Reviews & Analysis

In this opinion article, Dr. Vedanthan and Dr. Fuster discuss the urgent need to integrate CVD-related human resource requirements into the global agenda for increasing human resources for health care. They suggest strategies and emphasize gaps in knowledge regarding human resources for global CVD-related care.

Obesity is a major health challenge that is associated with chronic disease. The authors of this Perspectives article put forward a model that places sedentary behavior and calorie overload upstream of numerous disease processes. The authors highlight the importance of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness, which are possibly stronger predictors of risk than traditional factors, such as obesity.

The current guidelines for prevention of cardiovascular disease are based on estimates of long-term risk. Smeeth and Hingorani recommend awareness of the importance of fluctuations of risk over short periods of time and suggest a new paradigm for management of cardiovascular disease that is based on targeting therapy to short periods of enhanced risk.

Controversy exists as to whether the detection of myocardial edema, to quantify myocardial damage and assess myocardial salvage, is ready for clinical use or is still only practical as a research tool. In this Perspectives article, Matthias Friedrich explains his point of view on this issue—that myocardial edema imaging using magnetic resonance technology should be seen as the essential diagnostic modality of choice for patients with suspected myocardial injury by virtue of its safety, versatility, and cost-efficiency.