The Dallas-based American Heart Association (AHA) recently released the latest industry-wide findings via its regular scientific sessions news tips initiative, with topics comprising migraine, atrial fibrillation, hearing loss and coronary artery calcification.
All four reports were presented at the AHA’s Scientific Sessions 2016.
Migraine has been linked to increased stroke risk in women, according to a preliminary study of 917 women being evaluated for heart disease. Those with a history of migraine were found to be at an almost 25 percent higher risk of a future cardiovascular event such as stroke.
Atrial fibrillation risk was linked to low scores on a “Life’s Simple 7” rating — the standard scale used by AHA. Of 6,506 adults studied, those with optimal scores were 41 percent less likely to experience atrial fibrillation; those with average scores were 8 percent less likely to do so.
That study also examined women with perceived stressors or trauma, with results indicating that atrial fibrillation incidence correlated to traumatic life events.
In a third matter, low-frequency hearing loss has been associated with two heart attack predictors: systemic endothelial dysfunction and carotid intima-medial thickness. Researchers studied data from approximately 4,200 patients in the Framingham Heart Study’s Offspring Cohort, which included subjects with those two conditions and concluded that patients with hearing loss might be at higher cardiovascular risk.
Finally, testing for coronary artery calcification — commonly known as hardening of the artery — may uncover heart disease risk in otherwise “low-risk” women. Information on 6,739 women who previously had been documented as being at low risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease revealed that over one-third actually had coronary atherosclerosis.
Additionally, the incidence of coronary artery calcification was linked to a doubly increased risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the next decade. Authors noted that further study was needed to corroborate findings.
