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SUMMARY Background: Internet has become a significant resource for dissemination of medical information. We sought to investigate prevalence and usage patterns of Internet access among consecutive patients with cardiovascular diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using a questionnaire as study tool. Among patients with Internet access, the type of health information sought and the impact of these on daily life were assessed. Results: Of 1063 patients invited to the study, 1000 patients [68% male gender, mean age 66 11 years (range 27–83 years)] agreed to complete the questionnaire. 216/1000 (21.6%) used Internet to obtain information related to their disease. The patient education was graded as: low (15%), medium (66%) and high (19%). Reasons for Internet use were as follows: 24-h availability 142/216 (65.7%); free of charge 58/216 (26.9%); and anonymity 50/216 (23.2%). Younger ( 66 years) age (35.2% vs. 15.3%; p = 0.0001), male gender (24.6% vs. 15.4%; p = 0.001) and higher education level (49.4% vs. 16.1%; p = 0.001) were significantly associated with Internet use. 30.6% (66/216) of Internet users changed their individual health behaviour attributable to information found on the Internet. However, this was not related to age, gender or level of education (p = 0.5, p = 0.6 and p = 0.4, respectively). Patients without Internet use obtain health information mainly from the pharmacist (62%) or from their treating physician (58%). Conclusions: A relevant number of patients with cardiovascular disease access the Internet for health information. The impact of such information on health-related behaviour in daily life was low. What’s known The Internet is increasingly being used as a source of health information. However, Internet use for health-related information differs considerably with regard to age, gender and type of underlying medical condition. What’s new The results from our study demonstrate that a relevant number of patients with known or suspected cardiovascular diseases access Internet for health purposes. However, Internet use in this group of patients is less frequent than previously reported for other medical conditions. Moreover, the influence of the obtained information on health-related behaviour in daily life was low.

Background: specific polymorphisms of genes regulating intracellular redox balance and oxidative stress are related to atherogenesis. Some studies have identified a relationship between progression of atherosclerosis and C242T mutation in CYBA gene coding for p22phox, a subunit of the NADH/NADPH oxidase system.Design: we investigated whether the C242T nucleotide transition is associated with the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a population of 494 Caucasian Italians undergoing coronary angiography to diagnose the cause of chest pain.Results: the frequency of the T mutant allele that we found in 276 patients with angiographically documented CAD was significantly higher compared to what we observed in 218 subjects with normal coronary arteries (Controls) (respectively: 0.400 and 0.332,p< 0.01). The prevalence of the T allele was even stronger when we compared: 1) early onset (age ≤55) vs late onset (age ≥65) single-vessel CAD patients (respectively: 0.75 and 0.48,p< 0.05), and 2) the subgroup of CAD patients with at least one ≥98% stenosis in a coronary vessel vs those with no ≥98% stenosis in a coronary vessel (respectively: 0.425 and 0.365,p< 0.05).Conclusions: these results support the increased risk of developing early CAD and of having rapid progression of coronary stenosis in subjects carrying the C242T nucleotide transition among the Italian population.