cardiovascular disease

The Heartache of Discrimination

Allana T. Forde Unpacks Racial Disparities in Heart Health

black man having chest pains

Discrimination comes in many forms, and people experience it and cope with it in different ways. The accumulation of stress arising from discrimination can lead to wear and tear on the body in a process called ‘weathering’, which ultimately harms cardiovascular health. This is one of the key reasons Black Americans have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease than all other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. and are much more likely to die from cardiovascular conditions than other racial and ethnic groups.

NIH Stadtman Investigator Allana T. Forde, Ph.D., M.P.H., hopes to reduce these startling health disparities by examining how psychosocial stressors, including discrimination, affect the cardiovascular health of subgroups of the Black population, including Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, and African American individuals. She also endeavors to identify the protective and adaptive factors that impact the relationship between discrimination and cardiovascular health. In honor of American Heart Month, I spoke with Dr. Forde about her research on discrimination and cardiovascular health in Black Americans, as well as how her research might improve cardiovascular health and inform cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Immune Cells’ Rallying Cry Negates Cardiovascular Surgery’s Benefits

Existing Medications Could Extend Procedure’s Protective Effects

surgeons performing surgery

While modern surgery is undoubtedly a life-saving modern marvel, mucking around inside the human body rarely comes without consequences. Certain life-extending procedures meant to combat heart disease, for instance, commonly cause cardiovascular complications of their own. Fortunately, a team led by IRP researchers has identified a promising approach for staving off those surgical side effects to keep patients’ hearts robust for longer.

Out of the Clinic and Into the Lab

Visiting Medical Students Look Back on IRP Research Experience

Alex Valenzuela

When patients are affected by complex and poorly understood medical problems, it can only be an advantage when their doctors have one foot in the exam room and another in a laboratory studying the disease. However, physicians don’t accrue scientific skills on their own. Rather, they often must venture outside of their medical education to gain experience in research via programs like NIH’s Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP).

The MRSP allows medical students from across the United States to spend a year working in IRP labs alongside seasoned scientists. The 50 medical students and one dental student selected as 2022 Medical Research Scholars recently finished their time at NIH after arriving on campus last July. Between classes, clinical rounds, study sessions, and exams, five of those young men and women found the time to describe their experience at NIH to the “I Am Intramural” blog, so read on to get a taste of what the MRSP has to offer our nation’s aspiring physicians.

Helping Aging Hearts Get Their Groove Back

IRP Researchers Discover ‘Coupled-Clock’ That Controls Heart Rhythms

heart rate monitor

Like so much about our lives, our hearts slow down as we age. While this slowing is natural, a heartbeat that is too sluggish can lead to heart failure, irregular heartbeats known as arrhythmias, and other problems. IRP senior investigator Edward G. Lakatta, M.D., has changed the paradigm in our understanding of how our hearts keep the beat across our life spans — and what happens when they don’t.

Modified Soybeans May Provide Cardiovascular Benefits

Mouse Study Suggests Simple Ingredient Swap Could Improve Public Health

soybeans

When it comes to consuming a healthy diet, “everything in moderation” is a common piece of advice. In fact, evidence is accumulating that eating lots of a particular dietary fat thought to promote cardiovascular health may actually be problematic. A recent IRP study performed in mice suggests that vegetable oil made from a modified soybean may decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease by helping people strike the right balance in their consumption of two different types of fat.

NIH History Shows Off Its Spooky Side

Museum Collection Contains Many Eye-Catching Objects and Photographs

Anyone who has engaged in a marathon of gruesome Halloween movies knows that the human body can be portrayed in ways that are frightening. Even in real life, the tools and techniques researchers use to understand disease may seem like something out of a work of fiction. In honor of Halloween this year, let’s sneak inside the archives of the Office of NIH History & Stetten Museum to see the spookiest nooks and crannies of our collection. Whatever you do, don’t turn out the lights!

model of the muscles and blood vessels in the head