(Reuters Health) For patients who require an antiplatelet drug to prevent vascular disease, but have a history of aspirin-induced ulcer bleeding, aspirin plus esomeprazole appears to be a better choice than clopidogrel monotherapy, new research suggests.

Contrary to the researchers’ hypothesis, the rate of recurrent bleeding with clopidogrel was actually much higher than that seen with aspirin plus esomeprazole. Moreover, the findings run counter to guidelines by the American College of Cardiology-American Heart Association, which recommend clopidogrel in this setting.

(Reuters Health) In a new study, a 12-week lifestyle intervention helped an ethnically diverse group of adults with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia reach their goal risk factor levels without using drug therapy.

These results “refute the notion that intensive lifestyle intervention is not worth the effort,” lead author Dr. Neil F. Gordon, from St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System in Savannah, Georgia, and colleagues report in the December 15th issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

(Reuters Health).A high body mass index in middle-aged men is associated with the risk of stroke during 28 years of follow-up, even after taking into account other risk factors, such as hypertension and diabetes, Swedish investigators have found.

Obesity is increasingly accepted as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but its role in stroke is less clear, Dr. Katarina Jood and colleagues note in a rapid access October 28th issue of Stroke. They therefore prospectively followed men enrolled in the Multifactor Primary Prevention Study.

(Reuters Health) Patients with stable coronary artery disease and preserved left ventricular function who are already on intensive standard therapy show no clinical benefit from additional treatment with an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor, investigators report.

The findings were reported Sunday at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans, and are being published in the November 11th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

(CDC) The Surgeon General’s report, The Health Consequences of Smoking (1), was released on May 27, 2004. This report provides an update, evaluation, and synthesis of evidence on the health consequences of active smoking and examines cancer, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and adverse reproductive and other effects.