Cath Lab Digest - October 2007 - (Page 56)

56 CLINICAL AND INDUSTRY NEWS OCTOBER 2007 Few Americans Aware of Dangerous Peripheral Arterial Disease T hree out of four people aren’t aware of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), affecting approximately 8 million Americans, according to a new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In a cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey of 2,501 adults over age 50, researchers found that public awareness of PAD (25 percent) is markedly lower than for other cardiovascular diseases such as stroke (74 percent), coronary artery disease (67 percent) and heart failure (67 percent). Yet, the risk for PAD is equal to or greater than the risk for these conditions. Survey respondents were much more aware of relatively rare diseases that affect far fewer people, including Lou Gehrig’s Disease (36 percent), multiple sclerosis (42 percent) and cystic fibrosis (29 percent). Few Americans know that having PAD significantly increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, amputation and death, the survey showed. Only one in four adults who were familiar with PAD associate the disease with an increased risk of heart attack; only 28 percent associate PAD with an increased risk of stroke; and only 14 percent link PAD with either amputation or death. “Every day that PAD is undetected and untreated, we permit preventable heart attacks, strokes and death to occur,” said Alan T. Hirsch, MD, chair of the National Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition, professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and director of the vascular medicine program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. PAD affects both women and men and can strike adults of any age. The risk of PAD is increased in people over age 50, particularly in smokers and former smokers, and in people with diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, a personal history of heart disease or stroke, and in African Americans. Awareness of PAD was low in all sub-groups studied, including African Americans. “The risk of PAD in African Americans is twice what it is in other ethnic groups, and like other high-risk groups, African Americans should be a major focus of educational efforts about PAD,” said Michael H. Criqui, MD, MPH, co-author and professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California-San Diego. The study also found that most Americans do not know the causes or risk factors of PAD. Cigarette smoking and diabetes contribute to the development and progression of PAD, a fact unknown even by many survey respondents who reported familiarity with the disease. Further, more than half of those familiar with PAD do not know that high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol are also risk factors. The survey also found that almost half of adults familiar with PAD first became aware of the disease through the media — broadcast or cable television (26 percent), a magazine (15 percent), newspaper (5 percent), the Internet (3 percent) or radio (0.7 percent). Only 19 percent of adults reported first hearing about PAD from a healthcare provider, and about 17 percent first heard about PAD from a family member or friend. The Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition funded the study through grants from the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Aventis Partnership and Cordis Endovascular, a division of Cordis Corporation. Note: The American Heart Association is a member of the National Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition, an alliance of more than 50 leading health organizations, vascular professional societies and government agencies united to raise public and health awareness about PAD. For more information on the risk factors, symptoms and treatment of PAD, visit americanheart.org/pad and padcoalition.org. ■ Stem Cells From Testes Produce Wide Range of Tissue Types U .S. researchers say they’ve successfully reprogrammed adult stem cells from the testes of male mice into a wide variety of cell types, including functional blood vessels, contractile cardiac tissue, and brain cells. If the same can be done with adult testes stem cells from humans, they may offer a source of new therapies to treat men with health problems such as heart disease, vascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer, the researchers said. The study, by Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists, is published in the Sept. 20 issue of the journal Nature. Only a small subset of adult testes cells have the ability to develop into multiple cell types. Until now, scientists haven't had the means to identify and isolate these stem cells. In this new study, the researchers reported that they had identified a novel cell surface marker called GPR125 that’s expressed on a unique set of cells within adult testes — spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells (SPCs). Using GPR125, the scientists were able to identify and harvest a large number of SPCs from adult mouse testes. In the lab, the team propagated and reprogrammed the SPCs to become stem cells that could differentiate into a variety of cell types. “It appears that these specialized GPR125-positive spermatogonial cells could be an easily obtained and manipulated source of stem cells with a similar capability to form new tissues that we see in embryonic stem cells,” study author Shahin Rafii, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, said. For male patients, this “could someday mean a readily available source of stem cells that gets around ethical issues linked to embryonic stem cells. It also avoids issues linked to tissue transplant rejection, since these autologous cells come from the patient’s own body,” Rafii said. ■ AHRQ And FDA Collaborate In Largest Study Ever Of Possible Heart Risks With ADHD Medications T wo U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies will collaborate in the most comprehensive study to date of prescription medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the potential for increased risk of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems. Researchers supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will examine the clinical data of about 500,000 children and adults who have taken medications used to treat ADHD to determine whether those drugs increase cardiovascular risks. Because medications used to treat ADHD can increase heart rate and blood pressure, there are concerns about the drugs’ potential to increase cardiac risks. It is also thought these risks may be different for adults and children, but more evidence is needed about the long-term effects of using ADHD medications. Continued on next page http://americanheart.org/pad http://padcoalition.org http://padcoalition.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cath Lab Digest - October 2007

Saints Medical Center Fibromuscular Dysplasia in Children and Adolescents Cerebral Vascular Accident Following a Pulmonary Embolism: Search for the Hidden Patent Foramen Ovale Contents Clinical Editor’s Corner Meetings Calendar CEU Education Center Radiation Tracking in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab Letter to the Editor Carotid Stenting: An update Release from Stent-jail: Beneficial Snow-Plowing? Patient Management Guidelines Searching for a Cardiovascular Position? Tips for Creating a ‘Stand-Out’ Resume Long-Term Implications of Short-Term Closure Decisions – The Evolution to Vascular Access Management and the Boomerang Catalyst System The Ten-Minute Interview with… Angie Bowles, RN, CCRN CMS Issues Final FY 2008 IPPS Rule ACVP• Membership Page Experience with a New Workhorse Guidewire Ask the Clinical Instructor: Q&A for Those New to Cath Lab A Glimpse of the Future of Clinical Education: Boston Scientific’s SimSuite Bus Visits Carnegie Institute 2007 Educational Fair Held at the Washington Hospital Center Research Update: Original Contribution Abstracts from The Journal of Invasive Cardiology What Do You Think? A Virtual Cath Lab Viewer (VCL): The Development of an Online 3D C-arm Simulator and Coronary Anatomy Viewer Clinical & Industry News Cost-Effectiveness of the Radial versus Femoral Artery Approach to Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization

Cath Lab Digest - October 2007

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