View clinical trials related to Cardiovascular Disease.
Filter by:This is a research study into the effects of three drugs used to treat HIV infection. Some drugs used to treat HIV have been associated with changes in blood fats such as cholesterol that could be harmful over the long-term, because these blood fat changes have been associated with a small, increased risk of heart disease and stroke in some studies of adults with HIV. Now that HIV can be controlled for long periods in most patients, and because heart disease is one of the biggest causes of illness and death in the general population, it is important to develop new HIV treatments that control HIV effectively but do not cause abnormal blood fats. Hypothesis: That Raltegravir will result in less post-prandial lipid disturbances than ritonavir-boosted darunavir.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an extremely common disorder in women of reproductive age. Diagnosis of PCOS is principally based on clinical and physical findings. Diagnostic criteria and PCOS definitions used by clinicians and researchers are almost as heterogeneous as the syndrome. Of those diagnosed with PCOS using the 2003 Rotterdam criteria, 61% fulfilled 1990 NIH criteria for unexplained hyperandrogenic chronic anovulation. The patient populations with the new phenotypes had less severe ovulatory dysfunction and less androgen excess than patients diagnosed using the 1990 NIH criteria. These findings might be common across all female populations with PCOS, whether in Oriental or Occidental countries. Data for clinical hyperandrogenism indicated that the prevalence of hirsutism in Taiwanese PCOS women is lower than that for Caucasians/Western women. The extent of metabolic abnormalities in women with PCOS may vary with phenotype, age and ethnicity. Obesity represents a major risk factor for metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Approximately 40-50% of all women with PCOS are overweight or obese. Obese subjects with PCOS had a higher risk of developing oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea and biochemical hyperandrogenemia than non-obese women with PCOS. Moreover, obese women with PCOS had significantly more severe insulin resistance, lower serum LH levels, and lower LH-to-FSH ratios than non-obese women with PCOS. PCOS women in Taiwan presented with higher LH-to-FSH ratio and lower insulin resistance than PCOS women in Western Countries. However, the average body mass index (BMI) was significantly lower in Taiwanese PCOS women than Western women, which might partially explain the difference between these two populations in terms of clinical and biochemical presentations. To further document the ethnic variation between women with PCOS in Taiwan and Western, the effect of obesity on the diagnosis and clinical presentations of PCOS-related syndromes should not be neglected in future studies. Therefore, the investigators plan to do this prospective study for evaluation the clinical and biochemical presentation of Taiwanese women with PCOS.
The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to determine whether two low-intensity, technology based interventions, when compared to each other and to usual care, improve adherence to selected medications that are used to treat people with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.
The role of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the clinical benefit of lowering LDL-C in high-risk patients have both been well established. The key contribution of the intestine to whole body cholesterol homeostasis and thus to regulating plasma cholesterol concentrations has also been recognized over the last years. It is now clear that cholesterol homeostasis and hence plasma LDL-C concentrations are maintained by a fine-tuned balance between intestinal cholesterol absorption and endogenous cholesterol synthesis. Cholesterol is a highly hydrophobic molecule and for that reason, its absorption is almost entirely dependent on its solubilizing capacity in bile acid micelles within the intestine. Recent in vitro studies from our laboratory have shown that buttermilk, a unique by-product of butter manufacturing resulting from the churning of cream, has a strong inhibitory effect on cholesterol micelle solubility. This phenomenon is likely due to the presence of unique milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) fragments present in buttermilk that are produced during the manufacturing of dairy cream into butter. Most of the work done so far on the subject has focused on phospholipids purified from MFGM, while overlooking the complex and entire MFGM mixture of bioactive proteins and polar lipids found in buttermilk. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet documented the impact of whole buttermilk on plasma cholesterol concentration in human. The general objective of this research project is to investigate for the first time the impact of buttermilk on plasma cholesterol and other risk factors for CVD in humans. More specifically, we propose to investigate the impact of buttermilk consumption on plasma LDL-C and other CVD risk factors as well as on plasma surrogates of cholesterol absorption and synthesis.
There will be no significant decrease in the use of low dose acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) therapy for primary prevention across the three intervention arms from baseline to completion of the project. There will be no significant differences in the percentage of patients with diabetes mellitus greater than 44 years of age on low dose ASA therapy for primary prevention across the three arms of the study using repeated measures from baseline to completion of the project.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the US. Every year, more than one million Americans have a heart attack, and nearly 800,000 have a stroke. In 2010, heart disease alone is expected to cost the country more than $316 billion in health care and lost productivity. Both lifestyle changes and medication can reduce the risk of CVD, and this project combines these approaches in the hopes of identifying a practical intervention for use in primary care medical offices. The project combines two previously tested interventions and updates them to meet current guidelines for diet and use of aspirin and cholesterol-controlling drugs (statins). The research team is delivering the combined intervention in two formats: web-based and counselor-based. Each format has the same content, but the web-based advice is accessed through the Internet by clients at home, a community site, or a primary care office. The other format involves sessions delivered to clients by a counselor either in person at a primary care office or over the telephone. The researchers will compare how effective each format is in reducing participants' risk of coronary heart disease. They will also determine the interventions' effect on participants' diet, physical activity, smoking status, medication adherence, and other health indicators. In addition, the team will compare the two formats' cost-effectiveness and how well the patients, office staff, and clinicians accept the interventions. Recruited from five family practices, 600 patients representing the geographic and ethnic diversity of North Carolina are taking part in this study. Half the participants are randomly assigned to the web-based intervention; the other half to the counselor-based version. Both groups will also get information on local resources, such as gyms and farmers markets, that can help participants maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The investigators propose to evaluate the effects of avocado consumption (by incorporating 1 unit of fruit per day into a healthy diet) on multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The investigators will compare chronic consumption of a moderate fat blood cholesterol-lowering diet incorporating one avocado per day versus a blood cholesterol-lowering Lower-Fat diet on established CVD risk factors including lipids and lipoproteins, and blood pressure (BP). The investigators also will evaluate the effects of an avocado diet on several emerging CVD risk factors. To elucidate the specific benefits of avocado and its accompanying bioactives on the aforementioned risk factors, the investigators will compare the avocado diet with a diet that has the same macronutrient profile (but without the avocado).
Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of mortality worldwide resulting in one out of three global deaths. One of the main characteristics of cardiovascular disease is impaired blood flow and increased formation of clots. Platelets are clot-forming cells responsible for prevention of bleeding. However, in disease state they may be overly activated and tend to stick to each other, promoting blood clots and blockage of vessels. Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are unique fatty acids present in dairy food products and beef which would help to prevent platelets from clotting and thus help to prevent cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms by which those fatty acids affect platelet function are not yet fully understood. We designed a human intervention study assessing the mechanisms by which CLA beneficially affect platelet function and markers of haemostasis and inflammation in humans.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a weakened and enlarged area in the abdominal aorta, which is a large blood vessel in the abdomen. Large AAAs (>55 mm diameter) carry a high risk of rupture, a surgical emergency that often leads to death due to severe internal bleeding. It has been suggested that regular exercise training might limit the rate at which AAAs develop. However, little is known about the safety and effectiveness of exercise training in these patients. This pilot study will examine the feasibility of supervised aerobic exercise training for patients with small AAAs (30 to 49 mm diameter). The investigators hypothesize that exercise training will be safe and useful for patients with small AAAs.
The objectives of this study are to examine how the consumption of treatment oils (including canola oil, DHA enriched canola-oil, high oleic acid canola oil, flax oil, and safflower oil) influence endothelial function, inflammation, oxidation, body composition, and plasma lipoprotein characterization.