Many young adults (18-39 year-olds) view themselves as physically healthy and may wonder why their doctor is concerned about their blood pressure. However, being young does not prevent you from developing elevated or high blood pressure. Uncontrolled blood pressure in young adults is a significant public health concern. In the U.S., 1 in 5 young … Read more
Since some of the risk factors for atherosclerosis such as eating fast food, lacking physical activity, and developing diabetes appeared with the modernization of our societies, it is natural to think that atherosclerosis is a disease of the modern world. However, atherosclerosis also existed in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Peru, the American Southwest, and … Read more
Women have been widely underrepresented in cardiology over the past decades. Lately, over the last decade, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) has made active efforts to bridge this gap. Other international societies such as the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) have also made similar efforts. However, … Read more
With an aging population and a higher burden of comorbidities, the proportion of heart failure patients with a preserved ejection fraction, i.e. ejection fraction ≥ 50% is increasing.1 Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) now accounts for more than half of all heart failure hospitalizations. Despite the increasing prevalence, HFpEF remains a nebulous entity. … Read more
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 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
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