U of L researcher gets $3.4 million to replicate studies of stem cells for heart treatment

Dr. Roberto Bolli of the University of Louisville has received a $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test the validity of several recent studies by replicating them. The studies examine whether certain types of stem cells are safe and effective in treating heart failure, heart attacks and other cardiovascular disorders.

"Replicating studies in several locations with a large number of patients is necessary for researchers to ultimately determine which ones can be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval," Jill Scoggins reports in a U of L press release.

Bolli has received more than $100 million in grants for basic research for NIH. This is the first grant he has been awarded for clinical research. (Read more)

UK doctors first to perform triple ablation, a special form of cardiac catheterization

Ollie Whitaker of Whitesburg is the first known patient to have undergone triple ablation surgery, in which a catheter is inserted through a patient's blood vessels to remove a faulty electrical pathway and tissue from the patient's heart. The procedure was performed at the University of Kentucky's Gill Heart Institute.  (UK photo of Whitaker, Dr. Sammy Claude Elayi and Dr. Gustavo Morales)

"Typically, the catheter is placed into the patient's femoral artery, internal jugular or subclavian vein. The catheter is guided toward the heart, and high-frequency electrical impulses are used to induce the arrhythmia and then destroy (or ablate) the abnormal tissue causing it," reports Jodi Whitaker for UK Public Relations.

"Performing two ablations during one procedure is commonly done, but three with this complexity is basically unheard of," said Dr. Sammy Claude Elayi, a UK cardiologist. "But in this patient's case, despite the risk, I believed that we could perform three ablations."

"I'm so very pleased," said Whitaker, who had a massive heart attack 30 years ago at age 42 and had been suffering severe after-effects ever since. "I can work in my flower bed outside and do more around the house." (Read more)

Jewish Hospital of Louisville becomes national leader in removing heart pumps from patients with heart failure

Eleven patients with advanced heart failure were able to have their heart pumps removed thanks to a combination of medication administered at Louisville's Jewish Hospital.

Texas Heart Institute is the only other institution that has removed heart pumps, also known as left ventricular assist devices. Twenty of the devices have been removed in 10 years there. At Jewish, all 11 have been taken away in the past 18 months, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal.

The program at Jewish uses a cocktail of medicines, including ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and others, in combination with the heart pump. The medication helps strengthen the heart, allowing the pump to be eventually removed. "These patients have a very good quality of life, much better, in fact, than if they continued with the LVAD alone or received a heart transplant," said Dr. Emma Birks, director of the Jewish Hospital Heart Failure, Transplant and Mechanical Support Program.

The treatment could mean "some patients with advanced heart failure may be able to forgo a heart transplant, while others can delay having one," Ungar reports. "That could mean a longer life for younger heart failure patients with LVADs; life expectancy after a transplant averages 10 years."

Nationwide, about 5 million Americans have heart failure, which translates to 300,000 deaths a year, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute figures show. (Read more)

Don't Stop Taking Resveratrol, Says Top Doc

Newsmaxhealth.com

Sunday, January 22, 2012 1:57 PM

A major scandal erupted this month when a researcher at the University of Connecticut was accused of faulty research — or downright fraud — in at least 26 articles he wrote about the benefits of resveratrol.

 Resveratrol, an anti-inflammatory found in the skins of red grapes, has been hailed as the "Fountain of Youth," and is said to fight heart disease, cancer, and other diseases of aging. Some researchers believe the resveratrol contained in red wine is responsible for the “French Paradox” — the apparent ability of the French to eat high-fat diets and drink copious amounts of red wine and still have low rates of heart disease and cancer.

 "It has anticancer properties and a powerful ability to protect the brain against immunoexcitotoxicity, the central mechanism in brain aging and neurodegenerative disease of the brain," says Newsmax Health contributor Dr. Russell Blaylock. "Resveratrol is a potent antioxidant that stimulates brain growth and synaptic connections."

 Although disturbing, the news that some resveratrol research is in question shouldn't taint the reputation of a valuable heart-healthy nutrient, says Dr. Blaylock. He is in agreement with other scientists and researchers who believe the news will have minimal impact in the field of resveratrol research, since Dr. Dipak K. Das, the scientist in question, isn't a major researcher in the field.

 "Dr. Das is NOT the major researcher in resveratrol effects on cardiovascular health," says Dr. Blaylock. "Several of his papers are review papers of other people's research.

 "We are not sure what is being questioned," says Blaylock, who notes that "bias and corruption within the ruling medical elite can attack a researcher unfairly." So, in Dr. Blaylock's opinion, the jury is still out on Das's guilt.

Das's research aside, the overwhelming amount of research from other sources found that resveratrolis, in fact, an effective nutrient. "There are 4,460 research and review papers listed on PubMed that are published from labs from all over the world," says Dr. Blaylock. "They are finding a tremendous effectiveness of resveratrol on cardiovascular health, neuroprotection, and usefulness in cancer prevention and treatment.

"That means that greater than 99.9 percent of the research done on resveratrol is from labs completely independent of Das' lab or his institution."

 The media adds to the confusion when stories like the resveratrol story break, says Dr. Blaylock. "The media wants to make the most exciting headline they can — so they write such nonsense as 'resveratrol research faked: forget that glass of wine,'" says Dr. Blaylock. "Ironically, they are committing a more glaring fraud than the person they are writing about.

 "It would have taken them no more than 10 minutes to find what I did — that 99.9 percent of the research is totally independent of Das' research, and virtually all of it finds resveratrol to be effective and safe."

There is also the problem that so many of the media's advertising dollars come from the pharmaceutical makers of statins, says Dr. Blaylock: "They have a vested interest in reporting a story that would destroy the resveratrol market. Again, this is glaring fraud by the media. The purpose of journalism is to dig out the truth — to carefully analyze a story and provide the real story to the public," says Blaylock. All too often, the media doesn't do its job, he says.

 As for himself and his patients, "I will continue to take resveratrol and recommend it," he says.

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