Trending News Today: Hepatitis C Linked with Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

A new analysis suggests a global link between atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, MD Magazine reported. According to the article, researchers reviewed 36 observational studies involving 341,739 patients with HCV to evaluate the risk ratio (RR) of cardiovascular disease in those with and without HCV. Overall, the analysis showed that patients with HCV had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those without HCV (pooled RR 1.28, 95% CI, 1.18-1.39), the article reported.

An inherited gene mutation, RABL3, was found to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer and other malignancies, The American Journal of Managed Care reported. According to the article, scientists conducted a whole-genome sequencing and analysis on a cancer-prone family with 5 cases of pancreatic cancer and numerous cases of other cancers. Overall, the analysis showed that the RABL3 mutation accelerates the movement of a known pancreatic cancer protein, KRAS, within the cell to promote tumor growth, the article reported.

The FDA recently proposed that cigarette packs carry graphic a health warning to advertise the risks of smoking, Reuters reported. According to the article, the FDA said the proposed changes, which would also increase the size of the warnings, would be the most significant to cigarette labels in more than 35 years. The proposal would add 13 new warnings, along with colored pictures that would also outline the lesser-known risks of smoking, such as bladder cancer and diabetes, the article reported.