Monday, June 10, 2024

RACIST MEDICINE U$A

Older, poorer, Black, Medicaid beneficiaries less likely to be placed on liver transplant lists

Study finds disparities in access to liver transplantation occur before wait listing

REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE

INDIANAPOLIS – A new, healthy liver offers the best survival for patients with early-stage liver cancer. But a new study, led by Katie Ross-Driscoll, PhD, MPH, of Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Surgery, has identified disparities in liver transplant referral and evaluation, which must precede waitlisting, for these potentially lifesaving procedures.

While other studies have demonstrated disparities in placement on organ waitlists, the new study is one of the first to examine the transplant process prior to liver transplant waitlisting -- following patient progress along the continuum immediately after liver cancer diagnosis.

“Undergoing a transplant, which is the only cure for liver cancer, requires patients to navigate a very complex process after diagnosis,” said Dr. Ross-Driscoll. “If referred to a transplant center, the patient needs to follow up on the referral and then complete a comprehensive medical and psychosocial evaluation. After this evaluation, transplant centers will decide whether or not to place patients on the deceased donor waiting list. We examined progress through the steps prior to placement on the waiting list and found that different factors predicted whether these pre-transplant steps are completed.”

Factors associated with whether or not a patient received a referral from their physician to a transplant center after diagnosis of liver cancer:
- Age: the older the patient (up to age 70, the cutoff age for transplant eligibility) the less likely they were to receive a referral.
- Insurance type: Patients who had Medicare, Medicaid or other non-private insurance types were less likely to receive a referral than patients with private insurance.
Of those patients who were referred to a transplant center:
- Black patients were less likely than White patients to initiate a transplant evaluation.
- Patients who lived in higher poverty neighborhoods were less likely to initiate the evaluation than patients who lived in lower poverty neighborhoods.
Of those patients who initiated the medical and psychosocial evaluation, those who had Medicaid insurance were about half as likely to complete all necessary steps of the evaluation process as patients with private insurance.

“These findings indicate patients with liver cancer who are older (but under the cutoff age for eligibility), poorer, Black or Medicaid beneficiaries are less likely than others to make it through the early steps of the transplant process,” said Dr. Ross-Driscoll. “While our results are based on cancer registry data from patients referred to Georgia’s two transplant centers, we believe that our findings are potentially relevant across the United States. Future studies are needed to understand how barriers might vary across transplant centers.”

“There are very few studies documenting the steps prior to liver transplant waitlisting, and these results suggest the need to collect pre-waitlisting data nationally to inform where interventions should be targeted to improve equity in access to liver transplantation, said co-author Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH., Regenstrief Institute president and CEO.

Liver cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the United States and shows no indication of slowing down. As liver cancer becomes more prevalent, understanding pathways to care for these patients becomes more important.

“Disparities in Access to Liver Transplant Referral and Evaluation among Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Georgia” is published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research Communications. This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Authors and affiliations:

Katherine Ross-Driscoll 1 2 3, Arrey-Takor Ayuk-Arrey 2, Raymond Lynch 4, Lauren E McCullough 3 5, Giorgio Roccaro 6, Lauren Nephew 7, Jonathan Hundley 8, Raymond A Rubin 8, Rachel Patzer 1 9

1Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
2Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana.
3Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia.
4Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
5Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
6Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
7Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
8Piedmont Transplant Institute, Piedmont Healthcare, Atlanta, Georgia.
9Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana

Katie Ross-Driscoll, PhD, MPH

In addition to her role as a research scientist with Regenstrief Institute, Katie Ross-Driscoll, PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor of surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is a health services researcher and epidemiologist focused on organ transplantation.

Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH

In addition to her roles as president and CEO and research scientist with Regenstrief Institute, Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, serves as the Leonard Betley Professor of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine and an adjunct professor at IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. Dr. Patzer is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with a strong focus on healthcare access, quality of healthcare delivery and outcomes. Her research centers on such key areas as disparities, social determinants of health, community-based participatory research, predictive analytics, healthcare quality and health policy evaluations. She has been instrumental in reshaping the national organ transplantation paradigm, advocating for a population health approach to inform quality measures, policies and equitable solutions.

