Pharmacokinetic considerations in the elderly include absorption, bioavailablility, drug distribution, half-life, drug metabolism, and drug excretion. There are numerous physiologic changes with aging that affect pharmacodynamics with alterations in end-organ responsiveness. This article discusses use of cardiovascular drugs in the elderly including digoxin, diuretics, beta-adrenergic blockers,...

Introduction Cannabis is a frequently used recreational drug that potentially imposes several health consequences. While the medicinal use of cannabis is legal in several countries, its possession in small quantities for the purpose of personal use has a worldwide trend to become decriminalized and effectively legal.1 In the author’s knowledge, the accessibility and overall usage of cannabis is...

A number of epidemiologic studies have reported a positive relationship between heart rate, cardiovascular disease and mortality. To examine the correlation between heart rate and mortality after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 2147 patients hospitalized in coronary care units in Isfahan were investigated in a cross-sectional study. Their heart rate was measured according to an electroca...

Most studies investigating the association between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease have shown a significant relationship. This comparison study investigated the association between psoriasis and prevalent use of cardiovascular drugs. Drug exposure data for 1998 to 2006 were extracted from the Dutch PHARMO-Record Linkage System database. Psoriasis patients were selected using an algorithm o...

PURPOSE Herbal drug use for cardiovascular disease is frequent and growing rapidly. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of herbal medicine use on medication adherence of cardiology patients. METHODS All patients admitted to the outpatient cardiology clinics, who had been prescribed at least one cardiovascular drug before, were asked to complete a questionnaire. Participants wer...

n engl j med nejm.org 1 Administration (FDA) considers a decrease in glycated hemoglobin an approvable end point, very intensive glycemic control is associated with increased cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.1 The safety of specific drugs for type 2 diabetes — particularly the thiazolidinediones — has also been questioned. After rosiglitazone had been approved in the United States in 1999...

BACKGROUND The successful control of cardiovascular diseases at the lowest possible cost requires the use of the most effective and affordable medicines. We aimed to describe the trends in the ambulatory use of medicines for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases [Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical classification system (ATC): C and B01A] in Portugal, between 2004 and 2012, and to estim...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effect of a computer based clinical decision support system and a risk chart on absolute cardiovascular risk, blood pressure, and prescribing of cardiovascular drugs in hypertensive patients. DESIGN Cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING 27 general practices in Avon. PARTICIPANTS 614 patients aged between 60 and 79 years with high blood pressure. INTE...

Little is known about the contribution of over-the-counter (OTC) aspirin to cardiovascular prophylaxis. To investigate this, a two-phase cross-sectional study was carried out in nine general practices in North Staffordshire. In the first phase, all patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) were identified from computer searches using morbidity registers and drug searches. The search also ident...