View clinical trials related to Cardiovascular Morbidity.
Filter by:Heart disease in an aging population has resulted in heart surgery being offered to older and more frail patients. Frail patients which make up more than 50% of patients currently undergoing heart surgery are vulnerable to having long-recovery times after surgery, greater loss of independence (i.e. being admitted to a nursing home), experience more depression and anxiety, and have a worse quality of life. In fact, nearly 10% of frail, older adult patients die within 30 days after their heart surgery. The Investigators previous study found that weight-loss and poor muscle strength (i.e. weakness) of frail patients can lead to a worse recovery after heart surgery. Furthermore, inadequate nutrition (aka. malnutrition which is defined as an unintentional, nutritional intake imbalance (not necessarily a decreased intake) before an operation can lead to a vicious cycle of muscle loss causing more frailty, a desire to eat less leading to more muscle loss and increased frailty. At present there is no process to address this important issue in older adults undergoing heart surgery. The Investigators propose to study a practical, real-world, treatment plan that focuses on good nutrition to prevent muscle loss and reduced frailty in vulnerable heart surgery patients.
Cisplatin, anthracyclines, bleomycin and trastuzumab can cause severe cardiovascular or pulmonary toxicity. Why some patients are susceptible to extreme toxicity of cancer treatment is largely unknown. Unraveling extreme cardiovascular toxic responses in cancer patients may help understand the pathophysiology of cardiovascular toxicity of these agents and help in understanding the more subtle, long-term cardiovascular side effects that affect a larger part of cancer survivors. With induced pluripotent stem cells we will obtain patient-derived cells to recapitulate and mimic and study pathological (cardiovascular) responses and (cardiovascular) toxicity in vitro.
The primary hypothesis of the study is that in healthy elderly subjects experimental exposure to air pollutants increases sympathetic nervous system activity compared with sham (clean air) exposure. The secondary hypothesis of the study is that combined experimental exposure to air pollutants (particles + ozone) increases sympathetic nervous system activity to a greater extent than does the exposure to particles alone.