Project description:Multimorbidity is the most significant condition affecting older adults, and it impacts every component of health care management and delivery. Multimorbidity significantly increases with age. For individuals with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, multimorbidity has a significant effect on the presentation of the disease and the diagnosis, management, and patient-centered preferences in care. Evidence-based therapeutics have focused on cardiovascular focused morbidity. Over the next 25 years, the proportion of adults aged 65 and older is estimated to increase three-fold. The needs of these patients require a fundamental shift in care from single disease practices to a more patient-centered framework.
Project description:Deprescribing, an integral component of a continuum of good prescribing practices, is the process of medication withdrawal or dose reduction to correct or prevent medication-related complications, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. Deprescribing is particularly applicable to the commonly encountered multimorbid older adult with cardiovascular disease and concomitant geriatric conditions such as polypharmacy, frailty, and cognitive dysfunction-a combination rarely addressed in current clinical practice guidelines. Triggers to deprescribe include present or expected adverse drug reactions, unnecessary polypharmacy, and the need to align medications with goals of care when life expectancy is reduced. Using a framework to deprescribe, this review addresses the rationale, evidence, and strategies for deprescribing cardiovascular and some noncardiovascular medications.
Project description:ObjectiveTo examine Hispanic/Latino representation in diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trials for novel antidiabetic drugs.Research design and methodsWe compared Hispanic/Latino representation, age, gender and body mass index in diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trials published from January 2008 to October 2018 to Hispanic adults with diabetes in the National Health Examination and Nutrition Survey over the same time period.ResultsHispanics/Latinos comprised 18.5 % of trial subjects, which was similar to the proportion of US adults with diabetes who identify as Hispanic. Trial subjects were significantly younger, more likely to be female, and more obese than US Hispanics/Latinos. At least 10 different Latin American countries and territories were represented across the 10 trials.ConclusionsUS Hispanics/Latinos differ from subjects in diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trials, which may limit generalizability of trial results.
Project description:Background Although disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease, Black adults remain underrepresented in clinical trials. The National Institutes of Health recommends that studies define goals for recruitment of underrepresented populations. However, the extent to which cardiovascular trials incorporate evidence-based recruitment strategies in their protocols is understudied. Methods and Results We systematically reviewed National Institutes of Health-funded cardiovascular clinical trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov between 2000 and 2019. Based on publicly available or requested protocols, we focused on enrollment of Black adults as well as the following recruitment strategies: community-based, electronic medical record-based, and provider-based recruitment. A total of 100 clinical trials focused on cardiovascular disease were included in our analysis, of which 62% had published protocols, and 46% of trials had enrolled populations that were <25% Black. In our analysis of available trial protocols, 21% of trials defined a recruitment target for underrepresented groups; however, only one study reported achieving its enrollment goal. While 13% of trial protocols referenced community-based recruitment strategies, 5% explicitly mentioned involving community members in the trial design process. Defining recruitment targets was associated with higher enrollment of Black participants. Conclusions Black adults are underrepresented in National Institutes of Health-funded cardiovascular trials, and the majority of these trials did not specify a Black enrollment target, did not meet targets, and largely did not report specific plans to enroll Black adults in their studies. Future interventions should target trial design and planning phases before study initiation to address these enrollment disparities.
Project description:ObjectiveTo explore the association between giant cell arteritis (GCA) and subsequent cardiovascular disease in older adults.DesignPopulation based retrospective cohort study.SettingThe entire province of Ontario, Canada.ParticipantsPatients aged 66 years and older with newly diagnosed GCA (n = 1141), osteoarthritis (n = 172,953), or neither (n = 200,000). Patients with neither were randomly selected from the general population and formed the control group.Main outcome measuresThe primary composite outcome was based on a subsequent diagnosis or surgical treatment for coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, or aneurysm or dissection of the aorta.ResultsThe composite end point was more common in seniors with GCA (12.1/1000 person-years) than in patients with osteoarthritis (7.3/1000 person-years) or neither condition (5.3/1000 person-years). The adjusted hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease was 1.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1 to 2.2) in patients with GCA versus patients with osteoarthritis, and 2.1 (95% CI 1.5 to 3.0) in patients with GCA versus unaffected controls.ConclusionsOlder adults with GCA appear to be at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Whether an aggressive approach to cardiovascular risk factor modification is particularly beneficial in these patients remains to be determined.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Current prevention guidelines recommend using the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE) for 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment. However, the PCE has serious limitations in older adults: it excludes heart failure (HF) hospitalization, estimates 10-year risk, which may not be the most relevant time frame, and is not indicated for individuals age >79 years. OBJECTIVES:This study sought to determine whether adding biomarkers to PCE variables improves global CVD (coronary heart disease, stroke, and HF) risk prediction in older adults over a shorter time period. METHODS:Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study participants without prevalent CVD including HF (n = 4,760; age 75.4 ± 5.1 years) were followed for incident global CVD events. Adding N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein to the PCE and a "lab model" with the biomarkers, age, race, and gender were assessed for prediction improvement. