Viola Vaccarino

..This might, in part, reflect a poorer course of heart failure among African Americans...

..Although previous studies have shown functional improvements in patients who undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, data are conflicting on whether the gains achieved by women are similar to or less than those achieved by men...

..This study was designed to examine whether female gender is associated with poorer recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery...

..Younger but not older women hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction have higher in-hospital mortality rates than men. We hypothesized that younger women also have higher in-hospital mortality rates after CABG...

..Recent data suggested that MDD and inflammation share common genes...

..We sought to investigate whether oxidative stress would be higher in African Americans compared to whites independently of traditional risk factor burden...

..We sought to examine whether MPO and other markers of inflammation are associated with MDD and whether the association is confounded by genetic or other shared familial factors...

..The cardioprotective property of the Mediterranean diet has been attributed to its antioxidant capacity, but direct investigation of this mechanism has been limited...

..Depressive symptoms predict adverse post-MI outcomes and are more prevalent among women than men. We examined whether depressive symptoms contribute to women's worse outcomes after MI...

..These results suggest that a common neurobiological dysfunction links depression and autonomic dysregulation...

..When marital status was examined as a main predictive variable, the analyses yielded similar results (unadjusted RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58-0.86; RR adjusted for the same covariates, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.60-1.02)...

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..One possible mechanism of higher cardiovascular mortality associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) may be through abnormal modulation in autonomic tone...

..We sought to examine the relationship between MDD and coronary flow reserve (CFR), the ratio of maximum flow during stress to flow at rest measured in milliliters per minute per gram of tissue...

..A previous study of participants with prediabetes found that hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) levels differed between black and white participants with no differences in glucose concentration...

..Inflammation and oxidative stress may be the mechanisms through which smoking affects the microvasculature...

..Although increased attention has been paid to sex and racial differences in the management of myocardial infarction, it is unknown whether these differences have narrowed over time...

..To compare the utility of metabolic syndrome (MetS) to random plasma glucose (RPG) in identifying people with diabetes or prediabetes...

..Our objective was to evaluate the prognostic importance of transient, new, or persistent depression on outcomes at 6 months after MI...

..The aims of this study were to determine the relative influence of genetic and environmental contributions to inflammatory biomarkers, and to what extent correlations among these markers are due to genetic or environmental factors...

..Additionally, low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is associated with endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness. However, little is known about the association between serum 25(OH)D level and myocardial blood flow...

..Because depression after AMI has been associated with adverse outcomes, younger women, a high-risk group compared with men, may particularly benefit from aggressive screening and treatment of post-AMI depression...

..With positive results from diabetes prevention studies, there is interest in convenient ways to incorporate screening for glucose intolerance into routine care and to limit the need for fasting diagnostic tests...

..The link between leptin and depression could be mediated by obesity, which is more common in depression and increases leptin production...

..Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic function, has been associated with cognitive function, but studies are conflicting. Previous studies have also not controlled for familial and genetic influences...

..Diabetes is a stronger risk factor for coronary heart disease in women than in men. Whether diabetes also poses greater risks to women after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been examined...

..This study sought to examine the relationship between inflammation and coronary microvascular function in asymptomatic individuals using positron emission tomography (PET) and assessment of coronary flow reserve (CFR)...

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..We sought to identify baseline clinical, angiographic, and hemodynamic variables associated with optimal bare-metal stent (BMS) deployment, allowing selection of patients for treatment with BMS...

..Depression is an established independent prognostic factor for mortality, readmission, and cardiac events after CABG surgery. However, limited data exist on whether depression influences functional outcomes after CABG...

..Furthermore, little is known about whether depression and HRV share common genetic pathways...

..This finding supports a role for oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of premature atherosclerosis, and its measurement may help in the early identification of asymptomatic subjects at risk of atherosclerotic disease...

..We hypothesized that those variants whose mechanism of risk is currently unknown, confer risk via pathways mediating arterial wave reflections which is an increasingly recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease...

..Evidence links dietary sodium to hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD), but investigation of its influence on cardiovascular function is limited...