JOURNAL

Cancer Research Communications

DOI

10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0541

ARTICLE TITLE

Disparities in Access to Liver Transplant Referral and Evaluation among Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Georgia

AJPH study reveals that COVID-19 has widened racial gaps in pregnancy-associated deaths from non-obstetric causes in the US

Researchers find a disproportionate increase in pregnancy-associated deaths across diverse ethnic/racial groups

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION

Woman on critical support during COVID-19 pandemic — IMAGE:
RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, RATES OF PREGNANCY-ASSOCIATED DEATHS FROM NON-OBSTETRIC CAUSES INCREASED DISPROPORTIONALLY AMONG MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN THE US
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CREDIT: GUSTAVO BASSO ON FLICKR

In the United States, various minoritized racial and ethnic groups have reduced access to quality healthcare compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Studies have shown that implicit biases among healthcare professionals stemming from unscientific notions–such as the belief that Black patients experience less pain compared to White patients–lead to mistreatment of minorities when they access healthcare facilities.

A key demographic among minoritized people affected by unequal access to emergency healthcare are pregnant women and new mothers. In a recent study led by Associate Professor Claire E. Margerison, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers found that pregnancy-associated death rates from all causes except suicide increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. Additionally, researchers also discovered that pregnancy-associated deaths from non-obstetric causes increased disproportionately for Hispanic, Black, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Asian people in 2021, revealing a worrying trend.

“Our analysis of nationwide birth and death records from 2018 to 2021 found that, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2019 to 2020), pregnancy-associated deaths from all causes except for suicide (i.e., obstetric causes, drug-related causes, homicide, and all other causes combined) increased between 30% and 60%. In 2021, however, obstetric deaths increased another 31%, but other causes of death did not significantly change,” explains Dr. Margerison. “These overall figures mask disproportionate increases in cause-specific pregnancy-associated death among minoritized racial and ethnic groups,” she notes.

The study revealed that pregnancy-associated deaths related to drugs rose disproportionately among Hispanic, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and non-Hispanic Asian people, while those from homicides increased disproportionately in most racial and ethnic groups. Moreover, their study revealed that pregnancy-associated deaths attributed to suicides increased importunately among Hispanic, AI/AN, and Asian people. The study classified deaths as “pregnancy-associated” if the deceased was pregnant at the time of death or shortly before.

“Existing inequities in pregnancy-associated death may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as risk factors…including lack of preventive care access, intimate partner violence, psychosocial stress, unemployment, and financial distress—all increased during the pandemic,” Dr. Margerison observes.

While inequities in pregnancy-associated deaths due to obstetric causes in the US have received attention from the academic and public community, the same remains to happen for deaths during or close to pregnancy from non-obstetric causes. As such, this study provides crucial insights that help better understand an overlooked trend with wide-ranging social implications.

“Our findings highlight the need for approaches and interventions to address substance use, mental health, and intimate partner violence that center pregnant and postpartum people’s lived experience beyond childbirth and that work to dismantle structural barriers, particularly those established by structural racism and settler colonialism,” Dr. Margerison underscores.

Minoritized racial and ethnic groups in the US often experience inequities in access to safe housing, transportation, childcare, education, and employment. All these factors impact the health of new and expectant mothers and their ability to access healthcare, especially during emergencies that pose an immediate danger to their lives.

Overall, the study suggests that, in addition to improving access to emergency and non-emergency healthcare, there is an urgent need to enhance basic amenities to protect pregnant women from non-obstetric causes of mortality.

JOURNAL

American Journal of Public Health

DOI

10.2105/ajph.2024.307651

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Changes in Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Pregnancy-Associated Death in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jun-2024

Novel Genetic Clock discovers oldest known marine plant

Seagrass clone in the Baltic Sea is more than 1400 years old

HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESEARCH KIEL (GEOMAR)

Using a novel genetic clock, a team of researchers from Kiel, London, Oldenburg, and Davis, California, has determined the age of a large marine plant clone for the first time. This seagrass clone from the Baltic Sea dates back to the migration period 1400 years ago. The newly developed clock can be applied to many other species, from corals and algae to plants such as reeds or raspberries. The scientists publish their work today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

