Cardiovascular Research: Measuring kidney health could better predict heart disease risk ♦ Statins reduce mortality in coronary artery bypass graft surgery ♦ Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts

Measuring kidney health could better predict heart disease risk Simple measures of kidney function and damage may be just as good at predicting who is at risk for heart failure and death from heart attack and stroke as traditional tests of cholesterol levels and blood pressure

Preoperative statins reduce mortality in coronary artery bypass graft surgery The protective effect of various heart medications that patients are taking before undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery and concludes that statins reduce the risk of death by two thirds, or 67 percent, while no consistent effects were seen for other medications.

Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts Day in and day out, millions of people with diabetes test their blood sugar levels. And many may wonder if all the careful eating, exercise and medication it takes to keep those levels under control is really worth it. A major new study should encourage them to keep going -- and prompt them to work with their doctors on reducing their cardiovascular risk.

Endurance athletes should be tested while exercising for potentially fatal heart condition Some athletes who take part in endurance exercise such as marathon running, endurance triathlons or alpine cycling can develop heartbeat irregularities that can, occasionally, lead to their sudden death. New evidence shows that doctors who try to detect these irregularities by focusing on the left ventricle of the heart, or on the right ventricle while an athlete is resting, will miss important signs of right ventricular dysfunction that can only be detected during exercise and that could be fatal.