with noncigarette tobacco products (cigar, pipe, and smokeless tobacco) remain unclear, yet such data are required for evidence-based regulation.
Objective: To investigate the association of noncigarette tobacco products with cardiovascular health outcomes.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study was conducted within the Cross Cohort Collaboration Tobacco Working Group by harmonizing tobacco-related data and conducting a pooled analysis from 15 US-based prospective cohorts with data on the use of at least 1 noncigarette tobacco product ranging between 1948 and 2015.
Curr Cardiol Rep
January 2025
Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Ave, Campus Box 8086, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
Purpose Of Review: This review aims to explore the role of immune memory and trained immunity, focusing on how innate immune cells like monocytes, macrophages, and natural killer cells undergo long-term epigenetic and metabolic rewiring. Specifically, it examines the mechanisms by which trained immunity, often triggered by infection or vaccination, could impact cardiac processes and contribute to both protective and pathological responses within the cardiovascular system.
Recent Findings: Recent research demonstrates that vaccination and infection not only activate immune responses in circulating monocytes and tissue macrophages but also affect immune progenitor cells within the bone marrow environment, conferring lasting protection against heterologous infections.
Egypt Heart J
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, Division of Heart & Lungs, University Medical Center Utrecht, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background: Hyponatremia is one of the complicating findings in acute decompensated heart failure. Decrease in cardiac output and systemic blood pressure triggers activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, antidiuretic hormone, and norepinephrine due to the perceived hypovolemia. Fluid-overloaded heart failure patients are commonly treated with loop diuretics, acutely decompensated heart failure patients tend to be less responsive to conventional oral doses of a loop diuretic, while other different diuretics could work in different part of nephron circulation system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart Fail Rev
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, Cardiology I, University Medical Center Mainz, Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
Heart failure is a prevalent global health issue. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which already represents half of all heart cases worldwide, is projected to further increase, driven by aging populations and rising cardiovascular risk factors. Effective therapies for HFpEF remain limited, particularly due to its pathophysiological heterogeneity and incomplete understanding of underlying pathomechanisms and implications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Cardiol Rep
January 2025
Third Department of Medicine, General University Hospital and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, 121 08, Prague, Czech Republic.
Purpose Of Review: In recent years, the terms "metabolic associated fatty liver disease-MAFLD" and "metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease-MASLD" were introduced to improve the encapsulation of metabolic dysregulation in this patient population, as well as to avoid the negative/stigmatizing terms "non-alcoholic" and "fatty".
Recent Findings: There is evidence suggesting links between MASLD and coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), stroke, peripheral artery disease (PAD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), although the data for HF, AF, stroke and PAD are scarcer. Physicians should consider the associations between MASLD and CV diseases in their daily practice.
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