Coronary Heart Disease Clinical Trials

This project is part of the ACHIEVE GREATER (Addressing Cardiometabolic Health In Populations Through Early Prevention in the Great Lakes Region) Center (IRB 100221MP2A), the purpose of which is to reduce cardiometabolic health disparities and downstream Black-White lifespan inequality in two cities: Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio. The ACHIEVE GREATER Center will involve three separate but related projects that aim to mitigate health disparities in risk factor control for three chronic conditions, hypertension (HTN, Project 1), heart failure (HF, Project 2) and coronary heart disease (CHD, Project 3), which drive downstream lifespan inequality. All three projects will involve the use of Community Health Workers (CHWs) to deliver an evidence-based practice intervention program called PAL2. All three projects will also utilize the PAL2 Implementation Intervention (PAL2-II), which is a set of structured training and evaluation strategies designed to optimize CHW competence and adherence (i.e., fidelity) to the PAL2 intervention program. The present study is Project 3 of the ACHIEVE GREATER Center. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the association between brain changes and cognitive deficits in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and whether a low-cost thiamine intervention can be used to reduce post-CABG cognitive issues in CHD subjects. Read Less

Developed nations worldwide are currently enduring a health crisis, as chronic diseases continue to decrease quality of life and promote additional disease states or even death for much of the population. Rural populations are at a particular disadvantage, as they lack access to health clubs, wellness programs and similar resources that are more available in urban areas. Although pharmaceutical therapies have continued to show therapeutic advancements, the rates of disease onset and death from chronic disease has not seen similar improvements, and in fact continue to worsen. Excitingly, significant evidence has been published demonstrating an affordable, effective treatment to directly treat and prevent these chronic diseases, but few have demonstrated successful implementation of this therapy, which is improved lifestyle. Specifically, physical activity and healthy body composition are powerful therapeutics that have been demonstrated to effectively combat and prevent chronic diseases. Additionally, improving these lifestyle factors are often more effective than pharmaceutical interventions without the wide range of side effects. Unfortunately, barriers exist on multiple tiers in the practice of family medicine that demote the implementation of lifestyle medicine. To better serve patients at risk of, or suffering from chronic disease, the investigators are seeking to establish a lifestyle medicine prescription program for rural West Virginia. This program will provide patient education on the benefits of physical activity, body composition, and help patients identify strategies to implement healthy lifestyle choices that can be sustainable for the long-term. Patients will be advised on local opportunities to increase physical activity (yoga studio, martial arts, fitness facilities, aquatic center, etc.) and provided access to the facilities they are most likely to adhere to regularly. They will also be provided training on exercise techniques, equipment, and facilities to increase familiarity and comfort in these settings. Read Less

Depression doubles the risk of death in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), but so far, there is insufficient evidence that we can reduce the risk of death by treating depression. This study will investigate the cardiac risk markers that are associated with depression symptoms that remain despite treatment, and identify potential targets for their treatment. The results of the study will inform the development of more effective interventions to improve both depression and survival in patients with CHD. Read Less