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and net reclassification index (NRI) were calculated. RESULTS:Over median follow-up of ?4 years, incident HF was the leading CVD event (n = 193 vs. 118 coronary heart disease and 81 stroke events). Compared to the PCE, each biomarker improved risk prediction. The largest improvement in risk prediction metrics was with the addition of all 3 biomarkers (?AUC 0.103; continuous NRI 0.484). The lab model also performed better than the PCE model (?AUC 0.091, continuous NRI 0.355). CONCLUSIONS:Adding biomarkers to the PCE or a simpler "lab model" improves short-term global CVD risk prediction and may be useful to inform short-term preventive strategies in older adults.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Fibrotic changes in the heart and arteries have been implicated in a diverse range of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but whether circulating biomarkers that reflect fibrosis are associated with CVD is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS:We determined the associations of 2 biomarkers of fibrosis, transforming growth factor- ? (TGF-?), and procollagen type III N-terminal propeptide (PIIINP), with incident heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke among community-living older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study. We measured circulating TGF-? (n=1371) and PIIINP (n=2568) from plasma samples collected in 1996 and ascertained events through 2010. Given TGF-?'s pleiotropic effects on inflammation and fibrogenesis, we investigated potential effect modification by C-reactive protein in secondary analyses. After adjustment for sociodemographic, clinical, and biochemical risk factors, PIIINP was associated with total CVD (hazard ratio [HR] per SD=1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.14) and heart failure (HR per SD=1.08; CI, 1.01-1.16) but not myocardial infarction or stroke. TGF-? was not associated with any CVD outcomes in the full cohort but was associated with total CVD (HR per SD=1.16; CI, 1.02-1.31), heart failure (HR per SD=1.16; CI, 1.01-1.34), and stroke (HR per SD=1.20; CI, 1.01-1.42) among individuals with C-reactive protein above the median, 2.3 mg/L (P interaction <0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Our findings provide large-scale, prospective evidence that circulating biomarkers of fibrosis, measured in community-living individuals late in life, are associated with CVD. Further research on whether TGF-? has a stronger fibrogenic effect in the setting of inflammation is warranted.
Project description:CD8+ T-cells provide robust anti-viral immunity, yet how epitope-specific T-cells evolve across the human lifespan is unknown. We defined CD8+ T-cell immunity directed at the prominent influenza epitope, HLA-A*02:01-M158-66 (A2/M158) across four age groups (newborns, children, adults and elderly) ex vivo at phenotypic, single cell sequence (transcriptomic), clonal and functional levels. We identified a linear differentiation trajectory from newborns to children then adults, followed by divergence and a clonal reset in older adults. Gene profiles in older adults closely resembled those observed in newborns and children, despite being clonally-different. However, only child- and adult-derived A2/M158+CD8+ T-cells had the potential to differentiate into highly cytotoxic epitope-specific CD8+ T-cells, which was linked to highly functional public TCRab-signatures. Suboptimal TCRab-signatures detected in older adults led to poorer proliferation, polyfunctionality, avidity and recognition of peptide mutants, although displayed no signs of exhaustion. Our study suggests that priming T-cells at different stages of life might greatly affect CD8+ T-cell responses towards viral infections.
Project description:OBJECTIVE:We sought to evaluate the cardiovascular impact of coding variants in the apolipoprotein L1 gene APOL1 that protect against trypanosome infection but have been associated with kidney disease among African Americans. APPROACH AND RESULTS:As part of the Cardiovascular Health Study, a population-based cohort of Americans aged ?65 years, we genotyped APOL1 polymorphisms rs73885319 and rs71785153 and examined kidney function, subclinical atherosclerosis, and incident cardiovascular disease and death over 13 years of follow-up among 91 African Americans with 2 risk alleles, 707 other African Americans, and 4964 white participants. The high-risk genotype with 2 risk alleles was associated with 2-fold higher levels of albuminuria and lower ankle-brachial indices but similar carotid intima-media thickness among African Americans. Median survival among high-risk African Americans was 9.9 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.7-11.9), compared with 13.6 years (95% CI, 12.5-14.3) among other African Americans and 13.3 years (95% CI, 13.0-13.6) among whites (P=0.03). The high-risk genotype was also associated with increased risk for incident myocardial infarction (adjusted hazard ratio 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-3.0) and mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.3; 95% CI 1.0-1.7). Albuminuria and risk for myocardial infarction and mortality were nearly identical between African Americans with 0 to 1 risk alleles and whites. CONCLUSIONS:APOL1 genotype is associated with albuminuria, subclinical atherosclerosis, incident myocardial infarction, and mortality in older African Americans. African Americans without 2 risk alleles do not differ significantly in risk of myocardial infarction or mortality from whites. APOL1 trypanolytic variants may account for a substantial proportion of the excess risk of chronic disease in African Americans.
Project description:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been associated with an increased risk of frailty, but the direction of the association remains unclear. This study set out to examine the bidirectional longitudinal association between CVD and frailty over an extended period of time. Data are from 1432 older adults (aged 65-88yrs) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), who were followed for 17 years. At baseline and follow-up, CVD was assessed through self-report, medication use and medical records, and classified as angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart failure (HF), stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Throughout the study, frailty was assessed using Fried's frailty criteria. Cox regression models showed that patients with HF had an increased frailty risk (HR 2.7; 95%CI: 1.5-5.1) after a median follow-up of 8.4 yrs. This finding was independent of potential confounders (age, sex, several comorbidities). Examinations of the reverse association revealed that frail older adults were not at risk of incident CVD. Of all older adults with CVD, those with HF have an increased risk of frailty and frail older adults do not have an increased risk of CVD. Our findings emphasize the need for cardiac rehabilitation programs evaluating the effect of physical exercise programs in order to prevent frailty and therewith improve quality of life and independence of care in CVD patients.