This is a minuscule amount of data on which to base strong recommendations. An accompanying editorial written by Clyde Yancy, a professor of cardiology at Northwestern School of Medicine, noted that only 0.3 percent of the studies that looked at sodium restriction and heart failure were of sufficient quality to be included in this systematic review. We need better research. Some of that may be on the way. The Geriatric Out of Hospital Randomized Meal Trial in Heart Failure randomly assigned 66 patients to home-delivered low-salt meals after hospital discharge to study how well they work. Its findings are pending.

At an event today, the hospital said that it has performed 54 heart transplants in 2018. The state’s previous record was set by Rush University Medical Center, with 45 in 1995. The event was a celebration of both the hospital’s success and patients’ survival, as those who have received heart transplants and their families hugged the Northwestern doctors and staff who helped save their lives. It also paid homage to the people who have donated their organs. “Today, we recognize first the incredible generosity that arises from tragedy and acknowledge organ donors and their families who make the gift of life through transplantation possible,” said Dr. Allen Anderson, medical director of the Center for Heart Failure at Northwestern’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.

The study, which was recently published in the Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndromes, surveyed MSM in Chicago and found young black MSM in the city are 16 times more likely to have HIV than their white counterparts, despite lower numbers of sexual partners, less unsafe sex and more frequent testing for HIV. “Our study illuminates how HIV disparities emerge from complex social and sexual networks and inequalities in access to medical care for those who are HIV positive,” said senior study author Brian Mustanski, a professor at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine and director of its Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing.

It’s also possible the study underestimated how many people used telemedicine for care because it counted visits only covered by insurance, said Jeffrey Linder, a researcher at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago who wasn’t involved in the study. “It does not capture telemedicine visits for which there was not an insurance claim,” Linder said by email. “Patients could have paid out of pocket or, perhaps just as likely, the physician did not think or go to the trouble of submitting an insurance claim.”

Dr. Clyde Yancy, spokesperson for the American Heart Association and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says the findings suggest “a lifelong investment in health and fitness appears to be associated with a really sustainable benefit out until the outer limits of life.” Since we are living longer, maintaining a good quality of life is more important than ever. While the study was small and the findings need to be confirmed, they present a “strong argument” for lifelong exercise that is inexpensive and accessible for everyone. “If you can swim, do yoga, cycle, or walk,” you can benefit,” Yancy says.