MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A statement released by the American Heart Association on Monday, is highlighting the link between heavy metals in the environment and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Gervasio Lamas, who is chair of the statement writing group and Chief of the Columbia University Division of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said chronic exposure to lead, cadmium and arsenic in air, water and soil leads to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
“We need to work with our politicians and the government to make sure that we have pure water and pure food and that it is not contaminated by known toxins that will poison your arteries,” he said.
Lamas also said patients need to ask their doctors about their metal levels which he said are numbers that are just as important as cholesterol and blood pressure.
A new lawsuit is challenging the federal government’s plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the Department of Health and Human Services.
The group said the government’s pricing program violates drug makers due process rights by dictating prices and punishing drug companies if they don’t accept them.
Drug company Merck filed a similar lawsuit last week.
And U.S. health advisers are backing a new Alzheimer’s drug.
The panel recommended full F.D.A. approval for the medication Leqembi.
Early results show the drug can slow Alzheimer’s progression by several months.
The F.D.A. is reviewing more extensive data before deciding if the drug will receive a full endorsement.
They’re scheduled to issue a final decision next month.