View clinical trials related to Cardiovascular Disease.
Filter by:In this study, we will conduct a preliminary, yet comprehensive evaluation of Mindfulness and Yoga, as compared to an exercise and education-based stress-reduction program. and simultaneous evaluation of the effect of an 8 week program of Mindfulness, 12 weeks of Yoga practice, and 12 weeks of an exercise and education-based program. 105 otherwise healthy individuals, who have cardiovascular risk factors and mild to moderate stress or anxiety will be randomly assigned to one of the three intervention groups: an 8 week program of Mindfulness, 12 week program of Yoga practice, and 12 week exercise and education-based group program. All subjects will perform daily practice that will continue after the weekly sessions end, allowing a follow up assessment at 24 weeks. Self-reported mood and psychological distress and physiological indicators of function of the ANS and stress hormones will be assessed at baseline, 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Blood and urine samples will be collected at baseline and 8 weeks to determine levels inflammatory and atherosclerosis markers. We anticipate that the study will provide information on the efficacy of the Mindfulness and Yoga interventions as stress-reduction practices, variability in potential markers for activation of the brain/cardiovascular system connections, and preliminary estimates of effect size for each of these markers. Thus, the study will provide the data needed for designing a future study that will rigorously address these questions in a larger, randomized trial of Mindfulness and Yoga in patients with cardiovascular risk.
Endothelial dysfunction is an early marker of atherosclerosis and is found in patients (pts) with coronary (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD). Statin-therapy has been shown to improve endothelial function in pts with CAD or PAD by reducing LDL-cholesterol and inflammatory markers. B-group vitamin-supplements have variable been reported to have positive or neutral effects on endothelial function. Therefore, we want to compare the effect of rosuvastatin and B-group vitamin supplementation on endothelial function of the forearm resistance vessels in pts with cardiovascular disease.
The purpose of this study to examine whether vitamin D can reduce the activation of the immune system during dialysis. When activated, the immune cells release certain substances, called cytokines, which can be measured from small blood samples. We want to study to what degree the immune system is activated during a regular dialysis treatment and whether the time point of vitamin D administration, either right before the start or right at the end of a dialysis treatment, has an impact on the activation of the immune system.
The investigators' project has for principal objective to evaluate the impact of three specific ruminant milk fats with a Trans Fatty Acid content ranging from 2.9% to 12.2% obtained by modification of the cow's diet on cardiovascular risk factors in healthy subjects.
Cardiac rehabilitation programs (CRP) are a proven treatment for those with ischemic heart disease (IHD). These programs have been demonstrated to improve adherence to regular physical activity, a healthy diet and smoking cessation, as well as modify risk factors for IHD such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, obesity and type 2 diabetes. In addition, CRP are cost effective and can result in a 25% reduction in reoccurrence of mortality. Despite the known benefits of CRP, as little as 10% to 25% of eligible patients attend these programs. One of the main barriers to attendance is proximity to a CRP, as the majority of these programs are limited to hospitals in large urban areas. However, cardiovascular diseases do not discriminate by geography, resulting in a geographic inequity of care for patients living in rural, remote and smaller urban/sub-urban centres. Currently there are no CRP specifically designed for patients in rural and remote areas. The use of the Internet may present itself as a viable alternative. We have recently completed a pilot study of a virtual CRP (vCRP) that demonstrated significant improvements in exercise capacity and risk factors. This investigation will study the vCRP in a group of IHD patients who do not have access to hospital-based CRP. Hypotheses A. Participation in a 4 month Internet-based cardiac rehabilitation program will result in significant improvements in exercise capacity compared to usual care, in patients with diagnosed IHD. B. Participation in a 4 month Internet-based cardiac rehabilitation program will result in significant improvements in exercise capacity after one year compared to usual care, in patients with diagnosed IHD. Study Population Men and women over 18 years will be identified from consecutive in-patients of the British Columbia Provincial Heart Centre at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver who reside in either the Northern Interior or Coast Garibaldi health areas. Patients will be eligible if they have IHD, Internet access, no previous experience with cardiac rehabilitation and no physical limitations to exercise. A total of 74 patients (37 per group) will be recruited and randomized to either usual care, or a 4 month 'virtual' cardiac rehabilitation program delivered via the Internet. Usual Care Group Patients randomized to usual care will be provided with simple guidelines for safe exercising and healthy eating habits, and return to the care of their primary care physician. Patients will return at 4 and 16 months later for outcome assessment. There will be no contact between the study personnel and usual care patients for the duration of the study, nor will there be any attempt to control the level of patient care. Intervention The vCRP has been developed to mimic hospital-based CRP and includes online intake forms, one-on-one chat sessions with vCRP nurse, dietitian and exercise specialist, data collection (exercise heart rate, blood pressure, glucose- if diabetic), peer-support group chat sessions, ask-an-expert chat sessions, education, progress reports and online resources. Upon randomization to the intervention, patients will receive access to the website, a heart rate monitor and a blood pressure monitor and trained in their use. The heart rate monitors allow for exercise heart rate data to be stored and downloaded to their home computer and then uploaded to the vCRP webserver. The exercise data will be reviewed weekly. A letter to the patient's primary care physician will be sent to outline the vCRP intervention, the treatment algorithms to be used and indicate under what circumstances the vCRP nurse and/or patient may contact them with regards to their management. Patients will receive one-on-one counselling by the nurse, dietitian and exercise specialist via chat sessions at 3 to 4 week intervals. After the 4 month intervention, patients will be discharged into the care of their primary care physician. Outcomes Participants will be assessed at baseline, 4 and 16 months for risk factors and lifestyle behaviours. The primary outcomes will be the change in exercise capacity as between the two groups from baseline to 4 months, and from baseline to 16 months. Exercise capacity will be assessed as total time on a symptom-limited exercise stress test.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the burden of upper gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with cardiovascular disease taking low dose aspirin
The purpose of this placebo controlled trial is to determine whether a year long intervention with flavonoids (found in cocoa and soy) is more effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, than standard therapy (statins). A range of markers of cardiovascular disease risk are being studied and volunteers are also providing urine and blood samples. 152 postmenopausal women, from the locality, will be recruited for this study.
This study will train Lay Health Promoters (LHPs) from African-American churches to administer healthy living lessons and activities to their congregations in order to improve overall health and address cardiovascular disease. The primary hypothesis is that LHP training combined with a well supported maintenance strategy will be more effective than LHP training alone in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Recent large randomized, placebo-controlled studies assessing the health effects of HT question the overall benefits of long term HT, especially with respect to cardiovascular disease. However, recently menopausal women with severe hot flushes were mostly excluded from these trials. This was unfortunate since vasomotor symptoms may reflect different vascular sensitivity to estrogen or its deficiency, and therefore, the vascular responses to HT in women with and without hot flushes can differ. Aims of the present project are 1. to compare vascular, cardiac and sympathetic function in recently menopausal women with or without severe vasomotor symptoms 2. in a randomized placebo controlled clinical trial investigate vascular response to oral and trans-dermal HT.
We hypothesize that the hearts of HIV+ people with The Metabolic Syndrome use and oxidize fats and sugars inappropriately, and that this may impair the heart's ability to pump blood. We hypothesize that exercise training or pioglitazone (Actos) will improve fat and sugar metabolism in the hearts of HIV+ people with The Metabolic Syndrome. This study will advance our understanding of cardiovascular disease in HIV+ people, and will test the efficacy of exercise training and pioglitazone for improving insulin resistance, heart metabolism and heart function in this at risk population.