Conference News Update—American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2014
Each additional gram per day of trans fats consumed was associated with an estimated 0.76 fewer words recalled correctly. For participants who ate the largest amounts of trans fats, this association translated to an estimated 11 fewer words (a greater than 10% reduction in words remembered), compared with adults who ate the least trans fat. The average number of words recalled correctly was 86.
“Foods have different effects on oxidative stress and cell energy,” said Dr. Golomb. “In a previous study, we found [that] chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants and positively impacts cell energy, is linked to better word memory in young to middle-aged adults. In this study, we looked at whether trans fats, which are pro-oxidant and linked adversely to cell energy, might show the opposite effect, and they did.”
Oxidative stress is associated with the development of diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Industrial trans fats are artificially produced to turn liquid oils into solids at room temperature and extend food shelf life. They can be found in margarines, fast foods, baked goods, snack foods, frozen pizza, coffee creamers, and some refrigerated dough. The FDA is taking steps to reduce the amount of artificial trans fats in the US food supply. Analyses in younger women are needed to determine whether effects extend to this group, said Dr. Golomb.
Cocaine Users Have Abnormal Blood Flow and Risk Heart Disease
Cocaine users complaining of chest pain may have abnormal blood flow in the heart’s smallest blood vessels that may not be detected in regular testing, investigators reported. This abnormal blood flow may put these patients at risk for heart complications or death. “Cocaine use is, unfortunately, very common, and we see many emergency room admissions because patients experience chest pain following cocaine use,” said Varun Kumar, MD, an internist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago, and lead study author. “There can be a discrepancy because the patient has symptoms, but their angiograms appear normal. The microvascular dysfunction in the heart’s circulation that’s occurring after cocaine use is not being picked up routinely by the angiogram.”
The study compared heart imaging tests of 202 cocaine users to those of 210 randomly chosen individuals who did not use cocaine. All participants had undergone coronary angiography testing at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago from 2005 to 2013.
The trial showed that among cocaine users, the dye failed to clear instantly from the smallest vessels during angiogram and also overdilated blood vessels, thus resulting in faster blood flow. The findings suggest that even when no sign of coronary artery disease is apparent among cocaine users, these individuals have blood vessel damage that may produce symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath.
Abnormalities in blood flow were significant in comparison with people who did not use cocaine but had diabetes, high blood pressure, and a family history of coronary artery disease.
Cocaine users are an understudied population, added Dr. Kumar. These patients may also be candidates for standard heart preventive therapies such as aspirin and cholesterol-lowering drugs.
“We need more research on this [topic], but there’s some evidence to suggest [that] cocaine itself can stimulate clot formation and may contribute to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease,” he said. “This patient population may be small, but cocaine use is prevalent, and we don’t want these patients to fall through the cracks.”
Mothers’ Weight Before Pregnancy Affects Offspring’s Risk of Death Decades Later
Adults whose mothers were overweight or obese before pregnancy have a dramatically elevated risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, researchers reported.
“Excess weight among young women of childbearing age has important implications not only for their own health, but for that of their children as well,” said Michael Mendelson, MD, a research fellow at the Framingham Heart Study, Boston University and the Boston Children’s Hospital, and the study’s lead author.
Previous studies had shown that people whose mothers were overweight before pregnancy had a higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. This study examined whether that risk translated into higher rates of cardiovascular disease and death.
The researchers analyzed data from 1971 to 2012 for 879 participants (52% female; average age at baseline, 32) in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort with information about their mothers’ prepregnancy weight status. About 10% of the mothers had been overweight, with a BMI of 25 or higher before pregnancy. That BMI corresponds with a weight of 145 pounds or more for a woman with a height of 5 feet, 4 inches.
