PodMed TT – Cardiovascular Risks of Smoking, the Flu and Heart Attacks, Thyroid Drugs and Congenital Defects

Even one cigarette a day still confers substantial cardiovascular risk, as Rick and I discuss on PodMed TT this week. That’s according to a meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Even one cigarette a day still confers substantial cardiovascular risk, according to a meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

And I say, yes, one more compelling reason to skip those things!

Distressingly, smoking only a single butt had 50 percent of the cardiovascular risk relative to smoking a pack a day. And while men fared poorly, women fared even worse in terms of stroke and heart attack. I applaud the authors, who conclude that no level of smoking is safe.

Other studies this week include “Antithyroid Drugs and Congenital Malformations: A Nationwide Korean Cohort Study” in Annals of Internal Medicine; “Acute Myocardial Infarction after Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Infection” in the New England Journal of Medicine; and a look at the overtreatment of diabetes in older adults in Diabetic Medicine.

Until next week, y’all listen up and live well.

Listen to this week’s PodMed TT here.