Tag Archives: cardiovascular disease
Salt, Science, and Politics
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st June 2016Salt is in the news again. Thomas Frieden the head of the CDC published an article in the JAMA innocuously titled Sodium Reduction—Saving Lives by Putting Choice Into Consumers’ Hands. It more closely resembles propaganda than science. It argues that reducing dietary sodium intake to 1200 mg/day or less will lower the incidence of hypertension…
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Salt and More Salt
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd September 2014The August 14, 2014 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contains three papers on salt intake and health. The third of these is so layered with assumptions that I won’t discuss it. I have previously written about recommendations for optimum dietary intake of salt. In 2011 the American Society of Nephrology endorsed guidelines…
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Why Reforming Medical Care in the US is Impossible
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th February 2012A short perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine (the world’s leading journal of general medicine) shows what we’re up against in any attempt to provide medical care on a rational basis. A 55-year-old white man is described. He had normal blood pressure, exercised regularly, was not overweight, not diabetic, and had never smoked. He…
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More on Diabetes and Tight Blood Pressure Control
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th July 2010In May I commented on a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that failed to show a benefit in lowering systolic blood pressure below 130 mm Hg. Well, now there’s another such study. This one is in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Patients were categorized into 3 groups by their average…
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Erectile Dysfunction and Coronary Artery Disease
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th February 2009It’s not surprising that doctors have wondered whether erectile dysfunction (ED) is a marker of coronary artery disease (CAD). After all both disorders result from impaired blood flow to the two involved organs. Because the penile artery is about one-third the diameter of the coronary artery, vascular disease affecting both these arteries might become symptomatic…
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