Climate change is partly due to the increased atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, and methane produced by ruminant agricultural animals. The earth’s temperature has augmented by 0.85°C in the last century, and the rate of global warming has increased to 0.18°C/decade in the last three decades. … Read more
The role of inflammation in coronary artery disease’s pathophysiology dates back to more than 100 years ago. By the end of the 18th century, Virchow described atherosclerosis as “endarteritis deformans” for the first time. Since then, many studies at the cellular level have shown that lipid accumulation in blood vessels cannot justify the development and … Read more
The American divide regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is a passionate topic for everyone. This article is not intended to prove to readers why getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is safe but to provide some insight on the daily decisions we don’t think twice about that have both theoretical and established health consequences. The beef you eat … Read more
The internet has revolutionized medical education. Going through medical school– the resources are endless! It’s fun trying to figure out what’s best for your learning style but given the sheer volume of all the great content it can also be overwhelming. Podcasts became one of my favorite ways to learn while in medical school. The … Read more
Have you been lingering on what else is going on within the field of atherosclerosis research after this year’s Scientific Sessions in American Heart Association? You might want to check out Vascular Discovery 2022, a 2 ½-day meeting, which is sponsored by the Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, the Peripheral Vascular Disease Council, … Read more
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians noticed that some patients with pre-existing medical conditions were at higher risk of severe illness and death. Since then, many observational studies confirmed that people with diabetes, asthma, or cardiovascular disease had a substantially higher risk of COVID-19-related complications and death1,2. Such studies typically use hospital patient records to … Read more
In our previous blog, we discussed Moyamoya disease – a cerebrovascular disorder that affects the blood vessels in the brain and disproportionately affects women and Asians. It often begins in childhood and causes the patient to have a high risk of stroke. In this blog, we will discuss the process of how Moyamoya disease is … Read more
I had the pleasure of having a one-on-one virtual meet-up with Mabruka Alfaidi MD, PhD who won the ATVB Investigator in Training Award Competition during last year’s Vascular Discovery 2021 meeting based on her fascinating work on endothelial cells and IL-1b signaling pathway as well as her active involvement with the research community. We discussed … Read more
Heart failure is the leading cause of death in the Western world, causing more than 300,000 deaths per year. Heart failure is also a source of significant economic burden, costing the American healthcare system more than 30 billion dollars in 2012.[i] Cardiac fibrosis is central to the pathology of heart failure. Cardiac fibroblasts are activated … Read more
While I was chatting with a few fellows in our hospital hallway, I met one of the fellows who was very interested in electrophysiology (EP). We had a very interesting chat about her application and future career forward. In this blog, I summarize my chat with Jasneet Devgun, an aspiring electrophysiologist. Question: Hi Jasneet, great … Read more