Active clinical trials for "Coronary Disease"

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are still considered the main cause of mortality and morbidity all over the world. In the last years, efforts have been made to define more effective therapeutic and preventive strategies.Periodontal diseases have been considered a probable risk factor for CVD with a great amount of evidence from observational studies. Although there are some interventional studies evaluating the systemic effects of periodontal therapy, there is little information regarding the impact of periodontal treatment on the prevention of cardiovascular events. To the best of our knowledge, there are no randomized controlled trials published to date assessing the effect of periodontal therapy in primary prevention of CVD.

Despite improvements during the past 20 years in blood glucose and blood pressure control, diabetic kidney disease remains one of the most important causes of health problems in patients with diabetes. Novel treatments to complement blood glucose and blood pressure control are urgently needed. The goal of this study is to see whether a medication called allopurinol may help prevent loss of kidney function among people with type 1 diabetes. Allopurinol has been used for many years to decrease high blood uric acid and treat gout - a disease characterized by arthritis, especially of the foot joints. There is evidence suggesting that allopurinol might also be useful in people with diabetes who have normal or moderately impaired kidney function to decrease the risk of developing advanced kidney disease in the future. To prove this beneficial effect of allopurinol, we will be conducting an international clinical trial at eight diabetes centers, enrolling approximately 480 patients with type 1 diabetes who are at increased risk of developing kidney disease. Participants will be randomly assigned to take allopurinol or placebo (inactive pill) for three years, during which they will be followed through periodical visits. To prevent any possible bias, neither the participants nor the clinical staff knows who is taking allopurinol and who is taking the placebo. Kidney function will be measured at the beginning and at the end of the treatment period to see whether patients taking allopurinol experience a slower loss of kidney function over time as compared to those taking the inactive pill. If this trial is successful, the reduction in health problems resulting from the prevention or delay of kidney function loss due to the use of allopurinol would have a major impact on the lives of type 1 diabetic patients as well as on society at large, significantly reducing the human and financial costs associated with diabetic kidney disease. Because of the emphasis on early intervention, the proposed trial, if successful, will establish a new paradigm in treatments to slow or prevent progression towards end stage kidney disease in type 1 diabetes far beyond anything achieved to date.

The purpose of this study is to investigate prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) among male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Secondary purpose is to document cost-effectiveness of ultrasound screening of AAA in selected population. Ethiology of AAA is known to be common with atherosclerotic arterial diseases, and on the basis of our previous studies (ClinicalTrials.gov ID CAD-AAA-02) the prevalence of AAA seems to be higher in CAD population than unselected male population. This leads to hypothesis that selective screening of these patients (for AAA) could be cost-efficient and life saving option for detecting AAAs before rupture. Study will be carried out as a single-center prospective screening study. Patients will be selected for this study on basis of their ICD 10 diagnose codes in North Carelian patient information system. Inclusion criteria will be any kind of atherosclerotic heart disease (ICD10 codes I20-I25). Criteria for exclusion are malignant disease, already diagnosed or treated AAA and failure to give informed consent. 800 patient records that meet the inclusion criteria will be reviewed for eligibility. Invitations for screening will be sent for 600 patients with intention to have at least 400 patients screened. Screening will be done by verified sonographers in designated screening appointments.

The objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether a computerized depression treatment, delivered before the onset of heart disease, reduces the risk of heart disease in the future. Participants in this trial will be primary care patients who are depressed but do not have a history of heart disease. Half of these patients will receive a standard treatment (usual care), and the other half will receive eight weeks of an evidence-based psychological treatment called Beating the Blues®, which is a computerized, cognitive behavioral treatment program for depression. To evaluate change in heart disease risk, the investigators will measure the functioning of the arteries using ultrasound before and after the treatment. It is hypothesized that patients who receive Beating the Blues® will show greater improvements in both depression and artery function than patients who receive standard treatment.

The purpose of this study is to develop a new intervention to improve the transition of patients from structured, supervised exercise to self-managed home- or approved community-based exercise programs in an effort to increase maintenance of exercise behaviour post cardiac rehabilitation (CR). The goal of the study is that those receiving the intervention will engage in at least 30 minutes of physical activity at a moderate or vigorous intensity 5 or more days per week, 26, 52 and 78 weeks after CR compared to those in the usual care group. The new intervention will be delivered by trained exercise facilitators (physiotherapists or exercise specialists) and will make use of: small group counseling teleconferences (5 sessions); personal telephone contacts (3 sessions), and community program demonstrations that would facilitate linkages between patients and approved community programs known as Heart Wise Exercise programs available in Ottawa and Toronto. The trial will be conducted at the Minto Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention Centre at the University Health Network (Peter Munk Cardiac Centre [PMCC] and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute [TRI]) sites. The study has a target enrollment of 604 participants.

