View clinical trials related to Cardiovascular Diseases.
Filter by:The study is a 2 year community based cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the role that a community health worker led intervention, in concert with physician education, can play in controlling the principal cardiovascular risk factors, i.e. hypertension, tobacco use, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet. Participants will include around 3600 adults, 35-70 years of age, from the urban community in the town of Dalkhola, Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal, India. The hypothesis of the study is that a community health worker based approach can result in increased control of Hypertension, Diabetes and Smoking.
The aim of Prevent CardioKids is to evaluate to what extend disturbed vascular function markers are already present in children of different weight categories and whether these are age dependent. Also differences - and relationships - between vascular function measurements and plasma biomarkers between lean and overweight/obese children will be compared.
The study aims to investigate - if a 7 day therapeutic fasting regimen will affect self-efficacy of patients with chronic diseases - the effects of fasting on physical and mental well-being, quality of life and body awareness/image - the association between patients characteristics and the perceived health benefit after fasting - the association between Diagnosis according to traditional Chinese medicine and physical and mental well-being during the course of fasting - experiences and perceptions of patients during fasting therapy
The availability of data on plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in the last two rounds of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has generated a high level of interest in the consequences of 25(OH)D deficiency and in particular its potential impact on black Americans. Fundamental new questions about the biology of vitamin D have now come to the fore. Are low 25(OH)D-intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels a physiologic "abnormality" in African Americans or does the 25(OH)D-iPTH system have sufficient plasticity to adapt to low sunlight exposure? Could the low 25(OH)D levels which result from the "gene- environment discordance" observed in dark skinned populations in the US be a risk factor for metabolic disorders? Ultimately, the public health community and regulatory bodies must offer recommendations for optimal levels and supplementation. The investigators propose to utilize cohorts from an ongoing NIH-funded study designed to identify determinants of weight change and cardiovascular disease risk in five Afro-origin populations [Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS)] to examine these questions. The five METS countries include Ghana, Seychelles, South Africa, Jamaica and the US; the five populations differ greatly in terms of sun exposure and dietary intakes. In addition to the extensive energy expenditure, dietary intake and obesity-related metabolic markers being measured in METS, the investigators propose to assess plasma 25(OH)D, iPTH, serum and urinary calcium, plasma markers of bone resorption and formation, and quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus. The associations of adiposity, weight change, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as blood pressure and insulin, and bone strength with 25(OH)D and iPTH will be assessed. The proposed study will provide a comprehensive assessment of the distribution and determinants of 25(OH)D-iPTH and related physiologic measures across a wide range of latitude and lifestyles. These data should contribute substantially to the understanding of the "normal" range within which these hormones function and their significance in Afro- origin populations.
Heart disease and stroke are the number one killers world-wide. When someone has hypertension, the constantly elevated blood pressure damages their blood vessels and the organs that they supply blood to. This causes stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure and dementia. Finding and lowering high blood pressure to normal with lifestyle changes and if necessary medications, lowers the risk of these outcomes. Canada has high rates of blood pressure control compared to other countries in the world, due in large part to the successful dissemination of hypertension guidelines. However remote and disadvantaged communities have not been as successful and need additional measures to help achieve the same level of blood pressure control as the rest of the country. The DREAM-GLOBAL team has extensive experience working with Canada's Aboriginal Communities and a large community in Tanzania. The DREAM-GLOBAL project will integrate innovations in technology with the implementation of guidelines-based blood pressure control and through partnerships with experts in government and industry, overcome barriers to lowering blood pressure in Canada's Aboriginal Communities, and in a community in Tanzania. Tools will be developed and tested that will close the circle of care around people with hypertension by bringing measurement data to the medical record and health care provider and also sending useful medical feedback to the person with hypertension via secure data servers and routine SMS messaging on cell phones. The system will be tested for effectiveness of diagnosing and also for managing hypertension. To begin the process of preventing hypertension, the team will also explore with an Aboriginal community how to create policies to reduce the sodium content in their food. If proven effective, DREAM-GLOBAL can also become a platform for managing other chronic diseases.
