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The article examines if vitamin E influences risk of heart failure (HF) in a primary prevention population like women where a lower HF proportion is due to systolic dysfunction. The article indicated that long-term treatment with vitamin E was associated with an increased risk and hospitalization for HF among patients with vascular disease or diabetes enrolled in Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial. Results showed that vitamin E did not affect overall HF risk among healthy women.

The article discusses a study that examined the relationship between physical activity (PA) and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in women. It hypothesizes that regular PA reduces the risk of AF in women by reducing blood pressure and body mass index. Findings showed that PA modestly reduced AF risk in middle-aged women, but was insignificant after controlling for body mass index.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the absolute and relative associations of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) with sudden and/or arrhythmic death (SAD) versus other modes of death in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who do not qualify for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators., Background: Patients with CAD and DM are at elevated risk for SAD; however, it is unclear whether these patients would benefit from implantable cardioverter-defibrillators given competing causes of death and/or whether HbA 1c might augment SAD risk stratification., Methods: In the PRE-DETERMINE study of 5,764 patients with CAD with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of >30% to 35%, competing risk analyses were used to compare the absolute and relative risks of SAD versus non-SAD by DM status and HbA 1c level and to identify risk factors for SAD among 1,782 patients with DM., Results: Over a median follow-up of 6.8 years, DM and HbA 1c were significantly associated with SAD and non-SAD (P < 0.05 for all comparisons); however, the cumulative incidence of non-SAD (19.2%; 95% CI: 17.3%-21.2%) was almost 4 times higher than SAD (4.8%; 95% CI: 3.8%-5.9%) in DM patients. A similar pattern of absolute risk was observed across categories of HbA 1c . In analyses limited to patients with DM, HbA 1c was not associated with SAD, whereas low LVEF, atrial fibrillation, and electrocardiogram measurements were associated with higher SAD risk., Conclusions: In patients with CAD and LVEF of >30% to 35%, patients with DM and/or elevated HbA 1c are at much higher absolute risk of dying from non-SAD than SAD. Clinical risk markers, and not HbA 1c , were associated with SAD risk in patients with DM. (PRE-DETERMINE: Biologic Markers and MRI SCD Cohort Study; NCT01114269)., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The study was supported by research grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL091069), St Jude Medical Inc and St Jude Medical Foundation, and Roche Diagnostics. Dr Lee has received grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, American Heart Association, and Abbott. Dr Albert has received grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, St Jude, Abbott, and Roche Diagnostics; and has served as a consultant for Roche Diagnostics (minor). All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The majority of sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs) occur in low-risk populations often as the first manifestation of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Biomarkers are screening tools that may identify subclinical cardiovascular disease and those at elevated risk for SCD. We aimed to determine whether the total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I, NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide), or high-sensitivity C-reactive protein individually or in combination could identify individuals at higher SCD risk in large, free-living populations with and without cardiovascular disease., Methods: We performed a nested case-control study within 6 prospective cohort studies using 565 SCD cases matched to 1090 controls (1:2) by age, sex, ethnicity, smoking status, and presence of cardiovascular disease., Results: The median study follow-up time until SCD was 11.3 years. When examined as quartiles or continuous variables in conditional logistic regression models, each of the biomarkers was significantly and independently associated with SCD risk after mutually controlling for cardiac risk factors and other biomarkers. The mutually adjusted odds ratios for the top compared with the bottom quartile were 1.90 (95% CI, 1.30-2.76) for total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, 2.59 (95% CI, 1.76-3.83) for high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I, 1.65 (95% CI, 1.12-2.44) for NT-proBNP, and 1.65 (95% CI, 1.13-2.41) for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. A biomarker score that awarded 1 point when the concentration of any of those 4 biomarkers was in the top quartile (score range, 0-4) was strongly associated with SCD, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.56 (95% CI, 1.37-1.77) per 1-unit increase in the score., Conclusions: Widely available measures of lipids, subclinical myocardial injury, myocardial strain, and vascular inflammation show significant independent associations with SCD risk in apparently low-risk populations. In combination, these measures may have utility to identify individuals at risk for SCD.

Background: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is often the first manifestation of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and preventive strategies within this broad population are lacking. Patients with diabetes represent a high-risk subgroup, but few data exist regarding whether measures of glycemia mediate risk and/or add to SCD risk stratification., Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) and SCD., Methods: We performed a case-control analysis among individuals enrolled in 6 prospective cohort studies. HbA 1c levels were determined for 482 cases of SCD and 914 matched controls. Conditional logistic regression with fixed effects meta-analysis was used for analysis., Results: In multivariable models, HbA 1c levels were linearly associated with SCD risk over follow-up of 11.3 years (P <.001). Each 1% increment in HbA 1c was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.32 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16-1.50). The magnitude of the association was greater in subjects without vs those with known CVD [HR per 1% increment 1.64 (95% CI 1.31-2.06) vs 1.15 (95% CI 0.99-1.33), P interaction = .009]. In models simultaneously controlling for diabetes status and HbA 1c , the association between HbA 1c and SCD remained significant (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07-1.55, P = .01), whereas the association between diabetes and SCD was attenuated (relative risk 1.21, 95% CI 0.64-2.27, P = .56)., Conclusion: In these prospective cohorts, HbA 1c levels associated with SCD risk, particularly among those without known CVD, even after controlling for diabetes status. These data support the hypothesis that hyperglycemia mediates SCD risk among patients with diabetes., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Observational data on the association between circulating 25(OH)D and colorectal cancer risk are limited in women. To determine whether prediagnostic levels of 25(OH)D were associated with risk of incident colorectal cancer in the Women's Health Study (WHS), we conducted a nested case-control study using 274 colorectal cases and 274 controls. Each case was matched to a control by age, ethnicity, fasting status at the time of blood collection, time of day when blood was drawn, and month of blood draw. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) for colorectal cancer by 25(OH)D quartiles. Mean plasma 25(OH)D was lower in cases versus controls (21.9 vs. 23.9 ng/mL, P = 0.01). In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models, plasma 25(OH)D was significantly and inversely associated with odds of colorectal cancer (quartile 4 [Q4] vs. quartile 1 [Q1]: OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.25-0.81; Ptrend 0.02). In addition, we observed a somewhat lower risk of colorectal cancer-related mortality after adjustment for matching variables, randomization treatment and other risk factors (Q4:Q1 OR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.17-0.97; Ptrend 0.05). In this cohort of healthy women, we found a significant inverse association between prediagnostic 25(OH)D levels and risk of incident colorectal cancer, and a borderline significant inverse association between prediagnostic 25(OH)D levels and colorectal cancer-related mortality. These results support a possible association between plasma 25(OH)D and risk of colorectal cancer in women., (©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Mosquito coil smoke emitting from a mosquito repellent, was tested for its mutagenic effect in bone marrow cells from mouse and rat after 4 h acute inhalation exposure. Coil smoke with suspended particulate concentrations of 99-129 mg/m3, significantly elevated the frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges in bone marrow cells and micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes. Analysis of chromosomal aberrations in metaphases also revealed a significantly higher incidence of chromosomal aberration frequency in exposed rats and mice.

The biological half-life of 2-PAM.C1 was found to increase in female rats pretreated with thiamine hydrochloride (10 mg/kg i.m.). No such effect was observed in the male rats.