“Vegetative reproduction as an alternative mode of reproduction is widespread in the animal, fungal, and plant kingdoms,” explains research leader Dr Thorsten Reusch, Professor of Marine Ecology at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. These so-called “clonal species” produce genetically similar offspring by branching or budding and often reach the size of a football field or more. However, these offspring are not genetically identical. Previous work by a team led by GEOMAR researchers had already shown that somatic mutations accumulate in vegetative offspring, a process similar to cancer. Now, a team led by Prof. Dr Reusch, Dr Benjamin Werner (Queen Mary University London, QMUL), and Prof. Dr Iliana Baums (Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg, HIFMB) has used this mutation accumulation process to develop a novel molecular clock that can determine the age of any clone with high precision.

Researchers at the University of Kiel, led by Professor Reusch, applied this novel clock to a worldwide dataset of the widespread seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass), ranging from the Pacific to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In Northern Europe in particular, the team found clones with ages of several hundred years, comparable to the age of large oak trees. The oldest clone identified was 1402 years old and came from the Baltic Sea. This clone reached this advanced age despite a harsh and variable environment. This makes the eelgrass clone older than the Greenland shark or the Ocean Quahog, which live only a few hundred years.

These new age and longevity estimates for clonal species fill an important knowledge gap. Particularly in marine habitats, many fundamental habitat-forming species such as corals and seagrasses can reproduce vegetatively, and their clones can become very large. The continuous production of small, genetically identical but physically separated shoots or fragments from the parent clone means that age and size are decoupled in these species. The new study now provides a tool to date these clones with high accuracy. “Such data are, in turn, a prerequisite for solving one of the long-standing puzzles in conservation genetics, namely why such large clones can persist despite variable and dynamic environments,” says Thorsten Reusch.

Once a high-quality eelgrass genome was available, work could begin. Another key factor in the study was that colleagues at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) had kept a seagrass clone in their culture tanks for 17 years, which served as a calibration point. “This paper shows how interdisciplinary interactions between cancer evolutionary biologists and marine ecologists can lead to new insights,” says Dr. Benjamin Werner, Lecturer in Mathematics and Cancer Evolution at QMUL, who focuses on the somatic evolution of tumours which also develop clonally. Prof. Dr. Iliana Baums, molecular ecologist at the HIFMB, adds: “We can now apply these tools to endangered corals to develop more effective conservation measures, which we urgently need as unprecedented heat waves threaten coral reefs.”

“We expect that other seagrass species and their clones of the genus Posidonia, which extend over more than ten kilometres, will show even higher ages and thus be by far the oldest organisms on Earth,” says Thorsten Reusch. These will be the next objects of study.

JOURNAL

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-024-02439-z

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

A somatic genetic clock for clonal species

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Jun-2024

Benefits of failure are overrated

Success follows failure less often than expected, study finds

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

The platitude that failure leads to success may be both inaccurate and damaging to society, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers conducted 11 experiments with more than 1,800 participants across many domains and compared national statistics to the participants’ responses. In one experiment, participants vastly overestimated the percentage of prospective nurses, lawyers and teachers who pass licensing exams after previously failing them.

“People expect success to follow failure much more often than it actually does,” said lead researcher Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, PhD, an assistant professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University. “People usually assume that past behavior predicts future behavior, so it’s surprising that we often believe the opposite when it comes to succeeding after failure.”

In some experiments, participants wrongly assumed that people pay attention to their mistakes and learn from them. In one field test, nurses overestimated how much their colleagues would learn from a past error. The research was published online in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

“People often confuse what is with what ought to be,” Eskreis-Winkler said. “People ought to pay attention and learn from failure, but often they don’t because failure is demotivating and ego-threatening.”

While telling people they will succeed after failure may make them feel better, that mindset can have damaging real-world consequences, Eskreis-Winkler said. In one experiment, participants assumed that heart patients would embrace healthier lifestyles when many of them don’t.

“People who believe that problems will self-correct after failure are less motivated to help those in need,” Estreis-Winkler said. “Why would we invest time or money to help struggling populations if we erroneously believe that they will right themselves?”