This study will assess the safety and tolerability of the investigational radiolabeled imaging agent technetium-99m-labeled ethylenedicysteine-deoxyglucose (99mTc-EC-DG). Additionally, the study will determine the specific times to best image the heart using a SPECT camera with the investigational imaging agent and compare the images to those taken while undergoing the standard rest and exercise/regadenoson testing previously performed to detect the presence and severity of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD), the most prevalent type of cardiovascular disease among adults, has been identified as one of the chronic diseases which are epidemic in the world. Teaching and encouraging the working population to adopt a healthier lifestyle could favor in preventing and/or decreasing the incidence of CHD among this population. The use of mobile application (app) is the next logical wave of healthcare support tools to prevent and manage chronic diseases like CHD. Aims: The aims of the study are to develop a mHealth programme, entitled "Care4Heart" for the working population in Singapore, and thereafter examine its feasibility and effectiveness in increasing the awareness and knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as improving their heart-related lifestyle. Methods: A two-phase study design will be adopted. Phase 1 is a pilot, two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) study and phase 2 is a single group pretest and repeated posttest longitudinal study. The study will be conducted in National University of Singapore. A convenience sampling will be used, and a total of 240 healthy working adults will be recruited via posters advertising in campus canteens, which comprising 80 participants in Phase 1 and 160 participants in Phase 2 study. The first recruited 80 participants will be randomly allocated to an intervention group and a control group, and only those in the intervention group will receive 4-week "Care4Heart" programme. For the participants recruited in phase 2 (n = 160), the newly developed mobile app will be installed onto their' smartphones, and a well-trained research assistant will brief the participants about the utilization of the app. The main outcomes will be measured using the survey questionnaires: Awareness of CHD, Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire-2, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Perceived Stress Scale. Data will be collected at baseline, and at the 4th week for phase 1 study while a third data collection at the 6th month thereafter will be conducted for phase 2 participants. Data will be analyzed using IBM SPSS 22.0. Applications: If this project is proved to be feasible and effective, "Care4Heart" app, a novel CHD prevention programme will be popularized nationwide to promote knowledge and elicit positive heart-related behavioral changes for the working population in Singapore

Time restricted feeding (TRF) is a novel form of intermittent fasting that involves confining the period of food intake to 8 h/d (e.g. 10 am to 6 pm) without calorie counting. TRF is effective for weight loss and cardio-protection in obese adults. It is of great interest to see whether subjects can adhere to TRF for longer periods of time, and to see what degree of weight loss that can be achieved with TRF. Accordingly, the aims of this trial are: Aim 1: To determine if TRF can be implemented to facilitate weight loss in obese adults, and Aim 2: To determine if TRF can produce clinically meaningful reductions in plasma lipids, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and inflammatory markers.

Intermittent arm cuff inflation reduces the extent of heart muscle injury at the time of cardiovascular injury. The intervention is known as remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC) however the mechanisms by which RIC acts are incompletely understood. One mechanism that might explain the benefits of RIC is an improvement in coronary artery function which in turn might help improve blood flow to heart muscle. The investigators will perform a randomised controlled study of RIC in a minimum of 60 patients with known or suspected angina and in whom coronary angiography with angioplasty would be considered. Following informed consent before the invasive procedure, the patient will be randomly assigned to the intervention group (cuff inflation protocol) or the control group (cuff placement, no inflation; sham protocol). Following initial coronary angiography, endothelial function will be assessed by intra-coronary infusion of acetylcholine in incremental doses. Coronary diameter will be measured after the procedure using quantitative coronary angiography, by a trained observer blinded to the allocated group. Since a neuro-hormonal response may potentially mediate RIC, a blood test will be performed before and after cuff placement in all patients (active and control groups) to measure circulating molecules known to regulate blood vessel function which may be implicated in a RIC-mediated effect on coronary artery tone. This study may provide clinically relevant insights into the mechanisms of action of RIC in patients with coronary heart disease.

The European guidelines of cardiovascular disease prevention recommend treatment modalities, such as lifestyle changes in order to minimize the risk of further cardiac event after a myocardial infarction (MI). However, a considerable gap exists between guidelines and their implementation in clinical practise. Further, less is known about the impact of different interventions on patient's knowledge, skills and confidence necessary for self-management after MI. Aim: To evaluate and compare the short- and long-term effects of an individual nurse-led counselling programme together with usual care for patients early discharged after MI on self-management behaviour.