How does insufficient sleep duration, irregular timed sleep schedules, and poor sleep quality contribute to the pathophysiology of lung, heart and blood diseases?

There is developing evidence that sleep disorders, in particular obstructive sleep apnea and inadequate sleep, can influence the course of other chronic diseases. Observational studies show that CPAP treatment of patients with pre-diabetes who have OSA reduces the incidence of future diabetes. Moreover, animal and human data indicate that insufficient sleep and sleep apnea can affect the rate of progression of neurodegenerative... more »

Often under recognized, the cardiac endothelial cells are highly abundant in the heart, and may have important roles in modulating cardiac function, besides simply serving as structural component of blood vessels. Evidences of ours and others have indicated an emerging role of cardiac endothelial cells signaling to cardiomyocytes to mediate important pathophysiological responses. Nonetheless, detailed mechanisms of... more »

What are the fundamental mechanisms of drug, chemical, or biologics-induced cardiotoxicity (e.g., which proteins or signaling targets are most vulnerable)? Would such knowledge lead to understanding of the most critical signaling systems and contribute to development of new therapeutic (cardioprotective) strategies?

In the US, what kind of diet(s) is/are best for preventing hard cardiovascular events?

Would better management of modifiable risk factors, including obesity, sleep apnea, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and metabolic syndrome, reduce atrial fibrillation recurrence? Furthermore, what are the best methods to reduce the onset, hospitalization, and death due to atrial fibrillation, especially that associated with aging

Does treating depression improve survival and reduce major adverse cardiac events in acute coronary syndrome patients?

NIH estimates up to 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease (AD) and up to 24 million from heart diseases. As a result, NIH and AHA estimates the annual direct health care costs for AD to be in the range of $100 billion and $200 billion for heart and stroke diseases. Yet this area of research has been neglected and underfunded. The proposition is for NHLBI to partner with other NIH institutes dealing with... more »

Chronic stress is a risk factor for obesity, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and stroke. Glucocorticoid hormones are elevated chronically in stressed conditions and are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Despite strong evidence for this, non-pharmacologic therapies to reduce stress are not currently part of standard care for the prevention or treatment of metabolic... more »

Critical Challenge

Dementia is traditionally grouped into vascular dementia, Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's dementia and other causes of dementia. Vascular dementia is generally thought to be a consequence of strokes but there are some recent studies indicating that even Alzheimer's dementia may have a vascular underpinning. Vascular permeability is increased in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and it is possible that similar... more »

Critical Challenge

Critical Challenge

Critical Challenge

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both men and women worldwide. It has been established that post-menopausal women have decreased protection from ASCVD relative to premenopausal women and men. However, the hormonal basis of protection (or lack thereof) is not clear.