However, people may recalibrate their expectations when given information about the negligible benefits of failure. In two experiments, participants were more supportive of taxpayer funding for rehabilitation programs for former inmates and drug treatment programs when they learned about the low rates of success for people using those programs.

“Correcting our misguided beliefs about failure could help shift taxpayer dollars away from punishment toward rehabilitation and reform,” Eskreis-Winkler said.

Article: “The Exaggerated Benefits of Failure,” Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, PhD, Northwestern University; Katilin Woolley, PhD, Cornell University; Eda Erensoy, BA, Yale University; and Minhee Kim, BA, Columbia University, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, published online June 10, 2024.

Contact: Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, PhD, may be contacted at lauren.eskreis-winkler@kellogg.northwestern.edu.

The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA’s membership includes over 157,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.

JOURNAL

Journal of Experimental Psychology

DOI

10.1037/xge0001610

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

The Exaggerated Benefits of Failure

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Jun-2024

New study helps explain how elderly individuals react differently to COVID-19 than young people

Findings underscore that age is an important risk factor for the severity of COVID-19

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

(Boston)—The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in over 700 million infections and 7 million deaths worldwide. While age is recognized as a risk factor for severe COVID-19, the reasons for this are not yet fully understood.

A new study by researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine suggests that the immune response of lung endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels, is too low during the early stage of COVID-19 infection as demonstrated in a preclinical model. Additionally, the researchers analyzed all genes expressed in purified endothelial cells, which had never been done before.

“The susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection increases proportionally with age, placing older individuals at a significantly higher risk of developing severe COVID-19. Therefore, gaining insight into age-dependent pathological changes during SARS-CoV-2 infection is imperative for effectively safeguarding vulnerable populations,” said corresponding author Markus Bosmann, MD, associate professor of medicine, pathology & laboratory medicine at the school.

The researchers used four groups of endothelial cell conditions with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. The first two groups, consisting of young and old models, remained uninfected as controls. The other two groups, also young and old, were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Endothelial cells from all sets of conditions were isolated after two days, and their transcriptomes (their expressed genes) were analyzed and classified as biological programs of the host response. The clinical severity of infection was monitored and found to be more severe with advanced age.

According to Bosmann, a suppressed immune landscape is a key driver of age-associated endothelial dysfunction during COVID-19. “While these findings currently do not have immediate implications for treating COVID-19, targeting these immune pathways in endothelial cells may have prognostic and therapeutic benefits although further studies, including dissecting these functional changes at a single-cell level, are needed,” he adds.

These findings appear online in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health 1UL1TR001430 (to MB and SS), the National Institutes of Health 1R01HL141513 (to MB), the National Institutes of Health 1R21ES032882, 1K22AI144050 (to FD), Aniara Diagnostica (Coagulation Research Grant 2020–2021 to SS), a Boston University Start-up fund (to FD), a Peter Paul Career Development Professorship (to FD), and utilized a Ventana Discovery Ultra autostainer and Vectra Polaris whole slide scanner that were purchased with funding from National Institutes of Health grants S10OD026983 & S10OD030269 (to NC). FD and DK were also supported by a National Institute of Health Transition Award (K22 AI144050) and a T32 training grant in immunology (T32AI007309), respectively. CR acknowledges funding from the Forschungsinitiative Rheinland-Pfalz and ReALity (project MORE), the BMBF Cluster4Future CurATime (project MicrobAIome; 03ZU1202CA). CR was awarded a Fellowship from the Gutenberg Research College at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz. CR is a member of the Center for Translational Vascular Biology (CTVB), the Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), and the Potentialbereich EXPOHEALTH at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz.

Note to Editor:

Authors MB and FD were funded by ARCA Biopharma for another project on COVID-19. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Immunology

DOI

10.3389/fimmu.2024.1397990

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animal tissue samples

ARTICLE TITLE

Aging is associated with an insufficient early inflammatory response of lung endothelial cells in SARS-CoV-2 infection

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Jun-2024

COI STATEMENT

Association found between media diet and science-consistent beliefs about climate change

ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

In a paper titled “The Politicization of Climate Science: Media Consumption, Perceptions of Science and Scientists, and Support for Policy,” published May 26, 2024, in the Journal of Health Communication, researchers probed the associations between media exposure and science-consistent beliefs about climate change and the threat it posed to the respondent.

