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Preventive Cardiology Clinic
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Home Clinical Services Preventive Cardiology Clinic Research
Flower Preventive Cardiology Research
The medical staff at the Preventive Cardiology Clinic are committed to helping reduce high rates of heart disease in the United States, by heading it off at its earliest stages.

At a time when obesity and diabetes are on the rise among American children, the Preventive Cardiology team treats those who have these and other problems that may contribute to the development of heart disease in early adulthood.

As part of its mission to advance scientific understanding of atherosclerosis (the gradual hardening and narrowing of arteries that sets the stage for a heart attack or stroke) the Preventive Cardiology Clinic serves as the base of operations for a wide range of research programs. Research is aimed at furthering the understanding of the mechanisms behind atherosclerosis, as well as studying more effective and safe treatments for cholesterol and high blood pressure problems in childhood.

Preventive Cardiology Clinic researchers are involved with studies on the following topics:

  • Metabolic Syndrome - Metabolic syndrome is a condition defined as having three or more leading risk factors for heart disease. These risk factors include obesity, pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose or insulin resistance), high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol and elevated triglycerides. Metabolic syndrome in adults is relatively well understood, but how prevalent this syndrome is in the pediatric population is less studied. Researchers at Children's Hospital looked at risk factors measured in 1,960 adolescents and found that two-thirds of the group had at least one risk factor for heart disease, and nearly 10 percent had metabolic syndrome. The results, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, further underscores the need the need to start heart disease prevention efforts early in life.

  • Inflammation: - In recent years, inflammation has become a medical phenomenon, as researchers uncover its role in disease development and doctors offer medical tests that measure inflammation and treatments aimed at controlling it. Numerous studies in adults suggest that inflammation, the body's way of responding to illness, plays a key role in atherosclerosis. Studies also show that the presence of high levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP) can predict heart attack or stroke in adults. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston are enrolling children in a large study that will help enhance understanding of the inflammation process. It will help determine whether CRP measurement is as reliable in predicting future risk for heart disease in children as it is in adults, and whether this measurement should be used in screening children for atherosclerotic risk factors. It will investigate whether family history plays a role in inflammation, and will help to shed light on whether children should undergo early lifestyle and/or pharmacological intervention in partial response to the level of inflammatory markers, as is now recommended for adults.

  • Nutritional treatment of overweight adolescents with cardiovascular risk factors -Beginning in the spring of 2007, Preventive Cardiology Clinic clinicians will be enrolling overweight teens with high triglycerides, low HDL (good cholesterol), high blood pressure, and/or insulin resistance, in a study comparing the effects of two diets on modifying these risk factors. One diet is low in saturated fat; the other is low in glycemic index, an aspect of carbohydrates. The study will provide participants with all of their food for 8 weeks at an amount designed to induce a small amount of weight loss, and will monitor participants closely for changes in weight and risk factors.

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