Living near traffic fumes a killer
People who regularly breathe fumes from heavy traffic are more likely to get hardening of the arteries, boosting heart attack risk, a German study finds.
“It’s not limited to freeways,” said lead researcher Barbara Hoffmann of the University of Duisburg-Essen. “We see it in inner-city dwellings on heavily traveled streets as well.”
Compared with study participants living more than 200 meters (642 feet) from heavy traffic, calcification in the arteries was 63 percent higher for those living less than 50 meters (160 feet) from heavy traffic, 34 percent higher for those at 51 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet) and 8 percent higher for those whose distance was 100 to 200 meters (328 to 642 feet).
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Cholesterol tests may change
In findings that could change the way cholesterol tests are done, two studies show that high blood levels of the fats called triglycerides are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack.
But that holds true only if the triglycerides are measured in the hours immediately after a meal.
The studies, one in Denmark and the other in the United States, found such a relationship in what are called “non-fasting tests.” One study found no relationship when blood fat levels were measured in the usual way, after a 12- to 14-hour fast.
The non-fasting test results were striking, said Dr. Borge G. Nordestgaard, professor of medicine at Herlev University Hospital in Denmark and lead author of one of the two reports in the July 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The main and most important finding is that people with very high triglyceride levels had a major increase in myocardial infarct [heart attack],” Nordestgaard said. “So far, this has mainly been ignored by clinicians. They have focused on cholesterol.”
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Hospital stay a clotting risk
A surprisingly large number of hospital patients run the risk of a potentially fatal vein clot, but half of them aren’t getting preventive treatment, researchers report.
The clotting condition, called venous thromboembolism (VTE), involves the formation of blood clots in a vein. This can cause serious problems such as blockage of blood vessels in the leg or of a lung artery. Studies have linked pulmonary embolism to up to 10 percent of in-hospital sudden deaths.
VTE may be a bigger threat to hospitalized Americans than once thought, according to the new study, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
“We looked at 38 million discharges in a data base for U.S. hospitals and found that about one of every three people in a hospital bed in the United States arguably should be protected against VTE because they have a risk,” said lead researcher Dr. Frederick A. Anderson Jr.
Being immobilized in the hospital raises risk. The highest threat is for people undergoing orthopedic surgery, such as hip or knee replacement, Anderson said. “About 9 of every 10 orthopedic surgery patients are at risk,” he said.
