Cardiovascular disease at play in growing rural-urban divide in life expectancy among U.S. counties

Rural town

While life expectancy (LE) in the U.S was was on the rise in the first decade of the 2000s (more so in urban counties than in rural), the last decade showed a drop in LE in rural counties and only modest gains in urban areas. Our Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, PhD, is the lead author on a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology that takes…

Can programs that promote well-being help to improve cardiovascular health?

Given the strong connection between optimism (and other signposts of psychological well-being) and cardiovascular health, Laura Kubzansky and colleagues recommend in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) that rigorous interventions be designed to evaluate programs geared towards promoting psychological well-being.

Positive feelings and thoughts linked to higher levels of good cholesterol

A study by Laura Kubzansky and colleagues reveals that greater psychological well-being is linked to higher levels of HDL-C (considered to be the “good” cholesterol). While healthier behaviors play a role, this study aims to examine more closely the established link between psychological well-being and cardiovascular health.

Does cardiovascular disease risk vary among different groups in India?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in India. A study in PLOS Medicine (with Harvard Pop Center fellow Jennifer Manne-Goehler, MD, ScD, and faculty member Till Bärnighausen, MD, PhD, ScD, among the authors) identified significant geographic and sociodemographic variation in CVD risk, findings which could help to shape effective targeting of CVD programs.

What is driving optimism’s association with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease?

Laura Kubzansky, a Harvard Pop Center faculty member and co-director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, is an author on a paper that analyzes the relationship between optimism and healthy behaviors, such as exercising, eating fruits and vegetables, and not smoking cigarettes; is it that optimistic people engage in healthier behaviors and that is what is reducing their risk for cardiovascular disease and related mortality?

Race and socioeconomic status may play role in millions not having access to newly recommended treatment guidelines for cardiovascular disease

New expanded guidelines released by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) include recommendations for statins for more people, many of those who are less likely to have access to these very treatments. Lead author and former Harvard Bell Fellow Fahad Razak, MD, did the research for this study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes while he was a visiting scientist at the Harvard Pop Center, along with co-author and…

Hypertension well managed for those older South Africans whose health was monitored by long-term surveillance program

A study just out in the Journal of Hypertension co-authored by Harvard Pop Center faculty members Stephen Tollman, Till Bärnighausen, Joshua Salomon, and Bell Fellow Xavier Gomez-Olive points to the potential effectiveness of a local, long-term health surveillance program for managing hypertension, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The results of the study shed light on which members of the population should be receiving even more attention.

Decreased exercise could be factor in link between PTSD and CV disease

A study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine reveals that women who experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were found to be less physically active over time. Harvard Pop Center faculty members Maria Glymour and Laura Kubzansky are authors on the study.

Working single mothers may be at slightly higher risk of heart disease, stroke & smoking

Learn more about the findings of a study published in the American Journal of Public Health by Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, Research Associate Iván Mejía-Guevara, PhD, Faculty Member Mauricio Avendano, PhD, former Pop Center Fellow Erika Sabbath, ScD and colleagues, in this Reuters article.