Alcohol consumption by fathers before conception could negatively impact child development

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have explored the relationship between parental alcohol consumption — before conception in the case of fathers and during pregnancy in the case of mothers — and offspring development. In a paper published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the researchers report that when alcohol-exposed male…

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Boosts in serum EPA levels from prescription fish oil drive heart benefits

Higher levels of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) found in the blood–and not a decrease in triglyceride levels as originally thought–appear to explain the striking reductions in cardiovascular events and deaths seen among people taking 4 grams daily of the prescription fish oil, icosapent ethyl, according to findings from a REDUCE-IT substudy presented…

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E-cigarettes more effective than counseling alone for smoking cessation

Smokers who received smoking cessation counseling and used electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) containing nicotine were more than twice as likely to successfully quit smoking compared to those who received counseling but did not use e-cigarettes, in a clinical trial presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together with World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.20/WCC).…

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Alirocumab substantially reduces cholesterol in adult patients with HoFH

The cholesterol drug alirocumab reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 35.6% compared to placebo in adult patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), according to a phase three clinical trial presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together with World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.20/WCC). HoFH is a genetic condition that causes dangerously high…

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Evinacumab cuts cholesterol levels by half in patients with HoFH

The investigational drug evinacumab reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to near-normal levels among patients with a rare cholesterol disorder, meeting the primary endpoint in the first randomized placebo-controlled trial of the drug, which is being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together with World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.20/WCC). Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia…

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