Research reviews

Individuals who do not smoke every day have a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with those who have never smoked. For those who smoke daily, the mortality risk increases as the number of cigarettes smoked increases, a large study from the USA has found.

High NT-proBNP levels appear to be an independent predictor of adverse outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the absence of heart failure, a study from Japan has found. Raised NT-proBNP levels were significantly associated with higher incidences of stroke/systemic embolism, all-cause death and hospitalisation for heart failure during a median follow-up period of five years.

Patterns of alcohol consumption in particular frequent use plus frequent bingeing have positive associations with symptoms of depression such as depressed mood, poor appetite or overeating, feelings of worthlessness or guilt and psychomotor agitation or retardation, a German study has found.

Use of illicit drugs, as well as tobacco and alcohol, is associated with an increased risk of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially in women, a study from the US has shown. Those with multiple substance use had a graded response with the highest risk of premature CVD among individuals who used four or more recreational substances.

Differences persist in the prevalence, treatment and control of risk factors for cardiovascular disease between men and women, an analysis of data from the Health Survey for England 2012-2017 has found. Men were more likely to have one or more risk factors than women. However, figures for both treatment and control of dyslipidaemia were significantly lower in women than men.

Prescription opioids used in early pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in the risk of most congenital malformations, although a small increase in the risk of oral clefts associated with their use is possible, a large US study has found.

Individuals born even slightly prematurely have an increased risk of early death in adult life, a Nordic population-based study has found.

Children born preterm, even at 38 and 39 weeks’ gestation, have increased hospital admission rates in the first ten years of life, a large population-based study has found.

Children who have survived cancer, particularly those treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, have a higher risk of adverse cardiac events later on, a pan-European study has found.

Taking a hot bath every day or most days may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), a study from Japan has suggested.

Introduction of the quadrivalent human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme in girls and young women in Sweden has led to a substantially reduced risk of invasive cervical cancer at population level, a national study has shown.

Regular use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increased the risk of type 2 diabetes in a cohort analysis of three large American population studies. The risk increased with longer duration of use.

A meta-analysis has shown an association between prediabetes and raised risk of all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular disease in the general population as well as patients with atherosclerotic heart disease.

Nausea during the first few weeks of varenicline therapy may reduce adherence, a study from North America has found. The authors analysed data on 870 adults receiving varenicline in two smoking cessation trials conducted at multiple sites in Canada and the USA.

Higher consumption of total whole grain foods, such as oatmeal, dark bread, brown rice or whole grain cereals can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, analysis of data from three large prospective cohort studies in the USA has shown.

Patients aged 65 years and over with coronary artery disease benefitted at least as much as younger patients in improving lifestyle risk factors in a community-based trial from the Netherlands. Older patients were more likely to achieve the weight loss target and stop smoking.

Fluoxetine, either alone or in combination with cognitive behaviour therapy, appears to be the most effective treatment for children and adolescents with moderate to severe depression, a systematic review and network meta-analysis has concluded. NICE recommends that antidepressants should not be initiated in primary care.

A large cohort study has demonstrated that a healthy lifestyle in midlife can increase life expectancy free of type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer.

An electronic algorithm integrated with primary care clinical database systems achieved a modest increase in hepatitis C (HCV) case finding, a UK general practice-based study has found.

Abdominal obesity is an independent risk factor for a further myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke in patients who have already suffered a first MI, an observational cohort study from Sweden has shown. A total of 22,882 MI patients from the SWEDEHEART registry (Swedish Web-system for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-based care in Heart disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies) were recruited to the study.

Current guidelines advise treating paroxysmal AF in the same way as sustained AF but the evidence is weak, with only one retrospective analysis comparing the risk of stroke in patients with paroxysmal AF vs chronic AF (analysis of the SPAF trials, performed 15 years ago and limited to patients treated with aspirin). The ACTIVE W trial showed that warfarin is more effective than aspirin plus clopidogrel for the prevention of vascular events (stroke, embolism, MI and vascular death) in patients with AF. A recent substudy of this trial looked at the risk of stroke in 1,202 patients with paroxysmal AF compared with 5,495 with sustained AF, and the effectiveness of thromboprophylaxis in these patients. ' This substudy has shown that the risk of stroke is similar, irrespective of whether AF is paroxysmal or sustained, and that anticoagulation therapy is equally effective in both groups. Other factors, such as age and cardiovascular comorbidity, remain central to the ultimate choice of thromboprophylaxis in these patients.'