Heart failure risk elevated in young adult cancer survivors

AskbyGeeks, May 31, 2023

Sadiya S. Khan, MD, MSc
Sadiya Khan, MD, MS

Five-year risk of heart failure compared with patients not receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy in a cohort of young adult (YA) cancer survivors diagnosed between January 2000 and January 2019 who received anthracycline-based chemotherapy Higher rates and overall higher risk of developing heart failure.

Coronary Artery Calcium Score and Polygenic Risk Score for the Prediction of Coronary Heart Disease Events

JAMA Network, May 30, 2023

This study involving 2 large, community-based, longitudinal, cohort studies whether adding 2 markers—coronary artery calcium score and polygenic risk score—to traditional risk factor–based scores improves predicting coronary heart disease among middle-aged to older adults.

JAMA. 2023; 329(20):1768-1777. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.7575

Sadiya S. Khan, MD, MSc; Wendy S. Post, MD; Xiuqing Guo, PhD; Jingyi Tan, MA; Fang Zhu, MSc, MPH; Daniel Bos, MD, PhD; Bahar Sedaghati-Khayat, MSc; Jeroen van Rooij, PhD; Aaron Aday, MD, MS; Norrina B. Allen, PhD; Maxime M. Bos, PhD; André G. Uitterlinden, PhD; Matthew J. Budoff, MD; Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM; Jonathan D. Mosley, MD, PhD; Jerome I. Rotter, MD; Philip Greenland, MD; Maryam Kavousi, MD, PhD

Maternity’s Most Dangerous Time: After New Mothers Come Home

The New York Times, May 28, 2023

Recent research shows that most pregnancy-related deaths occur in the year after a baby is born. The discovery is changing how doctors care for new mothers.

“Our approach to birth has been that the baby is the candy and the mom’s the wrapper, and once the baby is out of the wrapper we cast it aside…We need to recognize that the wrapper is a person — moms are getting really sick and dying.” https://nytimes.com/2023/05/28/health/pregnancy-childbirth-deaths.html @astuebe

@4thTriProject

CHAP trial awarded Clinical Trial of the Year

by Hannah Echols, UAB News, May 24, 2023

Alan T. Tita, M.D., Ph.D.
Alan Tita, M.D., Ph.D.,

The Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy trial, led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, received the David Sackett Trial of the Year award from the Society for Clinical Trials. The prestigious award is given to a clinical trial that improves the lot of humankind and provides substantial and beneficial change to health care.

The CHAP trial evaluated the effects of prescribing blood pressure medication to pregnant women with mild chronic hypertension. Results published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2022 showed treatment improved pregnancy outcomes without compromising the baby’s growth and overall health, which was a primary concern for physicians for years. CHAP results have since led to changes in national guidelines.

“Chronic hypertension causes serious and life-threatening complications for pregnant women and their babies,” said Alan Tita, M.D., Ph.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, principal investigator for the CHAP trial, and lead author of the NEJM paper. “Between 70 percent and 80 percent of pregnant women with chronic hypertension fall into the ‘mild’ category, where there was not a medical consensus for treatment.”

The CHAP consortium — including over 60 collaborating clinical sites across the United States, with clinical and data coordinating centers in the UAB departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Center for Women’s Reproductive Health and the department of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health — launched the CHAP program in 2014 with funding from the National Institutes of Health’s Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. From September 2015 to March 2021, CHAP enrolled more than 2,400 pregnant women with mild chronic hypertension whose blood pressure was greater than 140/90 mmHg but less than 160/105 mmHg.

Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center: Webinars (June 5 & 13, 2023)

Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, May 24, 2023

Kristin Tully, PhD
Dr. Kristin Tully

Presenters: Dr. Kristin Tully and Dr. Simone Chinnis

Casey named holder of the John C. Hauth Endowed Professorship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

UAB Heersink School of Medicine, May 19, 2023

Brian Casey, MD

Brian M. Casey, M.D., has been named as the holder of the John C. Hauth Endowed Professorship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UAB Marnix E Heersink School of Medicine. The appointment was approved by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees during the April meeting.

The creation of the endowed position was approved by trustees in November 2015 to honor emeritus professor John Hauth, M.D., who directed the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine for more than 10 years.

“It is an extreme honor to hold Dr. Hauth’s Endowed Professorship here at UAB,” said Casey. “Dr. Hauth helped build and bring our division to national prominence and, to me, serves as an outstanding example that I aspire to every day.”

Casey is the director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the vice chair for obstetrics. He is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine. Before coming to UAB, Casey spent 23 years on faculty at Parkland Hospital and UT Southwestern.

WE BELIEVE in doing things differently. We united our team, centered in self-love, care, community, and compassion.

BELIEVE, May 16, 2023

BELIEVE logo

The #BelieveBirth IPE team launched its 1st e-news alert, sharing program updates, upcoming events, and opportunities for getting involved and supporting Black maternal health learners.

Read their listserv and subscribe for future updates: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Believe-Birth–Save-the-Dates–Research-Highlights–Getting-Involved-.html?soid=1110472552145&aid=kNkQRj0kuBk