News | Cardiovascular diseases

News

Chronic heart failure deaths could fall by 3,000 per year following updated guidance, says NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said that drugs are being introduced earlier in patient treatment for chronic heart failure, which has been reflected in its draft guidance.…

Published: 10 June 2025

News

Antidepressants ‘substantially increase risk’ of low blood pressure when standing up in older people, study results suggest

Researchers found that patients aged over 60 years who were prescribed selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors were at a four-fold increased risk of postural hypotension in first four weeks of use.…

Published: 21 May 2025

News

Earlier treatment with combination of drugs could prevent 5,000 heart attacks per decade, study results suggest

Researchers found that patients who received a combination treatment of statins and ezetimibe within 12 weeks of a heart attack and lowered their cholesterol to target-level early were less at risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths.…

Published: 16 April 2025

News

NHS increases funding for inclisiran although uptake remains ‘slower than expected’

In a letter sent to colleagues, NHS England said it had increased the reimbursement fee for inclisiran from £50 to £60.…

Published: 3 April 2025

News

BMI should be recorded annually for people with long-term conditions, says NICE

The draft quality standard on overweight and obesity management also advises healthcare professionals to seek permission in a sensitive, non-judgemental way before discussing weight.…

Published: 20 March 2025

News

Two-thirds of cholesterol point-of-care tests fail to meet standards, researchers warn

Authors of a literature review found that only two out of six point-of-care tests “mostly met” necessary standards for use in the NHS Health Check programme.…

Published: 19 March 2025

Opinion

It is an exciting time to be a respiratory pharmacist — and we need more of them 

Specialist respiratory pharmacists are in short supply in England and Wales, but investing in developing this workforce will show benefit for pharmacy and patients.…

Published: 12 March 2025

News

Standard-dose DOACs not necessarily better than reduced dose, study results suggest

Researchers found that “non-inferiority” of a reduced dose of direct oral anticoagulants could not be determined when compared with a standard dose, with “reliably low rates” of recurrent venous thromboembolism.…

Published: 4 March 2025

News

Inclisiran prescribed to 7% of expected target population in three years, NHS data reveal

Exclusive: The Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association maintain that caution should be taken when prescribing inclisiran since long-term trial data on the drug will not be available until 2026.…

Published: 13 February 2025

News

New class of anticoagulant found to ‘overwhelmingly’ reduce bleeding events in patients with atrial fibrillation

Experts say the results of this “exciting” two-year study of abelacimab “add to the growing evidence that inhibition of factor XI may preferentially impact thrombosis over haemostasis”.…

Published: 28 January 2025