The primary goal of this Multicenter Study is to develop and to evaluate a method for measuring donor-specific cell free DNA in blood samples from transplant recipients as markers of rejection. Blood samples obtained periodically from heart transplant recipients are assessed for cell free DNA relative to clinical data in order to determine whether changes in the level of cell free DNA indicate rejection. This research study proposes testing a blood sample obtained from the heart transplant recipient. The research seeks to establish whether this blood test will show when the patient is beginning to or already rejecting the transplanted heart. BACKGROUND Identifying if a transplant patient is beginning to or already rejecting the heart is necessary, so that appropriate treatment can be started to halt the rejection. Heart catheterization with biopsy is the usual method used for assessing whether a patient may be rejecting the heart. There are also a number of other methods that transplant physicians will use to look for signs of rejection including other blood tests, echocardiograms, obtaining pressure readings during heart catheterization, and micro-array testing of blood obtained during biopsy. These technologies are limited in ability to consistently and accurately identify the presence of rejection. The usual method of checking for rejection involves obtaining a sample of the heart tissue (heart biopsy); biopsy can only be accomplished through heart catheterization which is an invasive procedure that has risks associated with disturbing the heart such as puncturing the heart or causing the heart rate to change or damaging tissue in the heart. Overtime, repeating this invasive procedure can diminish the ease of the procedure because the veins can become scarred and more difficult to access. For these reasons, researchers believe that it would be good to have a blood test that gives information about the possibility of rejection so that it may not be necessary to do as many heart biopsies. Also, a blood test may be able to provide information about the heart or about rejection that is currently not available at all.
The major cause of mortality worldwide is due to cardiovascular diseases. A way to treat these diseases is coronary artery bypass grafting, one of the most common surgical procedures in the world. The incidence of post-operative complications contributes to functional decline of the patient, reduced quality of life and post-discharge mortality. Also, cardiac surgery leads to changes in lung capacity and respiratory muscle strength, causing a decrease in the function lung. Physical therapy proves to be an effective tool to combat changes resulting from cardiac surgery, demonstrating beneficial results in the pulmonary function, functional capacity, and peripheral and respiratory muscle strength. The Pilates method has been studied as a therapeutic way to healthy subjects and various kinds of diseases, but there are no studies in the literature evaluating the effect method in patients after coronary artery bypass surgery. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Pilates on functional capacity , flows and lung volumes, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength after coronary artery bypass grafting. Randomized clinical trial in which patients will be eligible after elective coronary artery bypass surgery, randomly allocated into two groups : conventional physiotherapy group (n = 15) and Pilates method associated with conventional physiotherapy group (n = 15). The outcomes will be assessed by blinded evaluator and data randomization will be performed through by electronic randomization.The interventions will take place during the length of stay in the hospital, totalizing a maximum of six days of intervention. It is expected that the application of the Pilates method exercise method associated with conventional physiotherapy in patients in postoperative coronary artery bypass grafting improves functional capacity, flows and lung volumes and respiratory and peripheral muscle strength.
Atherosclerosis and its related cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, underlie many chronic diseases. Most atherosclerotic patients have multiple cardiovascular risk factors, which potentiate each other, causing a huge burden on health systems. In order to improve the understanding and treatment options of atherosclerosis, it is necessary to identify common basic pathways in its pathogenesis. Oxidative Stress (OS) has a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis; however, good biomarkers to determine OS are still missing.
Pathological and clinical studies have consistently demonstrated that abnormalities in thrombosis and hemostasis play a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis. Screening for abnormalities in thrombosis and hemostasis by measuring platelet activity, thrombin generation, and markers of coagulation have been proposed to identify individuals at high-risk for cardiovascular events, however, it remains a research tool not ready for implementation in standard care. The proposed study will add to the growing understanding of platelet activity and markers of coagulation in cardiovascular disease; examine a comprehensive battery of platelet activity markers, thrombin generation, markers of coagulation, and inflammatory biomarkers in subjects undergoing vascular surgery; and will provide important data on the mechanism of increased platelet activity using micro RNA, RNA and DNA expression profiling. The study design is prospective and the main outcome measures are platelet activity, coagulation markers and incident cardiovascular and bleeding events.
The objective of this study is to determine whether a community-based salt reduction program can reduce average salt consumption levels. Baseline levels of salt consumption were measured in 2011, the salt reduction program was then implemented, and now in 2014 investigators are remeasuring salt consumption levels in the community. The hypothesis investigators are testing is that the salt reduction program will have led to a change in salt consumption levels between 2011 and 2014. The study is being done in Lithgow, a regional town in New South Wales , Australia.