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Trends in cardiovascular disparities are poorly understood, even as diversity increases in the United States.To examine U.S. trends in racial/ethnic and nativity disparities in cardiovascular health.Repeated cross-sectional study.NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), 1988 to 2014.Adults aged 25 years or older who did not report cardiovascular disease.Racial/ethnic, nativity, and period differences in Life's Simple 7 (LS7) health factors and behaviors (blood pressure, cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c, body mass index, physical activity, diet, and smoking) and optimal composite scores for cardiovascular health (LS7 score ≥10).Rates of optimal cardiovascular health remain below 40% among whites, 25% among Mexican Americans, and 15% among African Americans. Disparities in optimal cardiovascular health between whites and African Americans persisted but decreased over time. In 1988 to 1994, the percentage of African Americans with optimal LS7 scores was 22.8 percentage points (95% CI, 19.3 to 26.4 percentage points) lower than that of whites in persons aged 25 to 44 years and 8.0 percentage points (CI, 6.4 to 9.7 percentage points) lower in those aged 65 years or older. By 2011 to 2014, differences decreased to 10.6 percentage points (CI, 7.4 to 13.9 percentage points) and 3.8 percentage points (CI, 2.5 to 5.0 percentage points), respectively. Disparities in optimal LS7 scores between whites and Mexican Americans were smaller but also decreased. These decreases were due to reductions in optimal cardiovascular health among whites over all age groups and periods: Between 1988 to 1994 and 2011 to 2014, the percentage of whites with optimal cardiovascular health decreased 15.3 percentage points (CI, 11.1 to 19.4 percentage points) for those aged 25 to 44 years and 4.6 percentage points (CI, 2.7 to 6.5 percentage points) for those aged 65 years or older.Only whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans were studied.Cardiovascular health has declined in the United States, racial/ethnic and nativity disparities persist, and decreased disparities seem to be due to worsening cardiovascular health among whites rather than gains among African Americans and Mexican Americans. Multifaceted interventions are needed to address declining population health and persistent health disparities.National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Study Objective:Evaluation of demonstrated clinical efficacy of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the central nervous system. Design:Information synthesis of studies before January 1987. ...

To determine the degree to which endogenous and exogenous hormonal factors influence the risk for subarachnoid hemorrhage in women.A population-based case-control study.King County, Washington.103 women with an incident, spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage and 2 age- and sex-matched controls per case-patient who were identified through random-digit dialing.Information on exposures was collected during in-person interviews of case-patients, controls, and their surrogates.Premenopausal women, especially those without a history of smoking or hypertension, were at a reduced risk for subarachnoid hemorrhage compared with age-matched postmenopausal women (odds ratio, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.68). The use of hormone replacement therapy was associated with a reduced risk (odds ratio, 0.47; CI, 0.26 to 0.86); the reduction was significantly greater in women who had smoked than in those that had never smoked. Of the 23 premenopausal case-patients, 74% were either menstruating when hemorrhaging occurred or had had their last menstrual period 21 or more days before hemorrhaging compared with the expected 43% (difference, 31%; CI, 4% to 58%).Premenopausal women are at reduced risk for subarachnoid hemorrhage, especially those without a history of smoking or hypertension. Hormone replacement therapy reduced the risk only in postmenopausal women who had ever smoked. Among women still menstruating, the risk for hemorrhage was greatest in the perimenstrual period.

Purpose: To assess the clinical efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for neuroimaging and to provide guidelines for clinical practice. Study Selection: After a comprehensive literature sear...

Reducing serum cholesterol lowers the risk for ischemic heart disease, but its effects on other vascular diseases are unknown. Published trials were reviewed to determine the effect of cholesterol-lowering interventions on fatal and nonfatal stroke.Meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.A literature search of English-language studies examining the effect of modified diets or medications on cardiovascular end points from 1965 to 1992 using MEDLINE and a review of references of five quantitative overviews of cholesterol reduction and coronary disease.Thirteen studies met three eligibility criteria: patients randomized to intervention or control; fatal or nonfatal stroke reported separately; and end points assessed without knowledge of treatment status. Heterogeneity among studies and overall effects of treatment on fatal and nonfatal stroke were estimated using the Mantel-Haenszel-Peto method to combine independent study results. The influence of various study designs and interventions was explored using subgroup comparisons.For fatal stroke, the overall odds ratio associated with cholesterol-lowering interventions in 13 trials was 1.32 (95% Cl, 0.94 to 1.86), and the odds ratio for the 10 single-intervention trials was 1.34 (Cl, 0.91 to 1.96). Among eight trials reporting nonfatal events, the summary odds ratio for nonfatal stroke for treated participants compared with controls was 0.88 (Cl, 0.70 to 1.11), and the odds ratio for total strokes was 0.98 (Cl, 0.80 to 1.19). Among three trials using clofibrate, treatment significantly increased the risk for fatal stroke (odds ratio, 2.64; Cl, 1.42 to 4.92) but not for nonfatal stroke (odds ratio, 0.87; Cl, 0.61 to 1.26). Regression analysis showed no statistical association between the magnitude of cholesterol reduction and the risk for fatal stroke.Lowering serum cholesterol through modified diets or medications does not reduce stroke mortality or morbidity in middle-aged men. Clofibrate appears to increase the risk for fatal strokes, but the mechanism for this effect is unknown.

A retrospective cohort study of the neurologic sequelae of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was done using 459 consecutive patients resuscitated and admitted to a teaching hospital over 10 years. Awakening was defined as having comprehensible speech or following commands. One hundred and eighty patients (39%) never awakened and 279 (61%) awakened, 188 without and 91 with persistent neurologic deficits. Fifty-nine patients had cognitive deficits and 32 patients had motor and cognitive deficits. Patients who did not awaken died, with a median survival of 3.5 days. The longer a patient survived without awakening, the smaller the probability of ever awakening and awakening without deficits. Fourteen patients awakening after 4 days had some deficits, and after 14 days six had severe deficits. Neurologic sequelae of cardiac arrest are common and related to awakening. The probability of future awakening and neurologic sequelae for patients not awake at specific times after cardiac arrest can be estimated.