..We determined whether perceived social support predicted change in health-related quality of life, operationalized as change in mental health and physical functioning, 6 months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)...

..Previous studies have shown that women younger than 55 years have higher hospital mortality rates after acute myocardial infarction (MI) than age-matched men. We examined whether such mortality differences have decreased in recent years...

..We explored the relationship of genetic variants of the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4, a key regulator of the serotonergic neurotransmission, with both depressive symptoms and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels...

..In conclusion, in older adults with HF, women had significantly better survival than men irrespective of race, suggesting that gender-based survival differences may be more important than race-based differences...

..The relationship between depression and the metabolic syndrome is unclear, and whether metabolic syndrome explains the association between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is unknown...

..To determine the proportion of the American population who would merit metformin treatment, according to recent American Diabetes Association (ADA) consensus panel recommendations to prevent or delay the development of diabetes...

..In conclusion, reduced HRV correlates significantly with increased CRP plasma levels and this correlation is due, in large part, to common genetic influences. A polymorphism in the CRP gene contributes to both CRP levels and HRV...

..Whether a combined genetic risk score (GRS) is associated with prevalent and incident MI in high-risk subjects remains to be established...

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..We explored race and gender differences in underestimation of weight using body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), after adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors...

..This study sought to evaluate the long-term prognostic value of the number and sites of calcified coronary lesions and to compare the accuracy of number of calcified lesions with the extent of total calcium score...

..Smoking cessation after myocardial infarction (MI) is an important goal for secondary prevention of mortality. Whether new initiatives to promote cessation improve patients' quit rates after MI is unknown...

..Special attention should be paid to the physical function of patients with DM after CABG, and any barriers to functional recovery in this group should be promptly identified and addressed...

..The purpose of this study was to examine prospectively whether inflammation explains the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD)...

..To illuminate potential barriers to participation, we examined the prevalence of, and patient-related factors associated with, CR participation within 1 and 6 months after an AMI...

..However, few studies have examined this association in samples including a significant number of African Americans, or examined whether the association differs by race and sex...

..Loss of renal function is accompanied by a progressive increase in markers of inflammation; it is unknown whether they share common genetic pathways...

..The Jackson Heart Study cohort provides an opportunity to test the hypothesis that the inverse association between adiponectin and LVM may be modified by risk factors common among blacks...

..It is unknown to what extent the association between the Mediterranean diet and inflammation is due to genetic or other familial factors...

..It is unknown, however, whether early menopause predicts post-myocardial infarction (MI) angina. We examined whether younger AAM increases risk of post-MI angina...

..Although depression is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, there is virtually no information on whether it also increases the risk in young populations...

..Prior studies define worsening renal function using various creatinine elevations, but the relative value of definitions is unknown...

..Because these data are cross-sectional, causal inference is limited. Nonetheless, the associations between these compounds and lipids raise concerns, given their common presence in the general population...

..In this group, low-grade systemic inflammation could represent a mechanism linking depression to cardiovascular risk...

..No differences were found in major in-hospital complications by gender...

..59 to 0.98). Thus, the apparent protective effect of combination menopausal hormone therapy with E+P on CAD is due to differences in other patient characteristics. In contrast, unopposed E therapy may have a protective effect on CAD...

..Studies on the incidence and predictors of heart failure (HF) are often restricted to elderly persons or identify only inpatient cases...

..In conclusion, there are positive associations between markers of inflammation and BP variability in healthy, normotensive adults, suggesting that inflammation may be 1 of the factors that promotes increased BP variability...

..It is not clear to what extent genetic influences play a role in determining vitamin D status. Thus far, studies on the heritability of vitamin D have provided conflicting results...

..56, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.96; p = 0.03) and hospital readmission costs of $7,515 less per patient. CONCLUSIONS: A formal education and support intervention substantially reduced adverse clinical outcomes and costs for patients with HF...

..Baseline HDL cholesterol levels <33 mg/dl for men and <38 mg/dl were associated with higher one-year mortality after PCI...