Expanding on earlier work associating Fox News consumption with doubts about the existence of human-caused climate change, a team of scholars affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) found that exposure to Fox News and far-right media was negatively associated, and centrist and science media exposure positively associated, with belief in anthropogenic climate change, perceptions of the personal threat posed by climate change, and support for a carbon tax.

The research team included Yotam Ophir, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and a distinguished research fellow and former postdoctoral fellow at APPC; Dror Walter, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication at Georgia State University and an APPC distinguished research fellow; APPC’s Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute director Patrick Jamieson; and APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

“The results of this study suggest that climate science scholars and advocates should pay more attention to the complex media diets of individuals and specifically of partisans to better understand the possible influence of messages and narratives about climate science and scientists circulating in the American media environment,” the authors wrote.

Prior research in this area focused primarily on centrist media and Fox News, even as the media choices available to people grew more varied.

In short, says Ophir, the lead author of the new study, “a lot of research was asking people if they watch Fox News and if they believe in climate change. But there’s more to the story.”

For this study, the researchers asked people about their use of far-right, Christian, alternative health, and science media in addition to mainstream media (liberal, centrist, and conservative). To assess climate beliefs, the researchers asked participants whether they thought climate change poses a personal threat to them – “One of the challenges with climate change is that people don’t feel vulnerable. There is some vagueness to the impact,” says Ophir – and whether they support a carbon tax. “We wanted to go beyond just acceptance of the science into behavioral intentions,” says Ophir.

Finally, in addition to asking about perceptions of climate change, the researchers asked people about their perceptions of science and scientists in general. “We wanted to see if some of the relationship between media use and climate beliefs comes from undermining science at large,” explains Ophir. The study found that perceptions of science and scientists mediated the relationship between exposure to media and a set of dependent variables, including belief in anthropogenic climate change, risk perception, and support for a carbon tax.

Among the team’s findings are that far-right media have an even stronger relationship with rejection of the scientific consensus around climate change than do more mainstream conservative outlets like Fox News. They also found that exposure to right-wing media in general is associated with lower perceptions of threat from climate change and lower likelihood of supporting a carbon tax.

“Consumption of right-wing media is associated not only with your views on climate change,” says Ophir. “It is associated with more negative views of the scientific endeavor as a whole, and that affects your views on climate change.”

The findings have important implications for how climate science scholars and advocates move forward trying to understand resistance to climate science and policy, and crafting messages aimed at countering that resistance.

The study draws on data from the Annenberg Science and Public Health survey (ASAPH) and was funded by the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute endowment of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

JOURNAL

Journal of Health Communication

DOI

10.1080/10810730.2024.2357571

ARTICLE TITLE

The Politicization of Climate Science: Media Consumption, Perceptions of Science and Scientists, and Support for Policy

Support for American Heart Association leads to century of bold progress

The American Heart Association Founders Day 2024 celebrates 100 years of success fighting heart disease and stroke; heart disease deaths cut in half since founding

Business Announcement

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

DALLAS, June 9, 2024 — On June 10, 1924, a small group of dedicated physicians gathered at The Drake Hotel in Chicago to establish the American Heart Association. At the time, heart disease was considered a death sentence, there was no treatment, no hope. These founders believed that better understanding of heart disease would lead to treatments and lives saved.

They were right. Now, 100 years later, the American Heart Association has grown from those humble beginnings to become the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. At nearly 40 million-strong, volunteers, donors, advocates, staff and other supporters from around the world are leading the Association’s mission to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.

“As we mark the American Heart Association’s centennial, we recognize monumental accomplishments in the fight against heart disease and stroke,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “Supported by efforts led by the Association, death rates from heart disease have been cut in half in the past 100 years. Deaths from stroke have been cut by a third since the creation of the American Stroke Association in 1998. Our historical timeline of the American Heart Association’s work highlights the accomplishments made since our founding, including spearheading groundbreaking research and advocacy initiatives to fight cardiovascular disease and pioneer life-saving interventions.”

