View clinical trials related to Cardiovascular Diseases.
Filter by:To continue a registry of World War II veteran twins maintained by the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC).
To assess genetic effects on the variation of cardiovascular and pulmonary risk factors in a cohort of 514 pairs of white male veteran twins.
To investigate coronary heart disease and stroke among American men of Japanese ancestry who were living on the island of Oahu in 1965. Morbidity and mortality surveillance of the original cohort is continuing.
To conduct surveillance of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and its correlation with known risk factors in all cohort study groups in Evans County, Georgia.
The Framingham Heart Study was initiated to study the factors associated with the development of cardiovascular disease by employing long-term surveillance of an adult population in Framingham, Massachusetts. The Framingham Offspring Study was initiated to assess familial and genetic factors as determinants of coronary heart disease.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether opening an occluded infarcted artery 3-28 days after an acute myocardial infarction in high-risk asymptomatic patients reduces the composite endpoint of mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction, and hospitalization for class IV congestive heart failure over an average 2.9-year follow-up with extended follow up for an average of six years. Long term follow-up of patients were completed in March 2010. Final collection of all regulatory documentation was completed June 2011.
A series of studies in patients with major depression have consistently demonstrated a doubling of the mortality rate at any age, independent of suicide. In addition, the relative risk for clinically significant coronary artery disease in patients with major depression is also 2 or more in studies that independently controlled for risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, etc. The principal long-term goals of the CNE include the determination of the mechanisms that underlie enhanced susceptibility to premature ischemic heart disease in patients with major depression, documenting the age at which demonstrable pathophysiologic or predictive changes begin to occur, and charting their rate of progression. Our long-term goal is to use our understanding of underlying mechanisms to enhance our capacity to predict who with major depression is most likely to develop premature ischemic heart disease, to determine what the mechanisms underlying this susceptibility are, and to develop improved means for treatment and prevention. Depressed patients are known to manifest a variety of neuroendocrine changes that predispose to coronary artery disease including hypercortisolism, decreased secretion of growth hormone and a deficiency of sex steroids. A final common denominator of these neuroendocrine abnormalities is insulin resistance. Insulin resistance promotes several changes that would favor hypertension and increased coronary artery disease including increased sodium retention, increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, proliferation of vascular smooth muscle and deposition of highly metabolically active visceral fat. The latter induces additional risk factors for coronary disease, including dyslipidemia, hypercoagulation, and enhanced inflammation. It is a matter of public health importance to document the frequency and severity of insulin resistance in patients with major depression compared to a closely matched group of healthy controls. To accurately quantify insulin resistance in each patient and control, we will apply the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic glucose clamp procedure. This is the gold standard method for measuring the insulin sensitivity since it reflects the direct human body glucose metabolic response to a known insulin infusion. Moreover, it is essential to use this technique in patients with major depression as data indicate that other alternative procedures give unreliable results in the context of hypercortisolism.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy are diagnostic tools that create high quality images of the human body without the use of X-ray (radiation). MRI uses different levels of magnetic fields to create images of the body and organs. Occasionally, researchers will give patients undergoing a MRI an injection of a contrast substance. The contrast substance works by brightening areas of the magnetic resonance image. In this study researchers plan to use magnetic resonance imaging with contrast substances and exercise on normal volunteers in order to evaluate different aspects of its performance. Information gathered from this study may be used to develop more specific research studies involving MRI....
It is unknown if obesity contributes to the development of heart disease in African American men and women. This study was created to determine whether there is a relationship between sex and body size and the incidence of heart disease in African American men and women. Researchers will attempt to associate obesity with the presence of heart disease risk factors. Risk factors that will be studied include; total body fat, body fat distribution, fat content of the blood (triglyceride concentration, low density lipoproteins [LDL], and high density lipoproteins [HDL]), how fast fat is removed from the blood, and how well insulin works in the body. Scientific studies have shown that obesity and increased levels of fat content in the blood are important risk factors for heart disease in Caucasian women. However, similar studies in African American women have failed to show the same correlation. In fact, it appears that African American women in all three body weight groupings, nonobese, overweight, and obese experience high death rates due to heart disease. In addition, prior research has shown that obese African American men tend to have elevated levels of fat in the blood while African American women have normal blood fat levels. Therefore, if high levels of triglycerides (fat found in the blood) are not seen in non-diabetic obese African American women, it cannot be considered a risk factor in this population. This suggests that studies conducted on Caucasian women may not provide insight into heart disease risk factors in African American women. The study will take 2000 healthy non-diabetic African American men and women (ages 18-70) and body mass index 3 subgroups; nonobese, overweight and obese. Diabetes undeniably increases the risk of heart disease. Therefore patients suffering from diabetes will not be included in the study. Candidates for the study will undergo a series of tests and examinations over 2 outpatient visits. Subjects will have body fat analyses, resting energy expenditure measurements, an EKG (electrocardiogram), and specific blood tests. Researchers believe this study will provide significant insight into the causes of obesity and heart disease in African Americans.
The renin angiotensin system is a complex process involving hormones and enzymes that regulate blood volume and blood pressure. The hormone angiotensin II is responsible for making blood vessels narrow or constrict. Angiotensin II is found in the blood and can attach to special sites called receptors on blood vessel walls. These receptors are programmed to accept angiotensin II and cause a constriction of the blood vessel. This function is found in the genetic information of each individual person. Occasionally patients have changes in their genes related to angiotensin II receptors. These changes may result in the receptors acting differently to angiotensin II, which may affect the function of blood vessels. This study is designed to improve researchers understanding of the physiological effects on blood vessels associated with mutations of the genes responsible for angiotensin II receptor function.