..No studies have examined neural correlates of fear conditioning and extinction in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)...

..Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a greater clustering of cardiac risk factors. However, the link between PCOS and cardiovascular (CV) disease is incompletely described...

..we tested the hypothesis that the 9p21 risk locus promotes atherosclerosis by examining the association between rs10757278 and coronary artery disease (CAD) severity and progression determined by semi-quantitative angiographic scores...

..Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a predictor of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), and African American (AA) patients have been reported to have worse outcomes after PCI...

..049 for the interaction among treatment, gender, and follow-up for the quality of life domain). Although CABG may be superior to PCI in men, in women, at 1 year after intervention, both procedures appear equally effective...

..Because coronary heart disease is increasingly seen as an inflammatory process, it might be reasonable to hypothesize that physical activity reduces risk of coronary heart disease by reducing or preventing inflammation...

..The causes of increased CRP, however, are not completely understood. Studies suggest that oxidative stress may have pro-inflammatory effects, but data on the relationship between oxidative stress and CRP in healthy persons is sparse...

..Eventually, a better understanding of these processes and mechanisms may improve the prevention and the clinical management of IHD in women...

..The purpose of the present study was to assess hippocampal and prefrontal functioning during performance of a verbal declarative memory task in subjects with midlife major depression...

..The combined effect of CKD and anemia on stroke risk, however, has not been investigated thoroughly. We analyzed data from a middle-aged, community-based cohort to determine if CKD and anemia interacted to affect stroke risk...

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..To estimate the heritability of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis, independent of traditional coronary risk factors...

..713 mm versus 0.687 mm, p=0.008). In conclusion, adult-onset asthma but not child-onset asthma is associated with increased carotid atherosclerosis among women but not among men...

..Our results suggest that increases in pulse pressure are associated with elevated C-reactive protein levels among apparently healthy US adults, independent of systolic and diastolic blood pressure...

..The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of isotretinoin on brain functioning in acne patients...

..To compare diabetes prevalence among Asian Americans by World Health Organization and U.S. BMI classifications...

..The majority of studies support a positive association between PP and inflammatory markers. However, it remains unclear whether the association is truly causal and whether it has relevance in terms of predicting cardiovascular diseases...

..Comorbid conditions related to diabetes mellitus and ventricular function at the time of the index myocardial infarction are important contributors to poorer outcomes in patients with diabetes mellitus...

..Racial differences in stroke mortality are widely recognized, but it is unclear whether or not these differences are due mainly to blacks having a greater stroke incidence or higher case fatality rates compared to those of whites...

..Clinicians need to take very seriously any woman who has typical symptoms and pursue a full cardiac work-up...

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..11-3.46, p =.02) but not in men (HR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.23-1.71, p =.05 for the interaction term between sex and depression). CONCLUSIONS: Depression is an independent risk factor for heart failure among elderly women but not elderly men...

..We examined the relation of age and race on short-term death in a large AMI population and ascertained the factors that may have contributed to differences in mortality rates...

..To determine if psychosocial status influences treatment satisfaction, a quality-of-care indicator, of patients who were hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI)...

..These findings extend our insight into the role of the sequence variant tagged by rs10757278-G and show that it is not confined to atherosclerotic diseases...

..Comparable evidence regarding quality-of-life outcomes in the absence of CABG is needed to more fully inform decision making regarding patients with severe CKD and coronary artery disease...

..Social networks are an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, but their relationship with stroke events in at-risk populations is largely unknown...

..To better characterize medication-related problems among inner-city patients after hospital discharge and to suggest potential interventions...

..Typically, however, studies in this area focus only on baseline symptom severity and lack any data concerning symptom duration or symptom history...

..Interactions with other genetic or environmental risk factors that are more common in African Americans are likely to account for the greater relative risk conferred by HapK in this group...

..We examined the association between heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic function, and inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)...

..To investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and incidence of diabetes...

..Disability in older adults is thought to occur primarily as a consequence of clinical disease episodes. However, the temporal relationship between clinical disease and disability has received little systematic attention...