The achievements of the American Heart Association over the past century have already resulted in more than $5.7 billion invested in cardiovascular scientific research – the largest investment outside of the federal government – made possible by the passion of community-based volunteers, donors and employees. Numerous top cardiovascular and cerebrovascular scientists throughout the world are linked with the American Heart Association as recipients of awards that recognize scientific excellence. Fifteen researchers funded by the Association have won Nobel Prizes, confirming that the American Heart Association is a leader in cardiovascular disease research.

“Reaching the Association’s bold goals is made possible because of like-minded individuals and organizations who share in the vision of better health,” said Marsha Jones, volunteer board chair of the American Heart Association. “Donors have pledged support of their time, talent and funds as Second Century campaign donors, providing the essential resources needed to sustain and expand the Association’s vital programs and initiatives such as Heart Walk, Go Red for Women® and Nation of Lifesavers. We are forever grateful for this support.”

The full list of Second Century donors can be viewed here.

"As heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide, we realize that our work is not yet finished," Jones said. "The American Heart Association is encouraging every individual, company, school and community to unite in transforming the future of health – not just for ourselves, but for our loved ones and the places we live, work and play. Today and every day, we have the opportunity to improve health and inspire hope for the future everyone deserves."

The Association will continue to lead breakthroughs in science and technology, improve health care and advocate for federal, state and local policies to drive healthier lifestyles.

“As we close out our first 100 years and begin the next, our recent report on risk factor trends and economic projections show that our work is more important than ever," Brown said. "We understand that we can't achieve our bold goals alone and are deeply grateful to the community for their passion and commitment in supporting our mission. At the American Heart Association, our future is about improving yours.”

The Association is debuting “24 – a short film from the Heart” to commemorate the century of progress. View the film, learn more about accomplishments in the first 100 years of the American Heart Association and find how you can make a difference by participating in the Second Century campaign at heart.org/centennial.

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About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for a century. During 2024 - our Centennial year - we celebrate our rich 100-year history and accomplishments. As we forge ahead into our second century of bold discovery and impact our vision is to advance health and hope for everyone, everywhere. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

Does a beet a day keep heart disease away?

Beetroot juice promotes healthy circulation in postmenopausal women, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers

PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — After women go through menopause, their risk of heart disease increases dramatically. To improve and support heart and blood vessel health among postmenopausal women, researchers at Penn State studied whether beetroot juice can improve how blood vessels function. Results published today (June 10) in Frontiers in Nutrition indicated that daily consumption of beetroot juice by postmenopausal women may improve blood vessel function enough to reduce future heart disease risk.

Beetroot juice contains high levels of nitrate, which the body converts to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps blood vessels expand, making it easier for blood to flow through the circulatory system. The ability of nitric oxide to widen blood vessels is known to be particularly helpful during periods of limited blood flow and oxygen delivery, such as during a heart attack, according to the researchers.

David Proctor, professor of kinesiology and physiology at Penn State, and Jocelyn Delgado Spicuzza, who earned her doctorate in integrative and biomedical physiology from Penn State in May, led an interdisciplinary team of researchers who tested how nitrate-rich beetroot juice impacted blood vessel health in 24 postmenopausal women in their 50s and 60s.

“After menopause, women no longer produce estrogen, which helps maintain nitric oxide in the body,” said Delgado Spicuzza, first author of the research and current SAFE-T center research project manager. “This loss of nitric oxide production contributes to the substantial increase in heart disease risk for postmenopausal women. Foods that are rich in nitrate — especially beets — are being investigated as a natural, non-pharmaceutical way to protect the heart and blood vessels.”

Nitrate is an approved food additive for some animal-based food products, such as processed meats. However, nitrate food additives and preservatives are strictly regulated due to their potential to cause cancer, according to Delgado Spicuzza. In contrast, plants like beets, spinach and lettuce naturally accumulate nitrate from the soil. These plant-based sources of nitrate have cardiovascular benefits because the human body can convert nitrates from plants to nitric oxide, which it cannot do with nitrate added to meats.

In this study, participants had their vascular function tested at the Penn State Clinical Research Center and then consumed two 2.3-ounce bottles of beetroot juice as an initial dose, followed by one bottle every morning for a week. All participants consumed concentrated beetroot juice, with each serving providing as much nitrate as three large beets. A few weeks later, the participants drank beetroot juice with the nitrate removed.

Neither the researchers nor the participants knew which juice was being consumed at the time of testing. A day after their last dose, participants returned for testing of their vascular function. The researchers compared how well blood vessels expanded for each woman when they were and were not consuming the nitrate-rich beetroot juice.

The researchers used an ultrasound sensor to monitor how blood flowed through the brachial artery — which is in the upper arm and supplies blood to the hands — during a stress test in which blood flow was restricted in each participant’s forearm for five minutes. When the restriction was removed, researchers measured how blood flow changed in the brachial artery again.

The results showed that consumption of nitrate-rich beetroot juice each day improved blood flow compared to when the participants drank nitrate-free beetroot juice. The researchers said that this level of improved blood-vessel function — if it could be maintained over the postmenopausal years — could significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. They said that long-term health benefits of beetroot juice have not been studied at this point, but the long-term benefits of nitrate-rich vegetables have been confirmed.

“Women may need to consume beetroot juice daily — or even more often — to experience all of the potential cardiovascular benefits,” Proctor said. “Still, this research shows that beetroot juice can be very useful in protecting blood vessel health of mid-life women during a period of accelerating heart disease risk.”

This study included women considered early postmenopausal, or one to six years post-menopause, and late postmenopausal, six or more years post-menopause. Late postmenopausal women saw the same benefits as the early postmenopausal group.

Delgado Spicuzza said the research team was particularly excited to find that beetroot juice improved blood vessel health for women who had gone through menopause years earlier. Some treatments for protecting cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women — like hormone therapy — are only safe during the first several years post-menopause. After that, hormone therapy can increase the risk of cancers and stroke.

“Some clinicians are already recommending beetroot juice to men and women with high blood pressure,” Delgado Spicuzza said. “By providing a safe and effective way to improve blood vessel function, beets could help maintain cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women. When you consider that most women are postmenopausal for at least a third of their lives, you can begin to understand the potential significance of these results.”

Delgado Spicuzza won the Mid-Atlantic American College of Sports Medicine 2023 Doctoral Student Investigator Award for her presentation on this research in fall of 2023. She said it is gratifying to see this research resonate with other researchers and especially with the women in the study, who seemed to embrace the potential of beetroot juice.

“Several of the participants said that they intended to continue consuming beetroot juice after the study concluded,” she said. “There seems to be a real desire on the part of postmenopausal women to support their cardiovascular health without taking additional medications. In part, I believe beets can be a complimentary food to improve blood vessel health in millions of women as they age.”

Jigar Gosalia, graduate student in kinesiology at Penn State; Mary Jane De Souza, distinguished professor of kinesiology and physiology at Penn State; Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State; Michael Flanagan, doctor of family medicine at Penn State Health; Liezhou Zhong, postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Medical and Health Science at Edith Cowan University in Australia; Catherine Bondonno, senior research fellow in the School of Medical and Health Science at Edith Cowan University in Australia; Elmira Alipour, clinical research coordinator at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center; Daniel Kim-Shapiro, professor of physics and Harbert Family Distinguished Chair for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship at Wake Forest University; and Yasina Somani, assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, all contributed to this research.

The researchers said they are grateful to Cyndi Flanagan and Christa Oelhaf, nurses in the Clinical Research Center, for their contributions to this research.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Huck Endowment for Nutritional Research in Family and Community Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and University Park.

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI

10.3389/fnut.2024.1359671

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Seven-day dietary nitrate supplementation clinically significantly improves basal macrovascular function in postmenopausal women: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover clinical trial

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Jun-2024

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Jitterbug perfume : Robbins, Tom : Free Download, Borrow, and ...

Jan 27, 2010 ... texts. Jitterbug perfume. by: Robbins, Tom. Publication date: 1985. Topics: Perfumes, Immortalism. Publisher: New York : Bantam. Collection ...

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